Noah's Ark by Jerry Pinkney

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pinkney, Jerry.  2002.  Noah’s Ark.  Ill. by Jerry Pinkney.  New York:  Seastar Books. ISBN  1-58717-202-X

PLOT SUMMARY

Noah’s Ark is a retelling of a story from the Bible. God is not pleased with how His people are treating themselves and each other.  As a result he decides to flood the earth to “sweep away all living things.”  Noah has found favor with God and is commanded to build an ark and fill it with his family and two of every living animal.  Although he is ridiculed, Noah continues building the ark and filing it with food and animals.  As it starts to rain he gathers his family in the ark and closes the door.  It rains for 40 days and nights and all the land is flooded.  After the flood waters have receded and Noah’s family has left the ark, God makes a promise to never flood the earth again.  He gave us the rainbow as a reminder of his promise.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In this Caldecott Honor retelling of a well-known Bible story, Jerry Pinkney brings the words to life with this watercolor and pencil artwork.  Children will be able to learn more about the culture during this time by studying the clothing the people are wearing and how they are working.  If you are familiar with this story, you are able to experience the story through the artwork without even reading the words.  Children will begin to understand the vastness of the ark by reading “it rose of their heads, it rose over the treetops” and studying the artwork in the book.

After looking through several translations of the Bible, I have found that this version follows the original storyline very closely.  There are minor changes, but nothing that changes the overall moral of the story.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY review: “Pinkney unfurls some of the finest illustrations of his career in this lush, not-to-be-missed version of the perennially popular Bible story.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Pinkney provides a fresh perspective on an often-interpreted story without introducing unusual characters.”

CONNECTIONS

-Read with children to help teach the story of Noah’s Ark

-Compare and contrast different versions of the story