NORA’S ARK

Grandma didn’t want a new house: “That new house is just gravy.” When Wren asks her what she means, Grandma says that though potatoes with gravy tastes good, you don’t need the gravy: “ . . . and I don’t need that new house. I like living here.” Nevertheless, Grandpa keeps on building. Good thing, too, because along comes the Vermont flood of 1927 and the new house is on high ground. Neighbors with their animals—chickens, horses, pigs—all fit in, but Grandpa is nowhere to be found. Wren and her grandma take the boat and struggle through water filled with everything from furniture to dead animals. They find him in a tree along with a cow wedged in the crook of it, the floating cow having saved him. Three days later, the water goes down, but the hoofprints from all the animals stay on the floor of the new house, which Grandpa dubs an ark. Watercolors enliven a well-told adventure with a sense of the period and terrific characterizations of the people and animals. An author’s note describes the historical flood. (Picture book. 6-9)