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MRS. NOAH'S DOVES

Name: MRS. NOAH'S DOVES
Author: Jane Yolen
ISBN: 978-1-72842-426-2

by Jane Yolen ; illustrated by Alida Massari ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2022

A lovely backstory for an obscure biblical personality.

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Yolen puts Noah’s wife center stage in this reimagining of the biblical flood narrative.

Kindly, gentle Mrs. Noah, her long white hair in a half-up bun, nurses injured birds of all kinds back to health. Doves, which remind her of her grandmother (presumably deceased) “at night, bending over to pray in her soft, gray clothing,” are her favorite. When it begins to rain interminably, Mrs. Noah struggles to keep her bird cages above the rising floodwaters. “Do not worry,” Mr. Noah reassures her, “God has told me what to do.” With his sons and daughters, he builds a “huge boat” (the sudden absence of rain in the illustration showing the boat’s construction may confuse some readers) that spares his family and a male and female of each animal species from the world-engulfing flood. When the rain stops, Mrs. Noah sends out her birds to find evidence of dry land. The eagles, ravens, terns, and gulls all fail to return, but her doves come back bearing bits of vegetation in their beaks, heralding the deluge’s end. Lyrical imagery suffuses the lexically stimulating text: Raindrops are “small drips as perfect as pearls,” and rain showers are “cloudbursts and gully washers.” Massari’s trademark style incorporates various textures and elaborate patterns recalling the ornamentations of sacral architecture. The animals’ droll facial expressions (Noah’s too, at times) sometimes give them a bored look. The characters’ light-brown skin and clothing cue them as Middle Eastern. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A lovely backstory for an obscure biblical personality. (Religious picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: May 1, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-72842-426-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Kar-Ben

Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
HIS FAIRYTALE LIFE
by Jane Yolen ; illustrated by Brooke Boynton-Hughes

- BOOK REVIEW
WE CELEBRATE THE LIGHT
by Jane Yolen & Heidi E.Y. Stemple ; illustrated by Jieting Chen

- BOOK REVIEW
REBECCA'S PRAYER FOR PRESIDENT LINCOLN
by Jane Yolen ; illustrated by Laura Barella

WHEN I TALK TO GOD, I TALK ABOUT FEELINGS

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WHEN I TALK TO GOD, I TALK ABOUT FEELINGS

by Chrissy Metz & Bradley Collins ; illustrated by Lisa Fields ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 4, 2025

A tender book to help little ones make sense of the emotions around prayer.

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Actor Metz and songwriter Collins join illustrator Fields in their second faith-related title for young children.

Instead of focusing on the language of prayer—what to say or how to say it—this book explores a topic central to the lives of the very young: their feelings around talking to God. Rhymes and near-rhymes in the AABB verses enumerate the simple challenges and triumphs experienced by a series of animals: “Sometimes I’m sad, not sure what to do. / There are days I feel teary, unhappy, or blue. / I fell off a log. I’m embarrassed and hurt. / My coat and paws are all covered in dirt.” An accompanying illustration depicts a sad wolf pup, a definite contrast to its siblings, who are delighting in their play. The highlight of the book is Fields’ animal characters. Whether happy, nervous, or sad, their expressive faces are easy to read, and their feelings will be familiar to young tots. The beaver’s frustration is palpable, and the tears in the scared raccoon’s eyes may just make readers’ own eyes well up. Some of the animals have a God stand-in to help them with their feelings—a friend or family member—but the final spread shows all the individual animals coming together in a couple of group hugs that express where children can find support (and sweetly defy predator–prey relationships).

A tender book to help little ones make sense of the emotions around prayer. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: March 4, 2025

ISBN: 9780593691366

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Flamingo Books

Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
WHEN I TALK TO GOD, I TALK ABOUT YOU
by Chrissy Metz & Bradley Collins ; illustrated by Lisa Fields

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MOMMY'S KHIMAR

by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow ; illustrated by Ebony Glenn ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2018

With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked...

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From a debut author-and-illustrator team comes a glimpse into a young American Muslim girl’s family and community as she walks around in “Mommy’s khimar,” or headscarf.

The star of this sunny picture book is a young girl who finds joy in wearing her mother’s khimar, imagining it transforms her into a queen, a star, a mama bird, a superhero. At the core of the story is the love between the girl and her mother. The family appears to be African-American, with brown skin and textured hair. The girl’s braids and twists “form a bumpy crown” under the khimar, which smells of coconut oil and cocoa butter. Adults in her life delight in her appearance in the bright yellow khimar, including her Arabic teacher at the mosque, who calls it a “hijab,” and her grandmother, who visits after Sunday service and calls out “Sweet Jesus!” as she scoops her granddaughter into her arms. Her grandmother is, apparently, a Christian, but “We are a family and we love each other just the same.” The illustrations feature soft pastel colors with dynamic lines and gently patterned backgrounds that complement the story’s joyful tone. The words are often lyrical, and the story artfully includes many cultural details that will delight readers who share the cheerful protagonist’s culture and enlighten readers who don’t.

With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked cultural group . (Picture book. 4-8)