OLD MACDONALD HAD AN ARK

The traditional song is combined with the familiar biblical tale to create a sing-along story that will have the Sunday school kids rolling on the floor with laughter. In succeeding spreads, Old MacNoah loads the animal pairs onto his Ark with all the appropriate moos, quacks and oinks, interspersed with ee-i-ee-i-os. But during the flood, the animals have to be fed (with lots of burps and slurps), and then the plot thickens, so to speak. “And on that ark it got quite smelly . . . with a poo! poo! here and a poo! poo! there” is the next spread, graphically illustrated with brown puddles under the animals. After surviving the rough seas, the Ark lands and the animals disembark with a reprise of all the various noises, including the burps and poo-poos, concluding with a stage bow from MacNoah and his cast of animal characters. The illustrations use a dark palette that suits the stormy atmosphere, with flowing type treatments and the animal sounds set in larger, colored type. Sharp-eyed children will notice the absence of Mrs. MacNoah and the female counterpart for MacNoah’s canine companion. (Nonfiction/picture book. 2-6)