The Water Hole - Hardcover

Base, Graeme

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810945681 ISBN 13: 9780810945685

Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2001

Synopsis

A stunning fusion of counting book, puzzle book, storybook, and art book with timeless colors and humor from Graeme Base, the international bestselling creator of Animalia.

The Water Hole is a spectacular visual feast that's more than just a book―it’s an immersive experience for the whole family, perfect for repeated exploration.

Children will love counting from 1 to 10 as animals of the world gather around a water hole. As 1 rhino gives way to 2 tigers, then 3 toucans, on up to 10 kangaroos, die-cut pages reveal the water hole in 10 different worldwide habitats, from African plains to Himalayan mountains to the Australian outback.

The Water Hole is an ingenious fusion of:

• A Counting Book: Count along from one African Rhino to ten Australian Kangaroos as animals from different continents gather to quench their thirst.
• A Global Story: Journey across diverse, vividly illustrated habitats―from the African plains to the Amazonian jungle to the Himalayan mountains.
• A Puzzle Book: Challenge yourself to find theten times ten (one hundred!) other creatures cleverly camouflaged within the stunning artwork on every page.

Watch as the water hole itself gets smaller with each turn of the die-cut pages, visually reinforcing the book's timely and life-affirming message aboutecological balance, conservation, and the precious nature of water.

The Water Hole features the layers of interest that make Graeme Base’s books among the world’s best-loved picture books. Careful readers will find additional animals, many of them endangered, silhouetted in the borders of every spread and hiding within every landscape. It’s a book children will ask to be read again and again.

This timeless classic sparks curiosity, numeracy, and a love for our planet's wildlife. Perfect for ages 4-8.

Don't miss these favorite books from Graeme Base:

• Animalia
• The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery
• The Water Hole: A Counting Picture Book

About this title

About the Author

Graeme Base is an internationally acclaimed British-Australian author and illustrator, widely regarded as one of the world's leading creators of imaginative picture books. With global sales exceeding six million copies, his works have achieved classic status and are celebrated for their intricate detail, rich visual storytelling, and embedded puzzles.

Base is best known for crafting books that encourage repeat reads and deep exploration:

• Animalia: An alliterative alphabet book and worldwide bestseller that challenged readers to find hundreds of objects hidden within its breathtakingly detailed illustrations. It has since been adapted into a popular animated television series.
• The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery: A captivating mystery in verse, where readers are challenged to solve the case of the missing birthday feast by finding codes and clues subtly hidden in the artwork.
• The Water Hole: A Counting Picture Book: A popular counting book that doubles as a fun introduction to geography and ecological themes, using die-cut pages to illustrate the shrinking water supply.

Graeme Base's books are a unique fusion of art, literature, and puzzle-making, appealing to children and adults alike:

• Intricate Artwork: He uses watercolors and transparent inks to create incredibly detailed, vibrant, and imaginative worlds, often taking years to complete a single book.
• Hidden Layers: His work consistently incorporates riddles, codes, and hidden figures, transforming the reading experience into a thrilling quest for discovery.
• Environmental Themes: Books like Uno's Garden and The Water Hole subtly introduce readers to concepts of ecology, conservation, and the importance of global stewardship.

Born in England, Graeme Base moved to Australia at the age of eight and now lives in Melbourne with his wife, Robyn. An accomplished musician as well as an artist, he has also adapted several of his books for the stage, including The Sign of the Seahorse as an opera.

Explore the marvelous, multi-layered worlds of Graeme Base, where every page holds a secret waiting to be found.

Reviews

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, Inc.

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.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810945681
• ISBN 13: 9780810945685
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32