The Animals Watched - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 1—A simple account of the story of Noah's ark. The language is easy enough for young children to understand, but remains true to the basics of the Genesis text. Individual letters are not shown by themselves; instead, in alphabetical order from aardvarks to jaguars to zebras, animals tell a part of the tale. "'We,' said the iguanas, 'we saw the Lord close the door of the ark.'" End matter provides information about the creatures and pronunciation guides for unfamiliar names. The appealing illustrations are done in pencil, watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil. The animals show expression without being humanlike, although the text assigns them human responses. The size and scale of the ark vary greatly. In exterior views, a few animals may fill the entire deck; interior scenes, however, are more realistically depicted with large spaces in comparison to the animals housed. Both the humans and the beasts are shown as solid, calm figures, emphasizing the hopeful, reassuring aspects of the story over the frightening premise of the flood.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA
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