Materiali Per Una Monografia Limnologica Dei Laghi Craterici del M. Vulture (1908)

Lively watercolors of an amusing bear and his hedgehog friend tell the story of this classic children’s song

The classic children’s folk song that ponders how to fix the hole at the bottom of a bucket comes to life in warm, vibrant colors and lifelike images of endearing forest creatures. Bear, discovering one day that the flowers outside of his den are drooping, must water them quickly. He considers walking to the lake with his spoon, but that’s not big enough to hold enough water for the flowers. His colander, he notes with a frown, won’t hold any water at all. But then he finds his bucket and is about to head to the lake when he discovers the hole at the bottom of the bucket.

Bear’s friend Hedgehog happens along, and together, they venture on a comic effort to repair the hole. Hedgehog suggests patching tile hole with straw, but the straw is too long. So they try to use a pair of scissors to cut the straw, but the blades are too dull. They want to use a stone to sharpen the scissors. but the stone is too dry. They need some water for the stone and plan to leave for the lake, but – Oops! They can’t get water because there’s a hole in the bucket!

Beautiful watercolor images of the laughing hedgehog and confounded bear will entertain and delight new readers. And at the end of Bear and Hedgehog’s delight fully comic tale, nature takes its course and showers down rain, saving the day – and the flowers.

Watercolor Illustrations combine funny touches…with softly colored, nicely detailed animals and landscapes. – Booklist