The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes, playfully weird STEM for 4 and up

Moles Present The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes ironically reminds us of Dirt. That book was a vertical, poetic, look at something that we see every day. The art was varied and the whispy text showed how the tiny things that live in dirt can be a world unto itself. The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes takes that same spirit, has a more animated form of illustration, adds simpler text that rhymes and opens up its world to anyplace that you might see that’s been dug. This is an illustrated book that feeds curious young minds, softly teaches them and gets them to think while they’re smiling.

It opens with the way that most children see the subsoil. There are big rocks, dinosaur bones, sea shells and some trash. As the book properly opens with its title, we’re introduced to some moles who are digging holes. At first they’re digging holes for water, then they’re digging to make themselves a sand bath and they’re also digging holes for places for their poop to go. Sometimes the holes get filled with garbage or oil, other times zombies might crawl out of the ground. There’s a hole to go fishing through, holes that cities need to survive and holes to plant things in.

The illustrations and text in The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes is just right. The rhyming text is simple enough for second graders to read by themselves and entertaining enough for fourth graders to enjoy and think about. A big reason in that second camp is the illustrations in the book. They’re playful, weird, have a great sense of whimsy, and are loaded with details.  They tell a story that your mind’s eye can see, but it’s further spelled out when the footloose words come into play.

As a topic, aspects of the book might seem preachy as if it’s telling audiences about the evils of digging holes. There is a lot of pollution that goes into some hole, and some holes could create problems for the environment. However, neither of them are the main purpose or the takeaway of Moles.

It’s fun. At its core, this is a fun, carefree book that gets young audiences thinking about things that are bigger than the small world that they live in. The art will remind those young readers of an Eric Carle book, because the hues take on the appearance of a watercolor that are combined with cartoon graphics. Some readers will get the book simply for its ecological message and make that front and center. It’s that audience that might be best served by realizing that this is a soft, whimsical book that can show young readers more advanced concepts. Cause and effect, pollution, curiosity, power, energy and history can all be extracted from The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes. The simple, illustrated book nature of it will easily hook in crawlers through second grade, motivate them to ask questions and grin along the way.

Moles Present The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes is by Springer Badger and available on Page Street Kids.

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