Reviews

This is a spirited retelling of the Noah's ark story with both humor and a modern twist. The characters are fairly jumping with life. Noah, Mrs. Noah, and Ham, Shem, and Japheth and their wives are imbued with all the emotions you'd expect from people embarking on a quirky journey. And they've got strong opinions. Mrs. Noah suspects her husband may be demented. After all, he's more than 600 years old. But what is she to do? Join the jeering, laughing crowds instead of pitching in to prepare for the flood? Monte provides palpable answers to what it might have been like to float for weeks with all those animals. And the Noahs make some interesting observations on pollution, global warming, animal exploitation, even feminism (ideas that are sometimes far-fetched and anachronistic). Izhar Cohen's handsome illustrations, whether small sketches or full-paged compositions, are all delicately colored in a soft palette. The detailed renderings convey the immensity of the task before the Noahs and are a perfect counterpart to the imaginative text.--Shelley Townsend-Hudson, Booklist. Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.

This is a very unusual and ambitious book which attempts to address a wide range of contemporary concerns through the retelling of a universal myth. The tale of the flood is presented from Noah's perspective casting the 600 year-old shipwright as an introspective boozy worrywart, hag-ridden by a termagant wife and restlessly perplexed by the ethical and ecological responsibilities inflicted upon him by his mission. As the ark rides the rising waters, the issues agonised over by Noah and his family include global warming, pollution, animal rights, sexism, racism, evolution, and scientific versus religious accounts of reality. At the end of the book, reality itself is questioned as a wine-sodden Noah reclines in his orchard, gazing at the ruins of the ark, or is it just the hulk of a fishing boat? Monte's prose is both playful and ponderous, as over-stuffed as the ark itself with images, similes and the convoluted rhetorical questions arising from Noah's ruminations. This contrasts with Cohen's serene and charming full page paintings of the saga. So we have what looks like a picture book incorporating a philosophical novella. It requires quite a sophisticated readership: I would highly recommend it to teachers and parents interested in exploring philosophical issues with older children through literature.You won't fit it into the literacy hour.-- Books for Keeps No. 124, September 2000 by George Hunt