MRS. NOAH

Noah’s wife takes the spotlight in this picture book’s retelling of the famous Bible story.

When Noah tells his wife that he has a surprise for her, she’s not expecting an ark. But she immediately starts thinking about how she can improve the boat. She builds troughs for food and water and a tub for the elephants to splash in, showing that Noah isn’t the only carpenter in the family. When Noah realizes all the work she is doing, he explains that he thought building the boat was enough. Mrs. Noah disagrees: “It’s in the details, Noah dear, / that give a little touch of cheer. / Now when the rain falls from above / we’ll have an ark that’s full of love.” Later, when Noah leads smiling animals two by two into the boat, Mrs. Noah is getting a well-earned nap. Richards’ rhyming text scans well throughout, with plenty of touches of humor to give the tale a fresh perspective. Most of the vocabulary is accessible to newly independent readers, with a few challenging words (hauled, smidgen) and lots of picture clues to help identify animal terms, like pachyderms. Her occasional use of Yiddish (Mrs. Noah’s response to the ark is “Oy-ve!”) may remind Christian readers that Noah’s story originates in the Hebrew Bible. Pieroni’s digitally painted cartoon illustrations of the White couple and the animals deliver additional giggles; the depiction of the shelves for giraffes to rest their heads is clever and funny.

A silly, entertaining spin on an Old Testament tale.