The Story of Noah’s Ark

Noah’s Ark retellings can be tricky: how to balance the story’s assurance of God’s love with the near-total destruction of humanity? After an early scene of “very bad” humans looting and fighting, a sad God—pictured as a swirling cloud being—tells Noah that he will flood the Earth, though the implications go unstated. Dardik’s vividly colored and elaborately patterned cartoons work overtime to keep the mood upbeat; Noah’s family and the ark’s animals always have their eyes blissfully closed, as if in a perpetual state of prayer, and they look remarkably calm about the unfolding flood. An eye-catching adaptation, but one likely to prompt questions. Ages 3–6. Illustrator’s agency: Lilla Rogers Studio. (June)