Imagine... The Great Flood Book Review

Creative thinking and creative writing is a fantastic skill for writers and readers. To think outside of the box as to what might have happened or what could have happened and then take an imaginative journey down the pathways of the "what if". Discoveries, inventions, and innovative persons are rooted in this way of thinking. How can we encourage our children and get their creative juices flowing to view something in a way they didn't before?

My older two girls (age 7) had the honor or reviewing a paperback book called Imagine... The Great Flood by Matt Koceich published by Barbour Publishing and this book challenges your children to view the Great Flood and Noah's Arc in a whole new way.

Corey, a ten-year-old boy, has to up and leave all he knows and all he loves to move to a new city when his dad has a job relocation. Struggling with the changes, he is suddenly swept back into time to Mesopotamia in 2400 BC. He goes on an adventure with Shem, Ham, Japheth, Noah and their family as they gather the animals on the ark, fight and resist the Nephilim, and journey on the ark for 40 days.

This story has the common thread of the timeless lesson of having faith in God and who He is despite what our circumstances may tell us. Nearly every character continually points Corey back to the faithfulness and goodness of God throughout the story.

As Corey travels with Noah's family, he sees parallels from his own life and experiences moving to a new place with Noah's voyage of faith. He learns valuable lessons he applies to his life.

"Noah and his family had no idea where they were going, but they knew the One who was calling." (page 29)

"No matter how difficult it gets, we must never stop believing that the Lord is who He says He is." (page 31).

My eldest two daughters (both just turned 7), had an absolutely fantastic time reading this book. Once it came in the mail, they didn't hesitate to dive in. They switched off each reading a chapter out loud, but they were so engulfed in the book they would both have their fingers on the pages tracing every letter anticipating what was going to happen next. I almost got annoyed with how often they would break out laughing and how loud and enthusiastic they got when reading this book.

For instance, they thought it was HILARIOUS that Shem had never seen a cloud before. Why this was so funny is beyond me?

I got to have some cool discussions with the girls about what the Nephilim were and how there was a canopy of water around the outside of the earth before the flood. We got to discuss that this is an extra-biblical story and things in it are just speculation and not to be taken as the Bible which is absolute truth.

Alecia says,

"I really liked it because Corey learned about the Bible, Noah's story. I had fun reading it. I never knew about the Nephalim existed! But they got destroyed in the flood and I like that! Haha! I also liked that Corey saved his friend from falling into the river."

Ahavah says, 

"I think that this book was cool at the beginning to the end. I can't wait to read the next book of Imagine. MY favorite part was at the end when Corey saved his friend Noah from falling off of a railing I think it was? I learned about Noah and his family and I learned about his family I didn't know existed."

This book was exciting, engaging, and got our family to ponder deeper the story we have read over and over again. I definitely recommend this book as a great chapter book option for your growing reader :). I'm glad it's part of our library.