[(The Ark, the Reed, & the Fire Cloud )] [Author: Jenny L Cote] [Nov-2009]

The Amazing Tales of Max & Liz #1

by Jenny L. Cote

A magical adventure of animals traveling worldwide to Noah's ark and their year spent aboard where heroes Max and Liz foil a plot by a third stowaway snake to finish off the human race by wiping out Noah's family.

Genres: Middle Grade, Christian Fiction, Christian, Childrens, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adventure

Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

Award winning author, speaker and producer Jenny L. Cote developed an early passion for God, history and young people, and beautifully blends these passions together in her two fantasy fiction series, The Amazing Tales of Max and Liz® and Epic Order of the Seven®. Likened to C.S. Lewis by book reviewers and bloggers, Jenny L. Cote opens up the world of creative writing for students of all ages and reading levels through fun, highly interactive workshops. Jenny has appeared to over 30,000 students at lower, middle, high school and universities in the US and abroad. Jenny's passion for research has taken her to London (with unprecedented access to Handel House Museum to write in Handel's composing room), Oxford (to stay in the home of C.S. Lewis, 'the Kilns', and interview Lewis' secretary, Walter Hooper), Ireland, Paris, Normandy, Rome, Israel, and Egypt. Her books are available online and in stores around the world, as well as in multiple e-book formats (Kindle, Nook, etc.). Jenny holds two marketing degrees from the University of Georgia and Georgia State University. She lives in Roswell, Georgia, with her family.

Reviews

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jenny actually came to my school before this book was published and we were allowed to receive a copy before its release. I'm no longer a Christian but I love this book so much, and I'm a firm believer that you don't have to be affiliated with Christianity to enjoy her work. This book is a wonderful read and is the earliest influence in my writing I can recall.

[Manda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this one with my kids, and while it was an OK read, it didn't thrill me like the third book of this series did (which I read first because it was given to me). The author acknowledges up front that her book is fiction based on fact, and she points the reader to the book of Genesis for the true story of the events. That being said, I did talk to my kids about certain fictionalized elements and why they HAD to be fiction. For instance, the land was not divided into the separate continents until after the flood. So the animals would not have needed to cross oceans to get to the ark. (And even if there were different landmasses, modern-day countries wouldn't have been in existence.) Also, the confusion of languages at Babel hadn't happened yet, so everyone would have spoken the same language. Are these huge problems? I guess not. But since they figured heavily in the plot, I decided to point them out. Speaking of my kids, they LOVED the book and couldn't wait to read each night.

[Tarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did find this book to be interesting, as it told the Bible story of Noah's ark from a different point of view – the animals' view of the events taking place. That is what made the book fun, cute, unique and kid-friendly. However there are certain points of the storyline that I didn't enjoy. Miracles do exist, but the one that took place in "The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud" seemed ridiculous that the animals were performing miracles. I got used to it though and there were quite a few of these "miracles" spread throughout the first half of the book. It was the second half – when the animals reached the ark – is when my mind was blown by the liberties the author took at really dressing up the Noah's ark story. I'm not saying that this huge miracle that took place in the ark couldn't have happened, but the Bible doesn't say how it happened. I'm afraid that some children who don't know the story well enough might believe many of the fictional things mentioned in the book.

"The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud" was a cute book to read and actually, I'm glad that I took the time to read it. There are just many issues that I don't agree with. For anyone (adults and children alike) familiar with the story of Noah ark coming straight from the Bible with the exact historical facts, then my suggestion is to read the story (in Genesis) both before and after you read this book. Just to keep your facts straight.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was soooo good! I highly recommend it!

[Lynnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little story. With all books relating to biblical stories, I think it's important to talk with children about the artistic licenses that authors choose. That being said, I feel like the author did a good job staying away from heresy. It was pretty long. Especially since I would say the intended audience is probably 10 to 14 year olds. I do feel like the first 60% or so of the book was just establishing characters and although interesting things happened, there wasn't really any drama. Sometimes it felt a little boring.

[Jake Auton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite childhood books, and it still stands as an amazing book! Jenny L. Cote did an excellent job bringing this story to life! Her research into different cultures and sayings was well executed throughout the whole book. The character development was heart-warming. The plot was fresh even though pretty much every person who will read this book knows Genesis's Noah story. Readers of all generations will be enthralled by this tale and walk away with profitable insight for the Christian life.

[Ben Orner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with the kids. Great way to experience Biblical stories and timeless truths.

[Jana Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series! Yes, it is written for kids and, yes, I did just read it to myself as an adult. Sweet, imaginative, thought-inducing, godly. Just plain good reading.

[Lark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not the target audience for this book, considering that it is for devout Christians, but I think it is important to bring awareness to the slurs, racism, and other offensive material present in the book.

