The Reading Warehouse

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?

Jane Kurtz is a highly acclaimed author of books for young readers. Her picture books include Fire on the Mountain, an honor book for the Marion Vannett Ridgeway Award, and River Friendly, River Wild, winner of the Golden Kite Award for picture book text. Christopher Kurtz previously collaborated with his sister, Jane, on Only a Pigeon, which won a Parents' Choice Gold Award and an African Studies Association Award. Jane and Christopher spent part of their childhoods in a remote village in Ethiopia. Christopher returned to Ethiopia to teach as an adult and spent many hours with monkeys at the Awash National Park. Jane visited the water hole at Treetops, Kenya, while working on this story. Jane Kurtz lives in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Christopher Kurtz lives in Portland, Oregon.

Lee Christiansen illustrated Water Hole Waiting by Jane Kurtz and Christopher Kurtz. School Library Journal called the illustrations "breathtaking" while Kirkus Reviews noted the "vivid artwork complements the elegant text, often extending it with additional details." Water Hole Waiting was named a School Library Journal Best Book and a National Science Teachers Association/Children's Book Council Outstanding Science Trade Book.

Lee Christiansen lives in Red Lodge, Montana, with his wife and sons.