The Book of Jonah - Hardcover

Spier, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385379099 ISBN 13: 9780385379090

Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2015

Synopsis

Two-time Caldecott illustrator Peter Spier’s visual retelling of a favorite Bible story is back in print! In a tale full of action, adventure, and strife, Jonah is asked by God to tell the people of Nineveh to mend their wicked ways. Fleeing from this enormous task, Jonah sets sail and is thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish. What follows is Jonah’s journey to acceptance of God’s love and grace.
 
A reference section at the end of the book shares historical and geographical notes about the story, including details about the ship Jonah might have sailed on and a fascinating discussion of the ancient city of Nineveh and the location of its ruins in present-day Iraq.

About this title

About the Author:

On his arrival in the United States in 1952, PETER SPIER became one of this country's most popular and renowned illustrators. His books, acclaimed by critics and readers alike, have won numerous awards and honors: Noah's Ark won the Caldecott Medal and The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night was a Caldecott Honor Book. People was awarded the Christopher Medal and was also nominated for an American Book Award and received the National Mass Media Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews for "outstanding contributions to better human relations and the cause of brotherhood." Mr. Spier was born and educated in Amsterdam. Before coming to the United States he served in the Royal Dutch Navy. He illustrated over one hundred books, and his work can be found in museums and private collections across the country. In addition to illustrating and writing, Mr. Spier was an avid and celebrated builder of model ships. Peter Spier died in 2017, at the age of 89.

From Publishers Weekly:

Scholarship and artistic imagination inform the second work based on the Bible by the Caldecott Medalist. Like Spier's version of Noah's Ark, his story of disobedient Jonah retains the drama of the original, and the full-color pictures are wonderful, enhanced by details that mark them distinctively Spier's. Older boys and girls and adults will find the author's afterword additionally absorbing. He cites studies that place the story of Jonah between 400 b.c. and 200 b.c. by a writer aiming to prove that sincere repentance wins God's forgiveness. There is a history of Nineveh illustrated by maps showing ancient and modern areas, the latter pinpointing the city's ruins today. This is where God commanded Jonah to go and urge the citizens to reform, a duty he tried to escape by taking a ship to Tarshish, only to sink into the belly of the whale before getting a second chance to obey.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0385379099
• ISBN 13: 9780385379090
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 40