An exact sentence in the story:

"Konnichiwa, Max," said a pair of rats who bowed low in respect as they greeted him, smiling with big front teeth and heavy Asian accents.

In some World War II propaganda, Japanese people were offensively portrayed as rats, and being depicted with big front teeth is another degrading caricature against East Asian people. Using rats to represent Japan, and calling attention to their big front teeth, is grossly based in racism. On top of that, saying "heavy Asian accents" is extremely ignorant considering that Asia is a diverse continent consisting of at least 48 countries.

Besides that, the animals from Trinidad all speak with an accent that is written without tact. There is even a glossary in the back of the book explaining that "allyuh" means "all of you", "buh wait nuh" means "wait a minute" (instead of saying that it means 'but wait now'), and dem/dey/dis means they/them/this. It doesn't help that the first animal to noticeably speak in this manner was a howler monkey, so I initially perceived it as yet another layer of racism.

A gorilla mocks a human by calling him a "moffie boy". Moffie is a slur in the Afrikaans language that is derogatory towards men who are gay or perceived as gay. Even if Christians oppose gay people, it is highly inappropriate to use this derogatory term in a children's novel.

A beaver says her husband is "a little bit bipolar". Bipolar Disorder is a chronic mental illness that millions of people suffer from having, so to flippantly use it as an adjective is highly disrespectful.

There is fatmisia, not only in the characters making fun of the chubby cat Albert and saying he needs to lose weight, but also by saying that the grumpy female chicken character (who is rude to her husband) might become happier if she loses weight.

Shem's friend, Avi, is described as betraying God by marrying a "foreigner". This is later clarified as "godless foreigner", but regardless, why put any mention of the wife being a foreigner at all? It gives the impression that being a foreigner is automatically a bad thing, which is a harmful mindset to instill in children. Later, when the Earth is starting to flood, Avi rushes to board the ark but it's "too late" for him to have changed his ways and he dies. Basically, God killed Avi because he married a "godless foreigner".

The book is anti-intellectual. Liz the cat is a clever character who seeks a reasonable explanation for everything despite believing in God, but her intellect is presented as a negative trait to be overcome. Her having "too much" intellect is mentioned as possibly being her greatest flaw because it "doesn't leave much room for faith" and her character arc leads to her faith outweighing her intellect, which is stated clear as day once it happens. "Intellect" is a peculiar word to focus on in a negative light, and I remember "logic" being mentioned as an inferior trait to faith as well. Why does intellect have to be a separate thing from faith? Is the author truly admitting that you need to stop thinking logically in order to believe in God?

That is everything I can remember regarding blatantly ignorant and offensive material. Surely a book condoning racism, xenophobia, fatmisia, misogyny, ableism, and anti-intellectualism cannot be appropriate for children's minds?

Now that that's out of the way, I will briefly cover my thoughts on other aspects of the book.
___

The prose is appealing and descriptive enough, and I easily envisioned the story as being an entire animated movie. You cannot really envision the animals as real animals since they do some human-like acts such as clapping, hugging, dancing, and so on. I really enjoyed the main characters, particularly Liz and the comic relief Albert, and I liked their dynamic of an intelligent and sophisticated lady cat falling in love with a goofy, lazy boy cat. I just didn't like how they fell in love instantly, which was the case for the main dog characters as well.

The book is somewhat long for its target demographic of 8-12 year-olds, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the story could have been cut down significantly. There are silly shenanigans that take up a lot of pages but don't serve much purpose such as the flamingos teaching an acrobatics class on the ark, and the animals holding a talent show. Then there are times when events are skipped over, such as during the animals' journey when it is mentioned that the animals endured many tribulations "including another encounter with the wolves". Why mention this without expanding upon it?

Overall, I do like the writing style in terms of characterization and imagery, and I think the plot is fine for what it is. It's a typical journey plot of the characters following the fire cloud to get to the ark, meeting other characters along the way. Brief chapters focusing on Noah and his sons are sprinkled throughout. If you are not a devout Christian, the book gets annoyingly preachy - I went in expecting a Christian book, of course, but the messages were very heavy-handed and irritating. You're not actually brave, God just gives bravery to you. Doing what makes you happy is sinful. Non-believers are evil. Don't think about anything or question anything, just trust in God. I get it!

