Jonah and the Big Fish

Thoms and Stoop follow All Creatures Great and Small and Noah’s Ark with a retelling of the biblical story of Jonah, one that takes its scriptural message seriously, but also finds room for a little fun. Thoms’s narrative uses numerous sound effects to emphasize the violence of the storm threatening Jonah’s boat (“Crack! Lightning flashed. Boom! Thunder rolled”) and the relief after he’s released from the fish’s belly (“Blooey! The fish spat. Plop! Jonah landed safely onshore”). The wood-grained textures of Stoop’s illustrations give the pages a homey, weathered look that bolsters the sense of God being on Jonah’s side, even when he’s being tested. Ages 1–3. [em]Illustrator’s agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Mar.) [/em]