Book
The water hole
Record details
- ISBN: 9780810945685
- ISBN: 0810945681
-
Physical Description:
print
1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 30 cm. - Publisher: New York : Harry N. Abrams, 2001.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Animals -- Fiction Rain and rainfall -- Fiction Hydrologic cycle -- Fiction Water -- Fiction Counting |
Available copies
- 5 of 5 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Prince Rupert Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 5 total copies.
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Rupert Library | JP BASE (Text) | 33294001258573 | Juvenile Picture Books | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #1 October 2001
Ages 3-6. From the creator of Animalia (1986) and The Sign of the Seahorse (1992) comes another beautifully illustrated animal fantasy, this time doubling as counting exercises. "Down at the secret water hole the animals all come," the text begins, and on each spread, animals from an international roundup gather to take a drink: one rhino, two tigers, and so on, until, by "ten kangaroos," the water has run dry. Luckily, the rains come, bringing everyone together. There's so much to look at here: lush vegetation; lively, detailed animal characters; cutouts that represent the shrinking water supply. Sly humor, sometimes geared towards adults, comes in quotes from the animals--first, as they sound to humans ("ark, ark! Arrrk!"); then revealing what's actually being said ("It's party time, fellas! Drink up!"). The story is slim, but the ideas are powerful--life's dependence on water; the concept of limited resources--and children will savor the gorgeous, animal-packed spreads. ((Reviewed October 1, 2001)) Copyright 2001 Booklist Reviews - BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2001 October
Few younger readers or older fans of picture books will be unfamiliar with the name of Graeme Base. He has combined verbal and visual wit, and sheer artistic virtuosity, in several books that are justly famous. Beginning with the international bestseller Animalia, he went on to write clever books such as The Eleventh Hour, The Discovery of Dragons and The Worst Band in the Universe. Now he has created a whole new spectacle, a wonderful counting book called The Water Hole.Base's new book has everything that catapulted its predecessors up the bestseller lists - gorgeous artwork, witty text, hidden objects in the exceedingly tricky paintings, even secondary designs progressing separately from the main story. We have come to expect such things from Base. But there are some new elements as well.
In the time-honored manner of Peter Newell's The Hole Book (recently reprinted by Tuttle Publishing) and its literary cousins, Graeme Base has created a volume that has a hole in each page. However, as usual, he has applied his own spin to the idea. The elliptical hole, which grows ever smaller, is in the center of a water hole (nicely giving the title a second meaning). Alas, the watering hole is shrinking from drought. Beginning with the one rhino drinking, through the three toucans and on to the nine tortoises, each group faces a smaller water source. Finally 10 kangaroos face a dry waterbed.
Naturally Graeme Base couldn't end a book on such a sad note. Turn the page and you find a single raindrop, extravagantly magnified, smashing like a meteor into the parched earth. Again, turn the page and witness a growing rainstorm. And, as always with Base, prepare to be surprised and delighted by the shapes of the puddles, which beautifully unite earlier themes. In a lovely and satisfying final panorama, all of the animals are together at the water hole, in the manner of Edward Hicks' famous painting The Peaceable Kingdom.
You may notice that each group of animals hails from a different part of our planet. This is only one of the many subtle unifying ecological images that Base weaves into his magnificent new book. Buy it for the themes, the funny thoughts of the animals or simply for the wonderful way that Graeme Base draws a ladybug beetle. Copyright 2001 BookPage Reviews
- Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 2002 Spring
One rhino, two tigers, and other animals up to ten kangaroos come to drink from a water hole, a die-cut hole that shrinks through successive pages. Why are animals on different continents shown drinking from the same water hole? Why is the water hole shrinking? DonÆt ask--just enjoy searching the detailed paintings for hidden animal images and a family of sartorially savvy frogs. Copyright 2002 Horn Book Guide Reviews - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2001 September #2
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) Copyright Kirkus 2001 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2001 October #4
Readers will find more to see the longer they linger over the enticing pages of Base's (Animalia) latest innovative effort. Successive spreads introduce a growing number of animals (from one rhino to 10 kangaroos) at a water hole which, as viewed through die-cut ovals of progressively decreasing size, becomes smaller with each turn of the page. Though the minimal, somewhat quirky text makes no reference to the locale depicted in each mixed-media painting, images in the background of the various landscapes help pinpoint the country or continent in focus (e.g., Mount Rushmore is visible through the trees that flank five North American moose lapping up water and the Great Wall of China looms behind seven thirsty pandas). Borders at the top and bottom of each spread feature silhouettes of 10 animals indigenous to the spotlighted locale. In the accompanying illustration, Base cleverly conceals renderings of these creatures, subtly working them into the vegetation and sometimes into the remarkably lifelike images of the featured animals themselves. Keeping these creatures company and adding a dose of whimsy to the visuals is a cast of diminutive frogs, bedecked in pearls, knit caps and shirts. Though the animals disappear when the water hole dries up, rain eventually falls and the earth springs back to life. Base's final panorama reveals all the species gathered peacefully at one much larger water hole, bringing his story to a hopeful close. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2001 December
Gr 3 Up-Come to the water hole and immerse yourself in an extravagant experience. The offering from a master of visual delight is at once a counting book, a zoological tour, and a fascinating hidden-picture challenge. As 10 different animals from 10 different countries come to quench their thirst, a metaphorical water hole diminishes until it dries up completely and the visitors leave. Then the cycle begins again with a single drop of water, a torrent of rain, and a luxuriant new watering hole that draws all of the creatures back again. With a quarter page of simple counting text and three-quarters page of sumptuous watercolor and gouache, the story unfolds on many levels. The water hole itself is a concentric cutout oval that shrinks from page to page. There are silhouettes in the borders of the creatures indigenous to each country and those same animals are hidden in the dense background. A comic note is added with 10 frogs, some wearing clothes, whose numbers also decrease as the water dries up. While some children may miss the illustrative subtleties indicating that each water hole is actually in a different part of the world, this numerical and ecological companion to Animalia (Abrams, 1987) is a visual treat.-Beth Tegart, Oneida City Schools, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
