What Floats in a Moat?

by Lynne Berry, Matthew Cordell (Illustrator)

Overview

A goat and a hen turn a playful exploration of physics into scientific fun that rises to the top!

Archie the Goat has a delivery to make. He has several barrels of buttermilk that the queen needs, but in order to get them to her, he needs to cross the moat.

Testing several different theories to find out what will float and what will sink, Archie and his friend Skinny the Hen don’t succeed at first, but they do try, try, try again (and again). And with reason and persistence, they’ll get that buttermilk where it needs to be!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416997634
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	07/09/2013
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	1,090,547
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD400L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lynne Berry has published numerous poems in Cricket and Ladybug magazines, and she is the author of the picture books Duck Skates, The Curious Demise of the Contrary Cat, What Floats in a Moat?, and Pig and Pug. Lynne lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Matthew Cordell’s work has appeared in several books, including Leap Back Home to Me by Lauren Thompson and Itsy-Bitsy Baby Mouse by Michelle Meadows. He lives with his wife outside of Chicago.

Editorial Reviews

Archie, a goat, and Skinny, a chicken, are trying to reach a castle. The castle has a moat around it, and Skinny suggests the obvious: “We could just take the drawbridge.” Archie, whose knight’s helmet gives him an air of crusading zeal, has bigger plans. “This is a time for science!” he proclaims. Berry (Ducking for Apples) spins her tale with lighthearted, Gilbert and Sullivan–style patter: “ ‘To cross the moat,’ pronounced the goat, ‘we build a contraption to float!’ ” Experimenting with barrels and different quantities of buttermilk—Skinny reluctantly guzzling the excess—the two discover that a full barrel will sink, an empty barrel will roll, but a boat built from a half-empty barrel (the “S.S. Ballast”) will sail. The process of discovery entertains throughout, aided by Cordell’s (Hello! Hello!) loopy ink-and-wash vignettes, which he enlivens with hand-lettered “klunks” and “splashes.” Incidentally, Berry’s exposition of Archimedean discoveries about the displacement of water gives the scientific process of trial-and-error genuine drama. Mostly, though, it’s a highly enjoyable read-aloud whose characters are both eccentric and loveable. Ages 5–9. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Silly meets science in this title inspired by Archimedes' principle. Archie (get it?) the goat and Skinny the hen need to deliver three barrels of buttermilk to the queen--a pig who looks like she might have come from the pen of Steig himself--in her moated castle. Rejecting the drawbridge in the name of "Science!" they embark on a process of trial and error to float the barrels across the moat. While this may not be much of an elevator pitch, this story sure does make for a terrific picture-book read, due in large part to the hilarity of Cordell's watercolor illustrations embellished with pen and ink. Archie first tries to float on a full barrel of buttermilk, but it sinks. Undeterred, he tells Skinny to drink the buttermilk from the second barrel. She does and, not so skinny any longer, heaves the empty barrel with Archie upon it into the water. This one does float, but unsteadily so. The third try is a charm as Skinny drains just half of its buttermilk, creating a seaworthy vessel. The queen pig is none too pleased to have five-sixths of her buttermilk in either the moat or the hen, but it was all "in the name of science," explains the placid Archie as a bloated Skinny belches her affirmation. A goofy romp that will fit right in with elementary school science lessons. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews