Christian Retailing

A 'Seussical' look at a classic Bible story Print Email
Written by By Stacey Drake   
Thursday, 22 October 2009 11:24 AM America/New_York
New Noah retelling remains 'true to text' with humor and rhyme

NoahsFloatingParkThough the account of Noah's Ark has been presented time and again in numerous styles and formats, Master Books believes it has a fresh perspective on the familiar subject in Noah's Floating Animal Park (978-0-890-51576-1, $9.99), released last month.

Author Janine Suter teamed with illustrator Richard Gunther to present a more realistic ark than often depicted and to highlight scriptural points many times overlooked. Using vivid colors and illustrations, the book combines humor and rhyme to help kids understand the Flood and the global impact we still see today.

Suter, who refers to her writing as "Dr. Seuss meets Henry Morris," said she was pleased to be able to share foundational truths in a new way. "I really wrote these books to show that it could be done. … God's truth can be presented in a popular 'storybook' style without being untrue to the text," she said.

The book is one of three in an apologetics series by Suter with Master Books—an imprint of New Leaf Publishing Group—this fall. Its companion titles are The Not-So Super Skyscraper and The Day the World Went Wacky, which tell of the Tower of Babel and the Garden of Eden.

New Leaf President Tim Dudley said that in considering new titles, one of the first questions for a publisher must be, "Can we find a market for this material, especially if it is a topic that has been dealt with before?"

With New Leaf having produced many other books on Noah, there was also the issue of: "What makes this product stand out from the others that have been done previously? If you can't answer that question, then maybe the market doesn't need it. If you see something special in the content or unusual in the presentation, then the project is definitely one to consider."

For Dudley, the standouts of Suter's new book were "illustrations that all ages can enjoy, as well as making the biblical truth easy to relate to and very creatively presented, including a great explanation of animal kinds that every child can understand."

To order Noah's Floating Animal Park, call New Leaf at 800-999-3777 or go to www.masterbooks.net.

 

Stacey Drake is publicist for New Leaf Publishing Group.