Flyby Review: Noah Wordless Picture Book

I have been privileged to review three items from Flyby Promotions in a short period of time, so I am bringing you all three reviews today.  There are some giveaways and Christmas gift ideas, so don't miss anything!

First, I received a beautiful, hardcover, 64-paged, absolutely stunning picture book of the story of Noah.

The story of Noah and the Ark was always a fun one in Sunday School when I was a child.  Marching the animals up the ramp into the boat on the flannel graph, then adding the waves and pretending to make the boat sail on top of them.  It was just a fun Bible story.

As I grew older and studied more, I began to realize that the story of Noah was a pivotal one in the Old Testament.  It is one of the stories that many people say is simply not possible, and therefore the Bible must not be true.  Over the recent decades, however, more and more research has shown that the story is very possible.  And if it is possible, then it is even more likely that it is true.  Why?  Because it is unlikely that someone in ancient times would write a false story about something that did not happen that could be proven to be so possible in modern times.  Is that confusing?  Take the measurements of the Ark given in Genesis 6.  It has been demonstrated in recent times that not only could two each of all the known species of animals at the time fit into a vessel of that size along with eight people, but also that a vessel of those proportions would be excellent at navigating the tsunami-sized waves it was sure to encounter.  Now, if someone who had never built an ark of such a size, nor sailed it through enormous waves, nor loaded it with pairs of every known species of animal, were writing a fictional story for children, is it likely or even possible that the dimensions would be so fitting?

If, then, this incredible story is true, it is so much more likely that the entire Bible is true and literal.  And if it is true, what did it look like?  What did the ark look like?  What did the earth and its cities look like before the Flood?  What did the people look like?  What did Noah look like?  Noah was 500 years old when he started to build the Ark, and it took him 100 years to build it!!  I am in my fourth decade, and I've got to tell you that the responsibility of building a colossal structure on which my family's lives depended when I was past my fourth century would be a little intimidating!

In the wordless picture book Noah, Mark Ludy has asked these questions and has given us his own artistic interpretation.  "A picture is worth a thousand words," and he has given us an artistic novel demonstrating how these things may have appeared.  The beautiful illustrations have enriched my appreciation of the story and have made me look at some things in a different way.  He has used his outstanding, God-given talent to bring this amazing story to life for us.

My kids and I love this book.  Its interest spans all ages.  I'd love to have one for every story in the Bible!  It is lovely to keep on your school shelf or your coffee table.

I highly recommend Noah, by Mark Ludy.  It would also look lovely under the Christmas tree!

A hundred years before the Great Flood, a man named Noah came home talking crazy. God wanted him to build the biggest ship the world had ever seen. The future of humanity depended on it. How would his wife respond? What would the neighbors think? Was it even feasible?
This lavish reimagining of one of the greatest stories of all time will fascinate children and adults alike. Nuanced and playful, yet meticulous in following the biblical narrative, Mark Ludy’s world-class art digs deeper than the Sunday-school tale of cuddly animals, exploring noah’s relationship with his family, the natural world, God - and a formidable engineering challenge.
Immerse yourself in this stunning wordless epic. Whatever your age, you’ll never read this story in the same way again.
Bonus: Find Squeakers the mouse on every page! 

About the author:
Mark Ludy has written or illustrated eight children’s books including The Farmer, The Flower Man, The Grump, When I Was  a Boy I Dreamed, When I Was a Girl I Dreamed, and Jujo the Youngest Tribesman. When he’s not immersed in his sketchbooks, you’ll find him in schools promoting art and literacy. He lives in Colorado with his wife, daughter, and two sons.
Mark’s website: http://www.markludy.com  

Official NOAH website: http://www.plough.com/en/ebooks/n/noah

In addition, I have a lovely copy of Noah to give away!  Comment here or on my Facebook page with the name of your favorite picture book to enter the drawing, which will be held next Wednesday, November 19!

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

For more information on the story of Noah and the Ark and its modern-day research, see:

Genesis 5:32-10:1

The Creation Museum

The Theory of Intelligent Design Lapbook & Unit Study

Also, if you'd like to use the picture book Noah as a Christmas gift, you may want to pair it with one of these for hours of fun:

Happy Picture-booking!

This post contains affiliate links.

 

The Creation Museum

Several weeks ago we had an opportunity to take a field trip to the Creation Museum near Cincinnati, Ohio.  My parents went with us.  You can see in the picture that my mother is going to beat the dinosaur in the nose with her museum map.  That is very like my mother!  You really do not mess with her grandchildren, especially if she has a museum map in her hand.

We really enjoyed this museum.  We had the opportunity to hear Steve Ham (Ken Ham's brother) speak and to meet him.  As a side note, I spoke with him about my book Amazing Animals by Design and am hoping the museum book store may decide to carry it!

Now, since I have been writing about the theory of intelligent design, I get a lot of questions as to how it is similar to or different from Creationism.  The primary difference is the starting point of the study.  Creationism begins with the Judeo-Christian belief that God created the world, and it studies scientific evidence to see if it supports that belief (and it does!).  Intelligent Design starts with the evidence itself, determined to follow wherever it leads, and the ID scientists find that the evidence supports the theory that the universe was created by an intelligent and purposeful Designer rather than by a series of random events and natural selection.  Many ID scientists believe that the Designer is the God of the Bible, while others simply present the scientific evidence and stop there.  You can find out more at my Amazing by Design blog.

I have said before and will say again here that I personally am a Creationist.  I believe God created the world because the Bible says so.  I am interested in the study of intelligent design theory because of the different perspective.  Many of these scientists started out not believing in God, believing the Bible was only a figurative story, or just not being sure, and they came to believe in God because of the scientific evidence.  I believe this is a powerful witnessing tool, and that their scientific study will equip our children well to deal with scientific studies in high schools or universities.  While some critics may say that Creationists are simply looking for evidence to support their own belief and finding what they choose to find, I believe the same could be said of Darwinian evolutionists.  Intelligent Design Theory is a good way to teach my kids to look at evidence objectively, and to realize that all evidence can be interpreted in different ways.  This could lead to a whole discussion about the importance of our Worldview, which I had better leave for another article!!

Now back to the Creation Museum.  It is owned by the Answers In Genesis foundation, and they are, of course, creationists.  The museum is full of information about creation, dinosaurs, other early creatures, Noah's Ark, the Flood, and how science supports creationism rather than Darwinism.  It was wonderful for my children to experience the life-size exhibits after talking about these things in school.  There is a petting zoo and several animals in terrariums.  My children loved watching the chameleons run from branch to leaf and back and quickly change color.  They also loved the Zorse and the Zonkey - crosses between a zebra with a horse and a donkey, respectively, to demonstrate how genetics work.  My youngest thought they looked cool and enjoyed feeding them, while my oldest, who studied genetics in biology this year, was fascinated with the breeding.

The Creation Museum was great for all ages.  The younger kids enjoyed the scavenger hunt through the museum.  They all enjoyed explaining things they had learned in science this year to the grandparents as we browsed the exhibits - and of course grandparents always act enthralled whether they already knew that information or not!!  I enjoyed seeing all the exhibits that reinforced what we had been learning.  I especially appreciate seeing things that are backed by hard scientific or Biblical evidence and seeing how they fit together.  There were a few things here that were more speculation.  For credibility's sake, I prefer to stick with the facts when teaching my children.  We look forward to AIG completing their life-size model of what Noah's Ark could have looked like.

Enough rambling.  Let me show you some pictures!  If you are in the Cincinnati area this summer, certainly consider the Creation Museum for a field trip!

Happy museum - visiting!!  :-)