Name of Book: Noah’s Ark

Author: Peter Spier

Illustrator: Peter Spier

Publisher: Dragonfly Books

ISBN: 9780440406938

Audience: Ages: 4 – 10

Summary: Have you ever heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”?  Well, that’s just what this children’s picture book, Noah’s Ark is like. As the story begins, the only words on the page are; But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  As you turn each colorful page you will see no words, except Peter Spier’s translation of a Dutch poem at the beginning which guides you through the story; “High and long, Thick and strong, Wide and stark, Was the ark. Climb on board, said the Lord”. With that, a host of animals in all shapes and sizes parade across the colorful pages of this wonderfully illustrated picture book. The illustrations do an excellent job of portraying perspective. The ark is made to appear enormous. Yet there are some illustrations during the flood where the ark is clearly very small in the context of the huge ocean. There are lots of stories within the story. For example, the sequence where the dove is released several times before the last one brings back a sprig of leaves from dry land is quite interesting as is the promise for the future which is wonderfully captured by a gorgeous rainbow at the end.

Literary elements at work in the story:  The theme of the story is sequential thereby making it easy for the reader to tell what’s going on. The illustrations provide the nonverbal stories about Noah and the enormous task it was to build an ark, the difficulties of rounding up all the animals, the even greater challenges of taking care of them during the flood on the ark, and the process of returning to the land as the waters receded. By using only illustrations, the author allows for quite a bit of latitude as to how the story can be interpreted. Many wonderful discussions can be generated through the illustrations and based upon the age range of your audience.  This book would be appropriate to use with both children and adults.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economic ability:  The story of Noah is universal and would therefore make this book appropriate for use with any audience.  The lack of words and detailed illustrations allows for vast interpretation and discussion.

Theological conversation partners: Genesis 6:1 – 9:17

Faith Talk Questions:

1.    Why did Noah find favor with God?

2.    Why did Noah put two of each animal in the ark?

3.    Why did God send the flood?

4.    Do you think people in Noah’s town thought he was crazy for building an ark?

Review prepared by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Donna Fair

Noah’s Ark by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.