Noah's Ark (Picture Yearling Book) by Jacobus Revius
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Book Reviews of Noah's Ark (Picture Yearling Book)
Book Review: Great service, fast and the book in perfect condition
Summary: 5 Stars
Love the book, saving for grandchildren someday. Will be a great book for curious minds.Book Review: Which Century View
Summary: 4 Stars
The book that I chose was a Caldecott winner for 1978 called Noah's Ark by Peter Spier. Noah's Ark is a wordless picture book of the Biblical story of the flood. It begins with Noah finding favor in the eyes of God, then shows the building, entering, and leaving the ark. A large portion of the book shows life on the ark during the flood. What I saw in the book was an illustrator imposing modern thinking and stereotypes on the Biblical flood story. Since the book was written nearly 25 years ago, we might try to say no we don't have those stereotypes anymore, but let's not impose today's way of thinking on the story and look at it in it's context as we will also with Noah's Ark. In the first picture we first see Noah. Noah is shown with white hair and balding and looks almost fragile. As you go through the book you see that Noah oversees the building, never hauling heavy materials or any other manual labor. Noah's is depicted as too old to be anything but a supervisor. According to Biblical accounts, Noah was 600 when it began to rain. Yes, today we would consider Noah a relic and wonder how he could ever have lived this long and would believe that he'd never be able to do manual labor. This would be imposing the stereotypes we have of older people on the story. Also according to the Bible, the life span of people before the flood was approximately 900-years-old. By imposing our modern thinking on the original story we are saying what was equivalent to a fifty-year-old man can't mange manual labor. Try telling a fifty-year-old man today that he can't handle manual labor just because of his age! I also looked closely at the depiction of Noah's wife. Although historically women have worked in the fields alongside their men, Noah is shown working by himself in the vineyard at the beginning of the book as well as at the end of the book. Who do we usually consider afraid of mice? Generally women are shown climbing on tables and chairs to get away from them, and as the ark is being loaded with mice, Noah's wife is standing on the nearest platform with her skirts pulled up! Although it might seem strange, some of the stereotypes that we have are of some animals' characteristics or nature. The snail and the turtle are perhaps what we would consider two of the slowest animals. In the book, the snail is one of the last to get on, and the turtle is nearly the last to get off. And the very last to be dragged on is the stubborn mule. Just as it's hard to look at the book Noah's Ark and remember that we have to look at it with the Bible story's centuries-old thinking. We may think that we can't relate some of these stereotypes because we don't have them anymore, but we must remember that man that was probably middle-aged illustrated the book, in the mid-seventies. He would be looking at the world through his experiences and illustrating from the things he knows, but is it fair t impose our stereotypes on stories that are hundreds of years old.Book Review: Beautiful, But...
Summary: 4 Stars
Peter Spier certainly deserves all the praise he has received for this lovely book. Still, I have to admit to feeling heartbroken -- even at my age -- by the pictures of the doomed animals for whom there is no space on board, watching the Ark forlornly as the waters rise around them. Yes, that's how the story goes, but perhaps parents might want to decide in advance how to respond if their child asks anxious questions about what will happen to the animals left outside.
Book Review: Well written book
Summary: 4 Stars
This book was well written and Illustrated. My two year old granddaughter was a little young to fully appreciate the story but I think as she gets a little older, it will have more meaning. Would recommend this for children over 3years oldBook Review: Noah and his task.
Summary: 4 Stars
A book, with very few words, that retells the Biblical story of Noah. It is probably most directed toward pre-schoolers. The volume won the 1978 Caldecott Medal for best illustrations in a book for children.