There's a Goblin on the Ark

In this whimsical imagining of Noah’s Ark, the animals puzzle over a mysterious noise.

What could be making that "woooooo" sound? It’s not the owls or the cows or the pigeons; those "hoooooo," "moooooo," and "coooooo," respectively. When the animals discover an adorable little green goblin, they immediately team up to drive the creature away. But soon they realize that the goblin is calling out to find their mate—the goblin is one of a pair, just like everyone else on the boat. The read-aloud–friendly text lends itself to a younger audience, with rhyming sounds and pleasant repetition. There’s even a brief exploration of the senses as the animals combat the goblin using bright lights, loud noises, and stinky odors (courtesy of the skunks). Halfway through, the story shifts to a narrative about the importance of helping strangers, no matter how different, as the animals work to unite the two goblins. The colorful cartoon animals and their emotive faces contribute to an overall coziness that bridges both halves of the tale. The illustrations depict one representative from almost every species pair with long eyelashes—an unnecessary hint of sexism. Though we’re told early on that Noah brought the animals onto the ark, no humans are seen, and the story contains no overt biblical references. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A gentle, accessible take on Noah’s Ark laced with a message of acceptance. (author’s note) (Religious picture book. 2-5)

--Kirkus Reviews

Although they were unac­cus­tomed to their sur­round­ings and to one anoth­er, the ani­mals on Noah’s ark all fell asleep on their first night. Awak­ened by a fright­en­ing sound, they join forces to dis­cov­er the crea­ture that has dis­turbed their peace­ful slum­ber. They dis­cov­er that a gob­lin has tak­en up res­i­dence on the ark, so they band togeth­er to dri­ve the intrud­er away. But when the ani­mals real­ize a pair of gob­lins is on the ark search­ing for one anoth­er, they decide to help them find each oth­er 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 oth­er adapt, the long trip will be eas­i­er for them all.

The book’s fun ani­mal nois­es will delight any child — and adults shar­ing the sto­ry as a& read-aloud will enjoy them­selves, too. The illus­tra­tions are joy­ful and add a great deal of charm. And the upbeat end­ing con­veys the impor­tance of unity.

--The Jewish Book Council