Noah's Ark

June 18, 2012
Smith (The Brick Bible: A New Spin on the Old Testament) applies his succinct storytelling skills and photographs of Lego-constructed visual dramatizations to a classic biblical tale. Illustrations appear on full-bleed full-spread pages with white typeset against a cloudy-blue backdrop, or above a solid yellow border containing blue typeset. The opening spread depicts God as a Lego man in white robe with long white beard, floating above scenes of opposing armies facing off with spears, or individuals fighting, stealing, tormenting animals, quarreling, and neglecting children: “God looked at the world and saw that all the people were very bad.” The story closely follows the biblical text, depicting both charming details, such as Noah collecting things that “creep along the ground” (spiders and snakes), and animal pairs entering the ark; he also includes more troubling scenes of those left behind drowning in the flood. A foreword for parents offers suggestions for discussing hard theological questions with children, while an activity page challenges children to search for subtly placed Lego pieces throughout the text. The story’s interpretation may inspire literal hands-on engagement with a challenging biblical text. Ages 5–up.