A Patch on the Peak of Ararat

In one of two books launching the Faith That God Built series, Bower (Perfect Christmas) uses a cumulative “House That Jack Built” construction to playfully recount the story of Noah’s ark. It’s a fine idea, but Bower’s central rhyme (“an ark that proceeded to park/ on a patch on the peak of Ararat”) is somewhat at odds with his chronological recounting, since it references the ark’s post-flood location. The timetable murkiness isn’t helped by the fact that the ark is shown fully constructed from the start. “These are three sons, hard-hammering guys,/ who worked with their sweethearts while watching the skies,” writes Bower, but because the work is done, the sons simply stand around clutching their hammers on several pages. (Meanwhile, their sweethearts never appear in the art at all.) Newcomer Chotiner brings an airy, friendly quality to the pages in her multi-textured, collage-style artwork, but although Bower varies the animals mentioned in his verse, there isn’t much sense of the diversity or quantity of animals aboard the ark, and the climactic flood comes across more as a brief shower. Simultaneously available: The Beautiful Garden of Eden. Ages 4–7. (Feb.)