Noah's Notebook: How God Saved Me, My Family, and the Animals From the Flood

Noah’s Notebook: How God Saved Me, My Family, and the Animals from the Flood, written by Allia Zobel Nolan, is Noah’s diary and his story of building the ark. The book begins with “Entry #1” when God speaks to Noah and tells him to build an ark. “Haven’t told a soul – not even my wife – about this yet. But God talked to me today. Honest. I was standing in my garden, minding my own business, when I hear this voice. It’s not like you could mistake it. It was God, all right. And boy, was he upset.” Noah goes on to describe his conversation with God.

Right from the start, the text grabs you and holds your attention; it’s fast-paced and witty like this throughout the entire book. Noah tells about the animals coming onto the ark, about the rains and the long days on the ark, and the rainbow after the event.

There is a letter to the reader at the beginning of the book where the author explains how she came to write about Noah. She says she has always loved the story of this great adventurer. She wrote the book to “celebrate Noah and his great adventure of faith.” She put herself “in his sandals” and tried to imagine what it must have been like for him to be given such a monumental task.

Near the end of the book is a Glossary that identifies and defines a few terms used in the text such as “ark” and “gopher wood.” There is also a page of trivia titled “Stuff You May Not Know-A About Noah.”

On the last page of the book is a Bible reference from Genesis 9:1 (NIV): “Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.’”

The illustrations by Linda Clearwater are delightful. They are not only bold and colorful, they are cartoon-like, making a perfect accompaniment to the text.

What I Like: Almost everything. Although the writing is great and the illustrations are wonderful, there are only a couple of entries about the actual building of the ark. Entry #3 is about planning the ark and how it will be made. Then for Entry #4, the author skips to the ark being finished and ready for the animals. This entry begins: “This is the first time I’ve had a chance to write in ages. But what great news I have. We’re finished, finally. It only took us a hundred years.” I thought there would be a few more entries about the actual building of the ark and how much time and effort it took Noah to do it.

What I Dislike: Other than what’s mentioned in the previous paragraph, there is nothing to dislike about this book. I still very much recommend it as it gives a refreshing look at a very important character in the Bible.

Overall Rating: Very Good.

Age Appeal: The publisher suggests 4-8 as the target audience, but I think “kids of all ages” will enjoy this delightful book.

Publisher Info: Publisher Info: Harvest House Publishers, 2009; ISBN: 0736925082; Hardback, $14.99.

Buy it Now at Christianbook.com for $11.99.

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Special Info: Visit the author’s website. Learn about the illustrator at the Harvest House Publisher’s website. Read our reviews of other books by Allia Zobel Nolan . Read our reviews of other books illustrated by Linda Clearwater.