A Flood of Noah's Arks

Perennially popular, the Noah's Ark genre continues to multiply. Leading the way is a crisp reissue—as part of the publisher's program to bring back the works of Lois Lenski, that author/artist's pertly colored 1948 Mr. and Mrs. Noah resurfaces in a diminutive (5½"×4¾") format that enhances the clothespin-doll—like quaintness of her characters. The child-friendly rendition gives major roles to Noah's sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Random, $9.95 56p ages 3-6 ISBN 0-375-81076-5; Feb.)

Told in rhyming verse, the fantasy-tinged A Stormy Ride on Noah's Ark by Patricia Hooper, illus. by Lynn Munsinger, introduces the animal passengers as a cramped, cranky bunch ready to let their instincts kick in—even if it means making a meal of a fellow traveler or two. Munsinger (the Tacky the Penguin books), a master at creating memorable anthropomorphic animal characters, seems less at home rendering the slightly more realistic and mean-looking figures here. That said, her watercolor compositions add flashes of humor and drama not conveyed in the text. (Putnam, $15.99 32p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-399-23188-9; 2001)

Folklorists more than families may gravitate toward Noah and the Devil: A Legend of Noah's Ark from Romania by Neil Philip, with sumptuous panel paintings by Isabelle Brent. A composite of several Romanian legends, it has a cherchez-la-femme premise: Noah's wife ("She really was a stubborn woman") provokes Noah by refusing to board the ark, whereupon he says, "Oh, you devil, come in!" and thereby allows the real Devil to enter. Other twists in the relatively lengthy text includes magical explanations for why cats fear water and why fleas bite. The gold-leaf and watercolor compositions, elegant and detailed, don't match the earthy folk quality of the story. (Clarion, $16 ages 5-8 ISBN 0-618-11754-7; 2001)