Susanna Leonard Hill has a feature on her blog called Perfect Picture Book Friday. It is a list of “perfect” picture books recommended by all sorts of people. I chose this book because I love Mrs. Spinelli’s books and the message is great!
Nora’s Ark by Eileen Spinelli
Illustrated by Nora Hilb
32 pages – 4+ years
Published by Zonderkidz on February 19, 2013
Theme/Topic – Religion / Imagination
Opening and Synopsis –
“The Weatherman predicted rain.
So Nora built an ark.
Just like Noah.
Well… not just like Noah.”
Nora heard it was going to rain, so, she built an ark. She gathered animals 2 by 2. She uses her imagination and a broken chair, planks, and boxes, to make a great ark. Now all she has to do is wait for the rain!
Do You Have a Hat? – Our Review
Why I liked this book – Once again Mrs. Spinelli creates a masterpiece! Besides being a wonderful re-telling of Noah’s Ark, this book has a great message about using your imagination!
Nora uses what ever she can find to use her imagination to build an arc and save the world’s animals. The illustrations are soft and beautiful and go perfectly with the story. They show what Nora thinks is going on in her mind – what she is imagining, and then shows what really is going on.
I love that Nora paints her toenails waiting for the rain and one of her crew mates (her little brother) has to leave to take a nap! I won’t give away the ending, but you will probably figure it out!
Activities and Resources –
I found a great activity on PBS kids that I actually did in school. You build a boat out of tin foil and then put pennies on it until it sinks.
Then you try to change the design of your boat and see how many pennies it can hold. It teaches you about how a boat floats! Click HERE to get the activity!
Boatful of Pennies. (Photo credit: San José Library)
I also found a boat building activity on Scholastic Book’s teacher’s site. It is meant for younger kids (PreK-K). Click HERE to go to it!
To learn more about Mrs. Spinelli, please visit her website HERE!
To find more Perfect Picture Books please visit Susanna Hill’s blog HERE!