I gave it two stars instead of one because a few of the characters have merit and because it wasn't TOO hard for me to get through the book. While the humor is obviously directed at children, you should be careful about giving this book to a kid as it could religiously indoctrinate them. I guess it's okay for already-religious families to read together. You just need to have critical conversations about the offensive material the book shamelessly portrays.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my 8 year old daughter, and it quickly became a favourite to both of us. I had to force her to listen to the first three chapters (she wasn't keen on my attempt at a Scottish accent :) ), but after that she was begging me for more chapters. Great if you want to dramatise different accents, lots of fun! Great truth about faith in this book, and some interesting possibilities of the hows of the Noah's Ark story. There were events in the second-last chapter that were tragic to my sensitive daughter, but we talked through them and everything was okay in the end. This book is sufficiently meaty that I'm glad that we did it as a read-aloud, because it gave us opportunities to discuss some of the concepts raised.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not well researched theologically or scientifically, which was really distracting from the plot. Beavers came from Canada to go to Noah’s ark…except there wasn’t “Canada” yet. Some imaginative/creative freedom was taken—hello, talking animals!—but it has implications. Satan as a snake is on the ark and that’s the reason evil still exists, and not because man is sinful. A deeper understanding of the Bible and science could’ve made for a much, MUCH better story. Nonetheless, it’s a sweet story. Though drags on at times.

[Sharon Weinschreider · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book with my son. Not my favorite and I didn’t enjoy reading it aloud because of all the accents/voices I had to attempt. It was an odd mix of Bible, mystery, nonsense, magic, and heavy- handed young earth creationism. It’s also about 100 pages too long. When the author brings in creationism, it’s written in a different tone. So all of a sudden a talking dog sounds like he’s reading a textbook.

[Jeanne Castle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book aloud to my kids ages 7-14. It went on FOREVER; the actual flood was shorter. A lot of it seemed to be about nothing. And all the accents made it challenging as a read-aloud. All in all, not one I'd pick up again.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was truly an AMAZING book... I loved it.

[Phoebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall well worth the read.

THE STORY
This story imagines how the animals aboard Noah's ark got there in the first place and how they managed to live in an ark far from their natural habitats for over a hundred nights. It follows the journeys of various different animals (yes, talking ones) from all over the world as they heed the Maker's call to follow the Fire Cloud to Noah's ark.

The main animal we follow is a lovable Scottish terrier named Max who has no idea where he's going or why other than to follow the Maker's Fire Cloud. Among other problems, an especially hard challenge comes when the Fire Cloud moves over a big channel of water, far too long to swim across. Max comes up with an idea to ask his old friend Craddock, an English Whale, to carry them across. Once they've crossed, Max realizes that not being able to cross the water will also pose a problem for a lot of other creatures trying to follow the Fire Cloud so Max enlists two birds, Crinnan and Bethoo whose job would be to keep a look out up above for any animals needing to cross and then alert Craddock who would transport the creatures smoothly on his big, rough back.

Continuing along the way we meet other animals coming from all around the world, all following this mysterious sign from the Maker. One of those animals is an intelligent French cat named Liz. Max and Liz become the leaders of a group with the animals they've met and come to be friends for the remainder of their journey. Liz's natural ability to find a logical explanation for everything and Max's faith in the Maker prove to be a good combination of traits for leading the group through many obstacles including escaping wolves who are notorious for getting into mischief. Finally, after getting through many different challenges through a combination of logic and faith, the creatures make it to the Ark where they begin the long journey, not knowing where they are going or why.

Meanwhile, Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japeth are finishing the final preparations of the ark and preparing for the arrival of the animals. We see the pain and heart ache that Noah's family feel as they know they'll have to leave their friends to destruction after trying to plead them to believe and warn them of the coming flood. But God's message to Noah had been clear. Noah had now followed God's instructions and would be in charge of finding ways to keep the animals healthy during the long journey.

​Once all of the chosen animals are aboard the ark, a series of strange events start to take place and it seems as though someone is out to get Noah and his family. The animals have come into a series of issues like how will they keep from getting bored or growing lazy? They have to solve these by themselves since the humans can't understand them very well. As if all of this wasn't enough, Max, who is now being treated like a hero by all of the animals on the ark because of his idea that ended up providing transportation over the water for all of these creatures, is starting to turn to whatever voice is telling him what he wants to hear rather than relying on the true voice of the Maker's. But what will happen when Max is needed to save Noah's family?

WHAT I LIKED. WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE.
I LOVED this book and I'm so glad I read the book. However, if I'm going to be picky, I do have a few notes. For me, there were some points in the middle of the book during the animals' journey that just didn't have very much action or plot so that didn't keep my interest very much although when I came to the exciting parts, I was so completely hooked. I also would've loved even more chapters from Noah and his family's perspective. My favorite thing by far about this book was just the concept--how imaginative it was while still completely making sense and holding true to what we know about the real story in Genesis. I would for sure recommend this book. I can see any reader aged 7 to age 16 enjoying it and also it'd be a great read aloud option for families!

[Hawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my 5 and 7 year old boys, to their great delight. They absolutely adored it and would giggle at parts and even cried at one point. It’s a take good for little ones or young readers (I’d perfect for 7-10 to read themselves if they’re strong readers, or reading aloud to ages 3-10)

Originally, I bought this book for my daughter when she was 8 or 9. She ADORED it but was less into the next book in the series. But she SHE loved this one.

