Susan Campbell Bartoletti’s lyrical lullaby imagines the creatures on Noah’s Ark being soothed by the singing of Naamah, Noah’s wife. “She sings and strokes their hair at night; / She sings a bedtime prayer at night. / She sings for moon to fill the night; / She sings for stars to thrill the night.” Bartoletti’s entrancing narrative is based on a ghazal, an Arabic poetic structure in which a pair of rhyming words in each couplet precedes the ending word, which is the same for every line in the poem. The transition from restlessness to ease described in the narrative is echoed in Holly Meade’s lovely collage illustrations spanning each page spread, which show animals and people on the Ark in Naamah’s care. An author’s note shares more on the origins of the story in Bartoletti’s imagination and the mysteries of Noah’s wife among scholars. Honor Book, 2012 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 3–7)

As Noah’s wife sings the animals to sleep, an age-old tale is told afresh in a soothing poetic form brought to life with beautiful collage illustrations.

Naamah is the wife of Noah, and her name means "great singer." For forty days and forty nights, as the ark tosses on storm-wracked seas, Naamah sings. She sings to the animals, two by two. She sings to her husband, her sons, and their wives. She sings, and they all sleep, finally at peace. Acclaimed author Susan Campbell Bartoletti’s rhythmic, lyrical text pairs with Caldecott Honor winner Holly Meade’s luminous collage for a cozy, tender lullaby, and an ode to the power of song.