This book won Peter Spier the coveted Caldecott Medal for the best illustrated children's book in 1978. Most Caldecott Medal winners enhance the story with illustrations. But a few transcend the written material by becoming the story. Noah's Ark is of the latter category.The book opens with a scene of brutal war on the left hand page. On the right hand page is the image of Noah tending to his agricultural tasks. The words at the bottom of the page say simply, " . . . But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Next, there is a translation of a Dutch poem written by Jacobus Revins that tells the briefest outline of the Noah saga. The rest of the book until the last page is wordless. The final page shows Noah after the flood tending to his agriculture with the words, " . . . and he planted a vineyard."
The illustrations provide nonverbal stories about Noah. You see the enormous task it was to build an ark, the difficulties of rounding up all the animals, the even greater challenges of taking care of them during the flood on the ark, and the process of returning to the land as the waters receded. By using only illustrations, you and your child have some latitude as to how you wish to interpret the story. You can be very literal, or you can be more poetic. A lot depends on how sensitive your child is. I can remember feeling frightened as a young child to realize that God could choose to destroy virtually all life on Earth.
The illustrations are brilliant for portraying perspective. The ark is made to appear enormous. Yet there are some illustrations during the flood where the ark is clearly tiny in the context of the worldwide ocean.
There are a lot of stories within the story. For example, the sequence where the dove is released and brings back a sprig of leaves from dry land is quite interesting. Many themes are carried out in a number of ways as well, including the notion of being a loyal servant. You can have many wonderful discussions about why God directed Noah to act as he did, and what the lessons are for today.
The colors and use of pen to fill in details are quite rewarding, as are the delicate individual watercolor images within thoughtfully planned out compositions. Noah has a benign and spiritual appeal in these representations that make him seem like someone you would want to spend time with. Rather than seeing him as remote and hard to understand, your child will probably appreciate Noah as a version of a friendly, supportive grandfather. The promise for the future is wonderfully captured by a gorgeous rainbow at the end. The overall feeling of these cartoons is not unlike the work of Walt Disney's studio animators during the 1930s.
One potential way to enjoy this book even more is to write out your own version of the story, as dictated by your youngster. As she or he matures, you can write new versions that your youngster creates. He or she will probably enjoy seeing these in the future, as a wonderful momento of growing up.
Another interesting alternative is to take another well-known story, and to create a totally illustrated version with no words.
Get to the heart of any important story, in order to grasp all of its meaning.
