NOAH MAKES A BOAT

Another attempt at the oft-told story of Noah's Ark. This handsomely designed lino-cut version, reminiscent of the early woodcuts of Blair Lent, sports a modern-day Grandfather Noah— sort of a cross between Santa and Father Time. Alongside Noah is someone new to the old story, his grandson, Little Noah. This version emphasizes the step-by-step process of building a boat; human ingenuity is emphasized for all God will say is for Noah to ``work it out'' without divine plans or intervention. Little Noah comes up with the boat's shape and makeup, Noah with the boat's structure, and Mrs. Noah gets in on the act with a bit of cross-cut sawing and raising of planks. God provides Noah with a bit of shut-eye, while Mrs. Noah and Little Noah play ``I Spy'' aboard the ark. The biblical wickedness and consequent destruction and purging of the earth is omitted in this nearly secular account, leaving the tale without a context, yet replacing it with a folksy fable filled with levity rather than a moral. Diverting. (Picture book. 3-7)