There's a Goblin on the Ark

Susan Tarcov grew up next to the Bronx Zoo in New York, a great inspiration for writing children's books.  Her previous books include Maya Prays for Rain, Raisins and Almonds: A Yiddish Lullaby, and The Rabbi and His Donkey. She is married, has three children, and lives in Chicago, IL.Susan Tarcov grew up next to the Bronx Zoo in New York, a great inspiration for writing children's books.  Her previous books include Maya Prays for Rain, Raisins and Almonds: A Yiddish Lullaby, and The Rabbi and His Donkey. She is married, has three children, and lives in Chicago, IL.There’s a Goblin on the Ark!  is Mackinzie Reker's secondchildren's book. When she isn't illustrating, you can find her reading,traveling, or reading about traveling.  She lives with her husband, three rambunctious children, and one wild dog in Iowa City, Iowa.

In this whimsical imagining of Noah’s Ark, the animalspuzzle over a mysterious noise.What could be making that "woooooo" sound? It’s not the owlsor the cows or the pigeons; those "hoooooo," "moooooo," and "coooooo,"respectively. When the animals discover an adorable little green goblin, theyimmediately team up to drive the creature away. But soon they realize that thegoblin is calling out to find their mate—the goblin is one of a pair, just likeeveryone else on the boat. The read-aloud–friendly text lends itself to ayounger audience, with rhyming sounds and pleasant repetition. There’s even abrief exploration of the senses as the animals combat the goblin using brightlights, loud noises, and stinky odors (courtesy of the skunks). Halfwaythrough, the story shifts to a narrative about the importance of helpingstrangers, no matter how different, as the animals work to unite the twogoblins. The colorful cartoon animals and their emotive faces contribute to anoverall coziness that bridges both halves of the tale. The illustrations depictone representative from almost every species pair with long eyelashes—anunnecessary hint of sexism. Though we’re told early on that Noah brought theanimals onto the ark, no humans are seen, and the story contains no overtbiblical references. (This book was reviewed digitally.)A gentle, accessible take on Noah’s Ark laced with a messageof acceptance. (author’s note) (Religious picture book. 2-5) --Kirkus ReviewsAlthough they were unac­cus­tomed to their sur­round­ingsand to one anoth­er, the ani­mals on Noah’s ark all fell asleep on their firstnight. Awak­ened by a fright­en­ing sound, they join forces to dis­cov­erthe crea­ture that has dis­turbed their peace­ful slum­ber. They dis­cov­erthat a gob­lin has tak­en up res­i­dence on the ark, so they band togeth­erto dri­ve the intrud­er away. But when the ani­mals real­ize a pair of gob­linsis on the ark search­ing for one anoth­er, they decide to help them find eachoth­er and encour­age them to join the oth­er pairs of ani­mals on their jour­ney.The ani­mals learn that if they depend on one anoth­er and help each oth­eradapt, the long trip will be eas­i­er for them all.The book’s fun ani­mal nois­es will delight any child — andadults shar­ing the sto­ry as a read-aloud will enjoy them­selves, too.The illus­tra­tions are joy­ful and add a great deal of charm. And theupbeat end­ing con­veys the impor­tance of unity. --The Jewish Book Council