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Overview
It's a hot day on the savanna. The sun sizzles, bristles, and bakes. A young monkey wants to drink at the water hole.
But wait!
Blocking the way are irritable hippos, sharphoofed zebras, a toothy lion, huge elephants, and a lurking crocodile. Will Monkey ever get to taste cool water? Why is waiting so hard?
A thirsty monkey waits as the larger animals drink from the water hole on the African savanna.
Synopsis
Waiting is hard. And if you are a small vervet monkey with a big thirst, it's even harder. But wait you must, because snap! go Crocodile's jaws; slip, slap go Lion's powerful paws; thrum, thrum go the rumbling elephants.Water holes on the African savanna are popular places. Will Monkey and his family ever get to drink? Take this unforgettable (and noisy!) armchair safari and find out! It's the perfect book for animal lovers, and Lee Christiansen's lush and expressive pastel portraits of the animals take you right to the water hole. Also includes an informative authors' note on the facts behind the fiction.
About the Author:Jane Kurtz and Christopher Kurtz previously collaborated on Only a Pigeon. Jane Kurtz lives in Grand Forks, ND, and Christopher Kurtz lives in Portland, OR. Lee Christiansen has illustrated several picture books. He lives in Red Lodge, MT.
Susan Hepler - Children's Literature
The authors who have lived in Ethiopia and traveled in Kenya depict a waterhole and the drama of the animals that come to drink there from morning to night. Throughout, sad-faced monkeys wait their turn so as not to get stepped on by elephants and hippos, or trampled by the grazers, or eaten by the ever-present crocodile floating like a log in the water. Telegraphic, often poetic prose, in short bursts, tells how mama monkey grabs whatever part of her anxious and thirsty baby she can reach-ear, leg, tail-to teach him to wait while the personified sun cartwheels up and somersaults across the sky until evening slinks through, pulling shadows behind it. Finally, "Evening sighs. Sun sinks./Crocodile ripples away" and "the monkeys leap/jiggle/chitter-chatter/wiggle/all the way down/to the waiting water hole./Aaaaah." The book pairs well with other African savannah-set stories to show the importance of a waterhole and the animals that use it. 2002, Greenwillow,
Editorials
Children's Literature
The authors who have lived in Ethiopia and traveled in Kenya depict a waterhole and the drama of the animals that come to drink there from morning to night. Throughout, sad-faced monkeys wait their turn so as not to get stepped on by elephants and hippos, or trampled by the grazers, or eaten by the ever-present crocodile floating like a log in the water. Telegraphic, often poetic prose, in short bursts, tells how mama monkey grabs whatever part of her anxious and thirsty baby she can reach—ear, leg, tail—to teach him to wait while the personified sun cartwheels up and somersaults across the sky until evening slinks through, pulling shadows behind it. Finally, "Evening sighs. Sun sinks./Crocodile ripples away" and "the monkeys leap/jiggle/chitter-chatter/wiggle/all the way down/to the waiting water hole./Aaaaah." The book pairs well with other African savannah-set stories to show the importance of a waterhole and the animals that use it. 2002, Greenwillow,— Susan Hepler