A spiritually satisfying whale of a tale.
The familiar biblical story is told from the perspective of the swallowing whale.
God sends a newly created sperm whale a family to ease his loneliness and plenty of fish to assuage his hunger. Whale plays and sings and glides through the sea. There are fishermen about, so humankind has also appeared. One stormy night Whale hears Jonah taking the blame for the storm and begging to be thrown overboard. When he is tossed to the sea, God directs Whale to save him. Not knowing how to accomplish this, he opens his mouth, slurps and swallows Jonah. But, “Now what?” wonders Whale. Whale is reasonably patient, but he begins to feel abandoned and queasy, sympathizing with Jonah, who must be feeling the same way. So he sings to the man, hears God’s response in the music and spits Jonah safely onto land. Employing lovely, descriptive language with contemporary syntax in brief, pointed sentences, Spinelli makes the Bible story accessible for young readers by turning the tale around and focusing not on the human, but on the faithful whale. Whale is grateful, obedient and caring of God’s other creatures, and he shines with goodness. Ferri’s watercolor-and-pencil illustrations glow in blues, greens and yellows that deepen to grays and purples during the storm.
A spiritually satisfying whale of a tale. (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5382-0
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2012
A misguided effort with some flashes of humor but far too much text. (Picture book/religion. 4-8)
Eight animal characters from familiar Bible stories serve as narrators for this overlong collection first published in England.
The stories from the Old Testament include a snake recounting the Garden of Eden story, a raven presenting the tale of Noah and his Ark, the whale describing the prophet Jonah and a lion retelling the story of Daniel in the lions’ den. New Testament narrators are a lamb, a wolf and a donkey in stories from the life of Jesus and a cockerel telling the story of the first Easter. Each story is three or four pages of text in first-person narration by the individual animal, with most stories too long for the intended audience. All the animal characters sound like well-educated, adult humans wearing animal costumes, complete with anthropomorphic insights. Each story has several small illustrations and one larger one, in a pleasant folk-art style with simplified shapes and a flattened perspective. However, the ratio of illustrations to text will not hold the interest of most young children.
A misguided effort with some flashes of humor but far too much text. (Picture book/religion. 4-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7459-6220-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Lion/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Those who favor a literal interpretation of Bible stories and fans of Smith’s popular series will probably feel that this...
This interpretation of the story of Noah and his Ark combines the familiar Old Testament story with perennially popular LEGO® building blocks used to create the illustrations.
The story is told in contemporary language with no reference to a particular version of the Bible or location of the relevant verses. God is depicted as an old, bearded white (or yellowish plastic) man in a white robe, and the animals and human characters are all familiar LEGO® shapes, humorously arranged in creative scenes. Smith’s series of Bible stories, the Brick Testament, has provoked controversy due to the violence depicted in some illustrations. This latest addition to the series does not shy away from the difficult issues inherent in the story. Blood (translucent red LEGO® blocks), battles and burning denote evil behavior ("God looked at the world and saw that all the people were very bad"); drowning people and the torso of a body can be seen as the waters rise, and (smiling) skeletons litter the ground when Noah and his family exit the Ark. A note for parents by a religious educator is included with guidelines for explaining the Noah’s Ark story to children.
Those who favor a literal interpretation of Bible stories and fans of Smith’s popular series will probably feel that this floats their boat; those looking for a gentler (and less visually ridiculous) introduction to the popular story should look elsewhere. (Picture book/religion. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61608-737-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2012
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