The Water Hole

by Graeme Base | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 9780810945685 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 10/28/2008
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2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I spotted this handsome Graeme Base book (an autographed copy, no less) at the local Barnes and Noble, and couldn't resist. I like his illustrations, and in this book he presents a combination of visual "find the animals in this picture" puzzles along with an overview of wildlife on different continents and terrains around the world - and a warning message about dwindling resources, as the water hole of the title (represented in the book by an actual hole through the pages) shrinks to nothing...

Each two-page illustration includes a short counting stanza ("One rhino drinking at the water hole. 'Snort, splosh!' (Mmm, delicious!)"), and has a border that illustrates and names the different animals that are hidden somewhere in the main picture. Most of the animals are rendered accurately, but I noticed some frogs with bows in their hair or with eyeglasses on - something else to look for!

While the conversations of the animals provide a level of humor - the ladybugs' comment "Bzui" is translated into a full paragraph of business-speak - the vanishing water struck me as very scary, and by the time I reached the page where "all the animals went away" [its border featured creatures that have gone extinct in the not-too-distant past] I was pretty depressed. But the book doesn't end there, so one can offer some comfort to any worried kids and encourage them to keep turning the pages!

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing at Cranberry Bog Conservation Land in Carlisle, Massachusetts USA on Saturday, April 4, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (4/4/2009 UTC) at Cranberry Bog Conservation Land in Carlisle, Massachusetts USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I plan to leave this book suspended from one of the signs at the cranberry bog, not far from the intersection of Curve St. and Martin, at around 4:30 or so, inside a plastic bag against the windy/rainy weather. Hope the finder enjoys the book!

***

Released as part of Jare's Chills and Spills 2009 Challenge. The category for April includes Gaia's revenge as well as animals, and as the central plot of this book has to do with shrinking water supplies as well as the extinction of species I think it fits. [It's not a traditionally scary choice, but I did find parts of it quite chilling!]

Journal Entry 3 by gardenofbooks from Fernandina Beach, Florida USA on Wednesday, April 8, 2009
I "caught" the book the minute my granddaughter had finished having it read to her...

Her Mom had found it in the Cranberry Bog in Carlisle, Massachusetts, just an hour earlier when she was walking her dog. (on 4/6/09), and I was about to go out the door and catch a flight back home....

So... I put it in my suitcase and now, two days later, here it is in Fernandina Beach, Florida. And I'm leaving it someplace obvious in my home today so the little houseguests who will be arriving soon can find it.

NanaReader




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