Graeme Base
Where did the inspiration for The Water Hole come from?
Some years ago I spent several weeks travelling through East Africa. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life and I have always yearned to return. Recently an opportunity arose to do a walking tour through Tanzania, from the coast to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro. I knew immediately that there was bound to be a book in such an adventure. As it eventuated the trip didn't happen, but just thinking about Africa again inspired the initial concept for The Water Hole.
The book begins in Africa but takes us to places all over the world. Have you been to all these places?
Not all of them - China is still on the wish list! - but my wife Robyn and I have been lucky enough to see little snippets of many places in our travels, including the headwaters of the Amazon and the Galapagos Islands - both incredible experiences. I would love to go to Antarctica.
Where did your love of wildlife come from?
My parents were always interested in nature. When we arrived in Australia from England in 1966 - I was eight - we immediately began travelling to all of the national parks and discovering the native wildlife. Within a year or two I had probably seen more of Australia and knew more about native animals and birds than kids who had grown up there. When I began to get interested in art a few years later I guess the animal-based subject matter was a natural development. This eventually led to Animalia and from there to The Water Hole.
In what ways is The Water Hole similar to Animalia?
Both books work at a number of different 'levels'. At it's simplest level Animalia is a picture book, albeit a fairly complex-looking one - lots of color, lots of animals, lots of detail: all the things I liked as a child - but the alphabetical nature of the book, with hundreds of things on each page beginning with the same letter, takes the reader on a journey from simple beginnings through to some pretty arcane levels of language and visual perception. In a similar way The Water Hole starts as a simple counting book - one rhino, two tigers, three toucans - but beyond this lie other levels which involve aspects such as geography, natural history, weather cycles, even global conservation issues.
So is The Water Hole a sequel to Animalia? Alphabet, now numbers?
I don't think of it as a sequel. The inspiration came from an entirely different place - a story about the cycle of seasons on the Africa plains - but it gradually grew into a book that worked on other levels besides the immediately apparent story-book/counting book aspects. The more you look the more you find. In this respect it is reminiscent of Animalia. Perhaps it is a 'companion volume'!
Just how many 'levels' are there?
Hard to say. Six, I think - or maybe seven! It starts with a story: animals drinking at a shrinking water hole - eventually the water is all gone, things look grim, but then clouds gather, the drought breaks and the water hole is refreshed - the cycle is complete. The die-cut hole running through the book reinforces and adds a tactile dimensionality to this simple story. Next is the counting game, from one-to-ten. But if you look closely there are other animals hidden in the artwork - ten on each page, in fact. The black-and-white borders act as check-lists for what there is to find, and also provide their names. Older children will realize that despite initial similarities, the location changes on each page, from Africa to India to South America etc., and that the animals that are to be discovered on each page are native to each of these different places. (Take a look at the backgrounds for some man-made clues to each location) Thus the waterhole can be seen as a metaphor for a global resource.
Why are these levels important?
First, they get the reader looking closely at the pictures, encouraging them to come back for more: to play the games again, to find that elusive hidden creature, to discover other levels of meaning as they grow with the book. Second, it offers adult and child varying levels of interest simultaneously - so a parent can share the book with their child and be getting something at a more sophisticated level out of the experience.
What's with all the frogs?
The presence of frogs is considered a litmus test of the health of water systems all over the world. Lots of frogs is a good sign - no frogs means trouble. There are ten frogs to be found on the first page of The Water Hole but as more and more animals gather to share the shrinking resource their number gradually diminishes - ten to one, then none - the counting game in reverse.
The text is very simple compared to your other books. Why is this?
When I started out years ago, I wanted to be an artist not a writer. But gradually the writing has become more and more important - which has generally translated into longer and longer texts! With The Water Hole the story was so simple and elemental that I saw a chance to pare right back to (for me) the bare minimum of words and focus again on the artwork. I guess this is another way in which Animalia and The Water Hole are similar - the short text opens up the book to the youngest of children while the illustrations broaden the scope to involve more 'experienced' readers.
How are the paintings made?
The paintings are mixed media - some pencil, some gouache, but mainly watercolour, applied to hot-press illustration board with a fine brush and a little airbrush for sky and water effects.
Are you working on any new projects?
There are two more books in the pipeline, but both some years off yet. I'm also working on a couple of film adaptations of earlier books, some TV adaptations and a stage musical based on The Sign of the Seahorse. Music has been my passion for many years. A concert version of the Seahorse project was performed earlier this year by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra - I wrote the music and lyrics myself so it was a huge thrill to hear a full orchestra playing it on stage.
