The Water Hole

At its most fundamental level this is a counting book. But it’s so much more. Each page is a different ecosystem. There is tons on onomatopoeia. The vocabulary is varied, considering how little text there is. But my family’s very favorite feature of this book is the hidden pictures of animals from that environment that are hiding in each page. On the tops and bottoms of the pages you will see small shadows of animals. Those animals can be found hidden within the drawings. It provides hours of fun!

Artistically he has no rivals, throughout story reader can visually and tactically observe disappearance of water and effect on wildlife. Wonderful start to great conversations about not just conservation but life cycles… super teaching tool. Love his work - as a parent and teacher!!!

I bought almost all of his books. Great for kids

In my review of "Animalia", I noted that I'm not keen on ABC books. I'm also not keen on counting books. Like ABC books, they are necessary for youngsters to develope their skills, but they tend to be inordinately boring for the grown-ups who have to read the darn things to them.Except this book, that is. Only Graeme Base could pull off a counting book like this. Each of the first ten full pages of this book depicts a growing number of animals drinking at an ever-shrinking water hole (visually accomplished through the use of ever decreasing concentric ovals cut into the pages. Finally, ten kangaroos are standing around looking at a dried up water hole. All the animals go away. And then it rains again and the animals come back.The original idea for the book was inspired by Base's travels in Africa, but he realized that the concept of the life cycle of the water hole is more universal, so his pictures capture wildlife scenes from all over the globe - six of the seven continents as well as a general "rivers and streams" picture. The format is ideal for teaching not only counting, but also ecology and the life cycle.And, in true Graeme Base style, there's always the hidden pictures, which is perhaps what I love most about his work. Most of the pictures contain animals depicted in the borders of the picture that are hidden within the picture itself. So in addition to the animals named in each picture, kids (and adults) will have hours of fun finding the hidden animals. The hidden pictures blend so seamlessly into the picture itself that it can be hard to distinguish them, but once you see them, they are unmistakable. The hidden animals also give the book a balance, as the first picture shows ten visible frogs, and in the last picture those ten frogs are hidden. Graeme Base's artwork is a revelation to behold and well worth the price of the book alone.Like most of Graeme Base's work, I highly recommend this book for both kids and their parents.

I feel thirsty for something, so I go to The Water Hole. I have been here many times before, whether in drought or just after a heavy, refreshing rainfall, and at this water hole I always find and drink the something I was searching for.The first thing I notice when I turn the page is not the astounding art on the right-hand page, though the artist-author’s work draws me strongly to look there. I first notice the big number “1” on the verso. Under the number I read: One Rhino drinking at the water hole. “Snort, splosh!” (Mmm, delicious!)The “1” is big enough for me to see that Graeme Base has painted a rhino skin on it. I feel a fullness in the sparsity of words. I turn the glossy page.The big “2” wears tiger stripes. I read the words, and the fullness now comes with anticipation. Something is going to happen. Something is already happening. 2 Two Tigers lapping at the water hole. “Grrrrrr!” (Goodness gracious, how very delectable!)I feel comfort in the repetition, friendliness in the pattern, winsome humor in the “translation” of the animals’ talk. Before I turn to the page with the big “3” I am expectant, because I know what to expect.There will be a big number. There will be that many animals in the painting on the recto, and one simple sentence fragment. Below that, the animal sounds, and then in parentheses, the “translation.” Like this: 3 Three [Animals] [verb ending in -ing] at the water hole. “[appropriate animal sound]!” ([some clever line from the animals’ conversation])Graeme Base is witty. He makes me laugh, and I like him for it. (You should hear the goofy moose on the “5” page, and what the 8 businesslike ladybugs say while they are “meeting at the water hole.”)I once read a book on writing that mentioned “the economy of words,” and I marvel at how, in four lines, Graeme (pronounced gray-em, by the way) is able to build a plot. He incorporates a full-fledged story arc in a counting book, a simple picture book about animals he saw on his safaris in Kenya and Tanzania. Genius.The water hole shrinks with every page turn, for the drought is coming. Graeme Base takes the comfortable, exciting pattern he introduced in the beginning—and breaks it. “Ten Kangaroos looking at the water hole. There was nothing to say. The water was all gone.”I am thirsty again, and beginning to panic. Where is the water I came for? Suddenly I have “cotton mouth” and my throat is parched. Do you want to know what animals he features on the next double-page spread?The extinct ones. Ten of them, including Dodo, Passenger Pigeon, Great Auk. These extinct animals are not drawn directly; the artist forms them from the voids in a painting of a land parched like my throat, with withered trees and dull color. Then a shadow fell across the sun. Clouds began to gather. A single drop of rain fell.And the water hole returns, and all the animals came back.I did not even mention the strip of ten animal silhouettes lining the top and bottom of every page; those same animals cleverly hidden in the main painting, creating a kind of scavenger hunt that would delight and challenge a reader of any age; the little frogs wearing aloha-shirts, also hiding. I did not mention every aspect of Graeme Base’s The Water Hole that captivates the senses. Maybe, like the animals, I will come back and do that next time.

was more worn than I had hoped

Nice book with beautiful drawings on each page. The hidden animals within the page are a fun activity for the my son to try and find. He loves looking at the pages and all the details within the page.

This book is so wonderfully illustrated and provides exactly what I was looking for when I purchased it: a book my daughter can look at and hunt for images in. It’s beautiful.

This is an awesome book! Great way to practice counting, the images are soo good and there are hidden animals everywhere! Mind bending illustrations! A must have!

Bonjour,Très très bon livre.Très éducatif pour les enfants.Cela les aident à compter.Les dessins sont fabuleux.Il n y a que un vrai artiste pour faire des dessins comme ça....Cordialement.

I've bought this book 2 times now, to gift it to my nephews and i found it such an engaging read. It's a wonderful visual discovery each time., - the animals, the geography, the landmarks, in each aspect. The book engages the inner child of any adult that is reading with a child . Lovely book to know and have

Wonderful book, great for children of all ages. So nice in fact I have ordered three for gifts. So much to learn from this book; counting, I spy, animals of Africa, nature, puzzles, brilliantly illustrated. A must have for your child's library.

Super Buch. Es gibt auf den Seiten immer etwas zu entdecken - auch für Erwachsene.Leider hatte uns das Buch von dem Anbieter nie erreicht. Haben recht schnell unser Geld dafür wieder bekommen.