The Water Hole

by Graeme Base

Overview

In the tradition of his best-selling alphabet book, Animalia, author and illustrator Graeme Base takes young readers on an exhilarating journey of discovery with an ingenious fusion of counting book, puzzle book, storybook, and art book. From the plains of Africa and the jungles of the Amazon to the woodlands of North America and the deserts of outback Australia, the animals come together to drink from the water hole. But their water supply is diminishing. What's going on? Each sumptuous landscape illustration conceals hidden animal pictures for readers to find as they count the animals that visit the water hole and try to solve the mystery: will the animals come back or is their water source gone forever?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142401972
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	09/09/2004
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.69(w) x 11.38(h) x 0.13(d)
Lexile:	AD500L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Graeme Base is one of the world’s leading creators of picture books. Animalia received international acclaim when it was first published in 1986, and it has achieved classic status with worldwide sales of more than two million copies. Base’s most recent picture book, The Water Hole, an ingenious fusion of counting book, puzzle book, storybook and artbook, has been published in Australia, the USA, Canada, Italy, France, Denmark and the UK. Base lives in Melbourne with his artist wife Robyn and their three children.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

An absorbing visual feast. (Kirkus Reviews)

Another beautifully illustrated animal fantasy... children will savor the gorgeous, animal-packed spreads. (Booklist)

Editorial Reviews

An absorbing visual feast. (Kirkus Reviews)

Another beautifully illustrated animal fantasy... children will savor the gorgeous, animal-packed spreads. (Booklist)

From the Publisher

The Barnes & Noble Review
From the genius behind the bestselling Animalia comes another gorgeous celebration of the wildlife of planet Earth. Combining Graeme Base's outstanding illustrating skill, a simple math lesson, and a subtle message about the circle of life, The Water Hole is a true work of art.

The story line focuses on the residents of a water hole in every habitat, starting with one rhino in Africa and continuing with two tigers in India, three toucans in South America, and so on. All drink from their respective water holes. But something is happening -- the water hole is getting smaller. By the time the reader reaches the ten kangaroos in Australia, the water is gone, and the animals disappear. It is only when the next rain falls that the animals can return. And that they do, in a spectacular final scene.

Bases's illustrations are lush, to say the least. The gorgeous colors of nature, from the striped tiger to the quirky catfish, are energetic and true to life, which makes the the disappearance of the animals, leaving a grey and barren world, that much more intense. And no one can make as big a statement with a single drop of water as can Graeme Base. That single drop takes up the bulk of the page and in one quick instance captures the wonder of nature.

Young readers, and adults as well, will relish the detail and joy of this phenomenal book. It's a perfect companion to Animalia and a wonderful addition to anyone's bookshelf. (Amy Barkat)

bn.com

A Child Magazine Best Book of 2001 Pick

One rhino, two tigers, and so on gather at a water hole that dwindles away with the turn of each page -- until renewed by a refreshing rain. Part counting book, part visual puzzle, part gentle environmental plea, this lush companion to Base's bestselling Animalia offers elaborately detailed vistas of diverse habitats and wildlife.

Child Magazine

After the comic futuristic chronicle The Worst Band in the Universe (1999), Base returns to his Animalia (1987) roots. In big, natural scenes teeming with realistic detail, animals gather in increasing numbers around a waterhole that not only shifts from continent to continent with each turn of the page, but shrinks too, until "Ten Kangaroos" find only a dusty pit. Along with a superfluous die-cut hole, the artist adds a similarly shrinking crew of increasingly concerned-looking tropical frogs-some clad in bathing suits or pearls-to each spread, plus animal forms concealed within patterns of bark, rock, and foliage for the sharp of eye to pick out. It all makes an absorbing visual feast, and the ominous ecological theme is optimistically capped by a rainfall that restores the waterhole, bringing back many of the animals for a grand finale. This eye-filling, not altogether earnest counting book/consciousness-raiser will draw an unusually wide, and wide-eyed, audience. (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews