Customer Reviews

The Water Hole

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and state for one and all that "The Water Hole" is Graeme Base's masterpiece. Certainly "Animalia" has it's followers, and there's the occasional "The Eleventh Hour" groupie, but by and large "The Water Hole" trumps them all. Here, author and illustrator Base has combined the gimmick book (a water hole is cut out of each page, growing smaller as each animal drinks from it), with the counting book (each page displays a larger number of animals), with the informative travelogue (each page appears somewhere new in the world with animals from that region), with the hidden surprise book (you can see tons of different animals hidden in each scene). It's as if Base sat down one day to draw the impossible and did so with a mere flick of the pen. The book is amazing.

If you're unfamiliar with Graeme Base, allow me to sum him up. Here we have an illustrator able to draw animals that are undoubtedly not photo-realistic, but remarkably real looking. These creatures are both cartoony and lifelike. Colors imbue every scene to the point of wonder. Base also is adept at the tiny details that make up much of his work. Because a lot of the fun from this story comes from finding animals hidden within the trees, weeds, bamboo, etc. that surround the water hole, Base must be especially cunning to make them both obvious and yet a part of the landscape. And I haven't even mentioned the pictures that run along the frame of each water hole scene. For each two-page spread, the artist has provided black silhouettes around the border that display the animals you can find hidden in the pictures, as well as their names. Don't know what a gharial or a tapir is? You will.

At the end of the book, Base provides each number and the part of the world it belongs to. These range from India and Africa to Europe and the Galapagos Islands. The book is, quite frankly, exhausting. I've summed it up, but there is always more to tell. I haven't mentioned the tree frogs that dot every scene or the sub-committee of ladybugs. You will simply have to read it yourself. The book deserves to be remembered as one of the most beautiful (and clever) counting books ever devised. My advice is to snap it up, post haste.

Visit the water hole where animals from all over the world and many different habitats come for a drink and a splash. First there's the rhino, then two tigers, three toucans and four snow leopards. Is it my imagination, or is the pool growing smaller? Next come five moose, six catfish, seven pandas, eight ladybugs, nine tortoises and finally ten kangaroos. "There was nothing to say. The water was all gone. And the animals went away." The earth is now dry and cracked, waiting for rain. The sky grows dark, the clouds appear and splat; one big drop hits the ground..... Graeme Base has outdone himself with this deceptively simple counting book. His text, complete with humorous asides and wonderful animal sound effects is easy and fun to read. But it's Mr Base's amazing, innovative and creative arwork that really makes this book stand out. By using a die-cut hole, youngsters can actually watch the water hole get smaller and smaller with each page turn, until it all but disappears. His detailed, lush scenes are a veritable feast for the eyes and beg to be explored. Each bold, bright and busy page is bordered with the silhouettes of animal filled landscapes and if you look closely and very carefully, you'll be able to find these additional animals hidden in the pictures. Perfect for children 4-8, The Water Hole is a counting book, science book, geography book and marvelous interactive book all rolled into one and a must for all home libraries.

My son is 4 1/2 and absolutely loves animals. We bought this book and have not put it down. The book is much more than a counting book. It is a geography lesson as well. Each page is built around a different region of the world and has animals from that region hidden in the scenery. The illustrations are remarkable. One word of caution: do not read this book before bedtime unless you plan ahead, it is so much fun to search for the animals that you may be up all night!

My Great Aunt gave this book to my family for Christmas. My wife and I sat down while the kids were napping and started to work through the book. About 90 minutes of working together we finally found all 10 frogs on the last page. It was a fun time for both of us. Sometimes we would have to put the book at arms length just to get a different perspective. Anyone who has kids will love this book. My 11 year old niece was enthralled with it and could hardly put it down.

Make sure that you look at the scenes in the background and try and guess what they represent. The page of all the extinct animals was amazingly well done.

The only hint that I will give is that the frog with the funny hat is the hardest to find and I can almost guarantee that he will be the last one that you find.

I just discovered this book today and I was so excited about it. The intricate illustrations that fill the pages, the borders, and the dust jacket are wonderful. Base takes animals from all over the globe and places them at the same water hole, which disappears rapidly and then illustrates how the water will come back. A young child can actually feel the hole getting smaller because of a cut-out pond on every page that shrinks. The book is excellent for learning numbers as well. This book is destined to be a classic like "Animalia."

I picked this book up at a school book fair - then went back for more copies for gifts! The artwork is out of this world - witty, mysterious - a true adventure. My 4 and 6 year old both enjoy it. The number part is young for them - but they enjoy relating the animals to the different continents - they enjoy the "I spy" aspect of the hidden animals, they enjoy naming the continent shaped water puddles at the end, they enjoyed learning the concept of renewal and migration. One of the reviewers was disappointed that the story was simple - I think the words are simple - but the story is voluminous. A must get.

I bought two other books by this author (Sign of the Seahorse and the Worst Band in the Universe) for my two year olds library even though she is too young for them. I thought that I would have to wait until she was older to share this amazing author/artist with her. That is why I was particularly pleased to find this book. It is perfect for her. She just learned to count to ten and she enjoys counting all of the animals in this simple to follow story. The illustrations are breathtaking. In addition to teaching counting there is an environmental lesson learned as the animals drink all of the water up and the rain replaces it. I can't wait to pair this book with the see and say geography toy my daughter is getting for Christmas. I am going to show her the animals in the book and then demonstrate where they are found on the sea and say. I think it will make for an excellent geography lesson. This is a beautiful book, you will not be dissapointed!

I just added this to our collection of Graeme Base Books. We now have three. Anamalia helps teach the ABC's in a fun way -- The Water Hole teaches counting -- and The Eleventh Hour is a thinking book (try to solve the mystery!) All of his books are wonderfully illustrated. All of them have an underlying puzzle/theme to keep the children's interest. My 3 1/2 year old grandson is crazy about the Water Hole. Actually, all three of them are on the top of his list. He can look at the pages for a long time. That is something amazing since he is hyperactive and sitting doesn't happen for long. He's learning and can find many different things on each page. Since my children were young, these books have been cherished.

MY SON LOVES THIS BOOK. HE RECEIVED IT AS A GIFT WHEN HE WAS AN INFANT. NOW HE'S THREE YEARS OLD WE READ IT TOGETHER AND LOVE TO PICK OUT ALL THE OTHER ANIMALS HIDING IN THE PICTURES. IT'S ONE OF OUR FAVORITES.

I am a second grade teacher with a class that loses its ability to focus each day after lunch and unfortunately this is the only time that I can fit in Math and Science. One day we were learning about habitats and how animals have to adapt in order to survive if something changes in their habitat. Well by minute 20 of the lesson my children could no longer sit still and I wasn't quite sure that some of them were "getting it". So I brought out "The Water Hole". All of my children sat on the floor in front of me while I showed them the cover of the book and discussed the author. (By the way, my students now think that Australia is the coolest place in the world because of Graeme Base)
Anyway - when I began to read the first page of this book, my students were unable to keep their mouths closed. And for a change - there weren't any sounds coming out. My children were AMAZED. The illustrations are so brilliant and detailed. The only time my students said anything through the entire story was when they wanted me to wait and let them look at the pictures more. Luckily I have two copies of this book! :-)
I'm not going to spoil the end of the book, but I'll just say that the students finally understood the concept of animals needing to adapt or move when their habitats change. For two weeks my students would read this book. Everytime they'd look for more and more secrets. "The Water Hole" is a fabulous book that EVERY teacher needs in her library.