Babel

Traditionally, the Babel story is about humanity’s overweening ambitions and defiance of God. But in this retelling, the motivation behind the construction of the infamous tower is both poignant and unsettling: a collective fear that God will flood the world again, despite a promise not to. “They remembered when God broke the sky and filled with world with water,” write the authors. Lumer (Wherever We Go), working in a style reminiscent of 1950s screen print illustration, imagines the great climatic catastrophe has returned, but with a significant difference: while the sky is black and swirling waters have submerged a city, those standing on the spiraling red tower calmly regard the inundation from underneath umbrellas. As the story continues on its familiar path, there is some inspired humor: the tower sparks a fad, complete with tower hats and tower cakes; the dispersal of the new language speakers becomes an exuberant land rush (“All of us to the north!” say the Russians in Cyrillic). But it’s hard to shake that behind it all is a fundamental uncertainty: will God’s promises hold water? Ages 4–7. (Sept.)