The second thing that disappointed me was really the reason I would not recommend this book to others. The illustrations, although stylish and engaging, are just too inaccurate and even confusing. My kids and I have all pondered at the illustration on the spread of pages 24-25, where Noah and his sons, along with some pairs of animals, are shown in the foreground with an over-sized door appearing to be in front of rather than part of the ark is behind them. To add to the confusion, there is floodwater behind Noah and the men. So... are these men standing knee deep in water before loading the ark, or what's going on here?
According to Genesis 7:1-10, God instructed Noah's family to get onto the ark with the specified animals and stated that seven days after they get into the ark the rain would start and the floodwaters would come. So, Noah and his family members and the pairs of animals weren't waiting around standing in the rain. To many people, I am sure it sounds like I am nitpicking. Perhaps I am, but the reality is, if we aim to teach our children the Bible is true and then present them with these whimsical books which depict Bible stories fancifully as fairy tales, then we are sending our kids mixed messages if we don't take the time to clarify. My children had questions about the illustrations, so I took the time to explain to them what the Bible said about the event and that the illustrator had made a beautiful, but inaccurate depiction of the account of Noah's flood. Seeing the ship-shaped ark balancing on a peak on the front cover did tip me off that this wasn't going to give my kids an extremely factual account (it is a story after all) because obviously the mountain was bigger in relation to the ark and the ark was not shaped like that, nor did it have so many windows, but I hoped for something that was fun without being confusing for them.
We admired the artwork despite its unique representations and the rhyming was ok, but the book wasn't a hit. The vocabulary was advanced enough that, although it was fun for me to read, it was not fun for my kids to listen to because it didn't make sense to the 7 and 4 year-olds without a lot of explaining. If you're looking for some fun, rhyming verse books about accounts from the Bible, I would highly recommend buying Answers in Genesis's ebook "Noah's Floating Animal Park" written by Janine Suter instead. It is from a source that is serious about representing the Bible accurately while having fun. We have the book "The Not so Super Sky-Scraper" (about what happens when they get off the ark- the Tower of Babel) by the same author and my 4-10 year old boys keep asking to read it despite owning it for years.
** In the interest of full-disclosure, I received a copy of this book courtesy of Tyndale Publishing House for the purpose of reviewing. I am not required to give a positive review, nor do I receive any further compensation. My opinions are genuine.