Okay, I admit it. The only reason I searched out read this book was because it has the legitimate honor of being the first Caldecott winning picture book... ever. And truth be told, that's probably why you've just looked it up on Amazon.com too. Admit it. You wanted to know what made this story so special that it garnered the first in a line of many prestigious works of literature. What is it about this book that's so special? How has it fared over the years? Heck, what kind of book is it anyway? Well, I'll simplify things for you a tad. First of all, the title is about as straightforward as possible. "Animals of the Bible" is pretty much just that. Picture of animals mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments with accompanying quotes from both books. You can't get any more basic.

The book begins (or at least my copy did) with a Forward from Helen Dean Fish, the woman responsible for choosing the biblical passages included in this book (coming from the King James Bible, no less). The Forward explains how Fish always wanted to compile a book such as this one due to the fact that there are so many interesting and inspiring psalms, stories, and scriptures that mention or reflect on those members of the animal kingdom. The book itself covers everything from the serpent in the garden to the cock that crowed three times for Peter. I was a little disappointed that there weren't any Revelation beasties (nine headed critters and all that), but that's just me. Illustrator Dorothy P. Lathrop is probably the real reason the book won anything at all, though. After studying the landscape of the Holy Land and animal physiology, Lathrop developed lovely pen & ink (and possibly pencil) drawings of a variety of different scenes. Though the pictures do not accompany every quote or verse in this book, they make up a large portion of the text.

If you get this book out to read to your little ones, don't expect a watered down King James Bible transcript to greet you. These puppies are long and wordy. I still don't think I fully understood the "David Saves His Sheep From a Lion and a Bear" part. Too dense for me and, by extension, probably a tad dense for your little ones. Be prepared to do all the readings. The pictures themselves are touch and go. Though Lathrop is excellent at dumb beasts, she's less skilled at human beings. In fact, some of the humans in this book have a kind of Art Deco look to them. All slitted eyes and sharp noses. Still, the pictures are rather nice and even include gigantic water serpents. Apparently a leviathan is a giant sea snake. Who knew? It seems this book still has something to teach us. Again, I was sorry to see that there wasn't a picture for every quote in this book. And in the pictures where a group of different animals saunter and carouse, Lathrop seems to have just drawn them separately without considering how they'd interact.

If you're just looking for a black and white picture book of word for word Bible quotes, "Animals of the Bible" has your ticket. Some of the individual tales here (such as Noah and his arc) have since been made into stunning picture books in their own right. I suggest you seek those out rather than force your children to sit and read this thick tomed puppy for hours on end. As a historical document it's particularly interesting, but I just don't know how many kids would get into it today. Quite frankly, it's a bit dry. Also, I very much doubt it could garner a Caldecott in this day and age. Its pictures never push any boundaries or even seem particularly unique. Still, "Animals of the Bible" is a straightforward retelling of an old text. For those of you looking for that kind of material for your children, knock yourself out. Everyone else, seek amusement elsewhere. It's a nice book but one that's outlived its usefulness (at least for children).

The pictures in this book are excellent quality for adults and some kids. It does NOT keep a child's attention with the King James Version text, and therefore has been a waste of money for me. I think in its day, it was a great book, but since the use of language has changed from King James, kids don't relate to it as well.

Still, the pictures are well-done.

Dorothy Lathrop (1891-1980) was a well-known illustrator who was commissioned to draw the pictures in this book planned by Helen Dean Fish (1889-1953), who is often listed as the author. However, Helen Fish only wrote the introduction and selected the passages from the King James version of the Bible which accompanied these beautiful drawings. The book was awarded the 1938 Caldecott Medal for best illustration in a book for children, the first Caldecott Medal ever awarded (the Melcher family had just established the Randolph Caldecott Medal). Any student of children literature probably should include this book in their collection. However, modern day children may not be too excited with the pictures. Nevertheless, the book is great to supplement storytelling from the Bible.