Mrs. Noah's Vegetable Ark

PreS-Gr 2—Mrs. Noah initially discounts the idea of a possible flood as she tends her vegetable garden, which "could use a bit of rain." When animal pairs start converging on her husband's ark, however, she enlists their help in carrying seeds, trees, and plants onboard. She also decides that they can help cook vegetable stews and harvest fresh fruit during the voyage. Mrs. Noah notes that without her foresight, they would all have suffered from vitamin deficiencies. After a dove returns with an olive branch, everyone disembarks, and Mrs. Noah begins another garden. White-haired Noah and his wife wear straw hats and aprons. They resemble kindly grandparents, although they are the only people in the story. Pleasant animals act like cooperative fuzzy or furry humans as they keep shipboard life running smoothly. Sandy Eisenberg Sasso offers a more extensive and nuanced consideration about the role Noah's wife (Naamah) might have had in rescuing plant life in her Prayer for the Earth (Jewish Lights, 1996). Pasquali's presentation is a cheerful option that will amuse some children familiar with the Noah story, but doesn't represent an essential purchase.—Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato