Fiction - Animals, Children - Fiction & Literature

What Floats in a Moat?

Name: What Floats in a Moat?
Author: Lynne Berry
ISBN: 9781416997634

by Lynne Berry, Matthew Cordell

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Overview

A goat and a hen turn a playful exploration of physics into scientific fun that rises to the top!

Archie the Goat has a delivery to make. He has several barrels of buttermilk that the queen needs, but in order to get them to her, he needs to cross the moat.

Testing several different theories to find out what will float and what will sink, Archie and his friend Skinny the Hen don’t succeed at first, but they do try, try, try again (and again). And with reason and persistence, they’ll get that buttermilk where it needs to be!

About the Author, Lynne Berry

Lynne Berry is the author of The Curious Demise of the Contrary Cat and What Floats in a Moat? She lives with her husband and assorted pets in Nashville, Tennessee.

Matthew Cordell’s work has appeared in several books, including Leap Back Home to Me by Lauren Thompson and Itsy-Bitsy Baby Mouse by Michelle Meadows. He lives with his wife outside of Chicago.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Archie, a goat, and Skinny, a chicken, are trying to reach a castle. The castle has a moat around it, and Skinny suggests the obvious: “We could just take the drawbridge.” Archie, whose knight’s helmet gives him an air of crusading zeal, has bigger plans. “This is a time for science!” he proclaims. Berry (Ducking for Apples) spins her tale with lighthearted, Gilbert and Sullivan–style patter: “ ‘To cross the moat,’ pronounced the goat, ‘we build a contraption to float!’ ” Experimenting with barrels and different quantities of buttermilk—Skinny reluctantly guzzling the excess—the two discover that a full barrel will sink, an empty barrel will roll, but a boat built from a half-empty barrel (the “S.S. Ballast”) will sail. The process of discovery entertains throughout, aided by Cordell’s (Hello! Hello!) loopy ink-and-wash vignettes, which he enlivens with hand-lettered “klunks” and “splashes.” Incidentally, Berry’s exposition of Archimedean discoveries about the displacement of water gives the scientific process of trial-and-error genuine drama. Mostly, though, it’s a highly enjoyable read-aloud whose characters are both eccentric and loveable. Ages 5–9. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (July)