Roberta Arenson

Curious and kind, Prince Manu rescues a tiny fish in this flood myth from the Hindu tradition, only to discover that his new piscine friend is none other than the god Brahma in disguise. Warned that a terrible flood is coming, Manu builds a ship, taking animals and seven wise men aboard. Surviving the waters that eventually cover the entire earth, Manu rebuilds the world, peopling it again with the children he has with his wife, born from milk...

Flood myths can be found the world over, from the biblical Noah story—believed to come from the earlier Babylonian flood myth in The Enuma Elish—to the story of Watákame, the sole survivor of a great flood in the Huichol mythology of Mexico. It is always fascinating to encounter an example of this tale type with which I am unfamiliar, so I picked up Manu and the Talking Fish with some anticipation. I found it quite engaging, and appreciated author/illustrator Roberta Arenson's simple narrative and striking collage artwork, with its vibrant colors and bold shapes. The note about the story and the list of sources at the rear was most welcome, and I was interested to learn that this tale can be found in the Sataphatha Brahamana and the Mahabarata, and that it predates the Noah story. The parallels are fascinating, not just in terms of the flood itself and the divine warning, but the fact that Manu's boat comes to rest on a tall mountain. I feel that these are elements often seen in this type of tale. In any case, this is an appealing telling of this tale, and is one I would recommend to young folklore and mythology enthusiasts, as well as to those interested in conducting a unit on comparative flood myths for young students.… (más)

In this book you find many fun and silly poems. Also you find that the poems in this book are rhyming and has end rhymes and has voice of Poetry. The poems in the book also has repetition to it. Another thing I realized we that this could help students be able to count. Almost on each page and every poem verse there is an end rhyme. Also in the poems there is a Voice of Poetry within the book. The voice of Poetry that was in this book was conversation.
while I was reading this book, I felt like I was a little kid again because of how the book is structured. Also I felt that way because of how the poems are written and how the illustrations are drawn.… (más)