The Water Hole
Who can resist the allure of the hidden wilderness water hole? Certainly  not one rhino. Not two tigers. Nor three toucans. Pretty soon the delicious pool  is drawing moose, catfish, pandas, tortoises... and more than 100 other critters  from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and beyond. But is it our imagination  or is that rhino-sized water hole dwindling to a mere shadow of its former self,  a puddle not fit for eight ladybugs, let alone 10 kangaroos? As the seasons  change across the world, and the animals get thirstier, the water supply  diminishes. Eventually, even the flowery-shirted frog that has stoically  lingered through the drought packs his suitcase and takes off. The only hope now  is a drop of rain on the parched earth...With his usual elaborate detail, Graeme Base, mad genius behindAnimalia,The Eleventh Hour: A Curious  Mystery, and other wild and wonderful titles, presents a one-of-a-kind  counting book. Naturally, Base would never be content to stick with a simple 1  through 10 format. Readers of all ages will linger over each spread, first  counting the highlighted animals and giggling at the translation of their grunts  and growls (the moose's "Moo, moo, mooooooiii!" means "Hey, get your hoof out of  my ear!"). Then it's time to check out the diminishing size of the die-cut hole  in the pond. And finally, readers will want to find each of the 10 additional  animals cleverly hidden in every illustration, based on the silhouetted  creatures in the border. A safari on paper--with an environmental and  mathematical education thrown in for good measure. (Ages 4 to 8)--Emilie  Coulter--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.