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Reviews
Animalia
Graeme Base
Originally published ten years ago, this book has sold 2 million copies worldwide. The anniversary publication is a limited collectors edition. The large format spreads are very detailed illustrations of a verse, in alphabetical order. Each verse contains only words beginning with the appropriate letter. Careful observation reveals many less obvious objects and creatures, all beginning with the same letter. The illustrations are mixed media and are fun to look at. 1997 (orig. 1987), Harry N. Abrams/Viking Penguin, $18.95, $11.95 and $6.99. Ages 3 to 10. Reviewer: Kristin Harris
ISBN: 0-8109-1868-4
ISBN: 0-8109-1939-7
The Eleventh Hour : A Curious Mystery
Graeme Base
Little and big sleuths alike will delight in this ingenious clue-filled creation from the author of Animalia. When Horace turns eleven years old, he gives himself a grand party. But there is mischief afoot, and it is up to the reader to discover the perpetrator. Through a series of clues cleverly buried in the plot as well as in the book's sumptuously lively illustrations, we are led Columbo-style down the road to discovery. But it's not an easy journey, and that's what makes it fun. If all else fails, the author has graciously offered his extensive explanation of each clue at the back of the book, not to mention a glimpse into how his mind works--which is in itself a fascinating voyage. Consider this aerobics for the brain. It's a good workout! 1997, Puffin, $6.99. Ages 6 up. Reviewer: Marilyn Bagel
ISBN: 0140561609
The Sign of the Seahorse : A Tale of Greed and High Adventure in Two Acts
Graeme Base
Absolutely entertaining, with an environmental twist in its underwater setting of a coral reef, full of challenging words for young readers, and all done in rhyme so wonderful when read aloud. Base tells the story of a greedy Grouper who executes his plan to rob the inhabitants of Reeftown of their homes and money in a shady real estate deal. He is aided in this scheme by the leaking and deadly toxic waste littering the ocean floor. The story includes a cast of characters from goodies to baddies, from the adolescent Finneus Trout, a member of the Catfish Gang, to the bright and resilient Pearl Trout, to the notorious and evil Gropmund Grouper, and to the dashing and brave Corporal Bert of the Soldiercrab Army. The illustrations of this adventure are richly drawn and layered with characters, action, drama, and humor. Children will relate to the basic nature of these creatures, their outfits, and some aspects of their behavior. A keeper! 1992, Harry N. Abrams, $19.95. Ages 6 to 8. Reviewer: Barbara B. Disckind
ISBN: 0810938251
The Water Hole
Graeme Base
Counting animals from one to ten, various habitats are featured as the menagerie comes to the watering hole. The watering hole gradually disappears, and all of the animals with it. Then a single drop of water falls; it rains and rains and all the animals come back. World-renowned artist/author Base illustrates animals from seven continents. Three toucans represent South America; one rhino from Africa; seven pandas from China. Careful observation reveals the many other creatures from the featured environment are included in each illustration. For comic relief, a few frogs in party hats and vests are hidden as well. Each spread is bordered with silhouettes of other animals from that geographical region. The gimmick is the elliptical hole on each page in the illustration of the watering hole. It gradually decreases in size, eventually disappearing. Is this a warning of what may come to pass? Very bright and colorful illustrations demonstrate an attention to detail. 2001, Harry N. Abrams Inc, Ages 3 to 8, $18.95. Reviewer: Kristin Harris
ISBN: 0-8109-4568-1
The Worst Band in the Universe
Graeme Base
On Planet Blipp, no new music is allowed. Only the Ancient Songs, with no variation, may be played. Sprocc, a young Blippian, yearns to play innovative music; his quest for sonic freedom leads him to the planet Squaag. There he meets and befriends fellow musicians, and together they enter the Worst Band in the Universe competition. Unfortunately, the Musical Inquisitor has a terrible surprise in store for the winners. Sprocc and his bandmates find themselves exiled to a desolate swampy planet. Undaunted, the gang constructs a spaceship powered by song, and Sprocc returns to his home planet to forge a path where Innovation and the Ancient Songs finally unite. Wild and imaginative colorful illustrations accent this highly entertaining rhyming book. A bonus CD is included, with over twenty-five minutes of music from the Worst Band competition. Mozart it's not, but kids and adults alike will enjoy the zany lyrics, such as--I've got three strong arms/ One enormous nose/ Nine left feet with twenty-seven toes/ I've got no brain but that's the way it goes. This is a fun, read-aloud book. 1999, Harry Abrams Publishing, $19.95. Ages 8 to 12. Reviewer: Christopher Moning
ISBN: 0810939983
Added 2001
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