Although it is indeed inaccurate in that it is a fictionalized account of the story of the Ark, told from the vantage point of some of the animals, it has a lot of charm and actually some very accurate details (like the sending out of a raven before the dove, that God closes the ark, etc.). It does use Irish, Scottish brogue, Australian, French, Spanish and Russian accents which I found a little challenging but so much fun to try to do moderately believably. Still, that is of course fictionalized because there was one language and the Tower of Babel diaspora had not yet occurred. Still, it gives a more vivid experience of the variety and distance animals traveled, and a bit more interest - so I can see why the author opted for using language variety.

As an adult, I thought the story was fairly simple but pleasant to read aloud and enjoyed some insightful perspectives to thinking about the reality of the story. At points I did find it a bit boring but my kids didn’t, and I still overall enjoyed reading it aloud to them. Although I was able to pretty easily identify some of the plot, some of it really did surprise me and catch me off guard; my boys didn’t see any of it coming.

Overall, I would recommend this pretty highly to little ones, or as a personal reader for middle or upper elementary aged kids who love animals.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an entertaining read as an adult! Also great for an elementary and middle-aged child.
Jenny L. Cote has managed to give the bible story of Noah's Ark a little fun with the main characters and their mate; two dogs, Max(Scottish Terrier from Scottland) and Kate( another terrier from Ireland), two cats Al( an orange ball of fur) and Liz ( a black petite from France)
They started their journey alone, following a fiery red cloud that the Maker has told them to follow. They each form a friendship and do not know where and why they need to follow the fiery red cloud. The journey is fun, dangerous and quite the adventure as they meet many other animals with the same destination; to go across Europe all the way to the Middle East.
There Noah is building his Ark with his sons, unaware as of yet why and not knowing that two of every creature on earth is heading his way.
As they reach the ark there is something evil that will cause problems. Someone has snuck on the Ark is out to kill Noah and his family. Of course, the main characters Max, Kate, Liz, and Al all try to figure who this evil one is and will they have to pay a high price to stop the mystery guest.

The kids ( myself included) will learn geography, culture, trivia, science and bible references of love and faith.
Great story and I highly recommend it. I can hardly wait to find the other books by Jenny.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started very slow with choppy simplistic sentences that I thought were going to drive me crazy. I've tried to read it to my kids when they were younger a couple of times, but they were never interested in continuing. I knew I'd not get through it unless I listened to the audiobook so I waited for a free audible trial since it's not available for my library to buy on Libby or hoopla apparently.

It did get better and while I thought the voices were maybe slightly exaggerated and possibly stereotypical, he covered a lot of ground throughout the Worldwide Animalia chapters, which I appreciated. The sentence structure did seem to mature also.

It was an interesting look at the Biblical story of Noah and the Ark from both the human and animal perspectives, with reverence to God's provision and promises throughout. There are also seeming explanations for naming things (a stretch) and miracles.

Two gripes: I don't think using bipolar as a seeming punchline/basis of a joke was in good taste at all and at the very end- when she describes the rainbow, she says "red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple" and I was disappointed she didn't end with "indigo and violet" as that would be the full visible spectrum of light.

Overall I may still see if my 11 year old will want to read it, now that I can say it gets better after the beginning, but I won't be surprised if he doesn't.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where are the dinosaurs?!

This book was so disappointing: not historically accurate (current continents didn't exist pre-flood yet animals come from "Canada" for instance, and speak with accents and phrases in different languages, there are "habitats" that spontaneously grow in various stalls in the ark, and no dinosaurs); some content not in good taste and fairly intense for children ("bipolar" is used jokingly several times, a bird from Guatemala is name-called "garbage eater", and the death of the people in Noah's town, including a friend, is described); and poorly written and edited (typos galore, about three hundred pages too long, abrupt back and forth between animal and human characters, weird "husband and wife" references for animal pairs, annoying "accents" spelled out, and more...). Some may also quibble with the character of Satan being onboard the ark as a snake, and the two main animal characters being resurrected (after being bitten by the snake) and "granted" immortality by God.

[Janey Wilksch · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I did like this, I found that I enjoyed "The Prophet, the Shepherd and the Star" (which I read last year) much more. This is a cute story, and it was great to ponder how God may have catered for the animals on the ark. However, I couldn't quite get over some of the historical and scientific inaccuracies - such as, there were not yet continents at the time of the flood, and what countries there were certainly would not have been called by the names we now know them as! Ireland would have been called Hibernia or even Scotia, and probably had another name even pre-dating Greco-Roman times! France would have been known as Gaul or Gallia! Likewise, the languages used would have been somewhat different to what we know of today. I do wonder if perhaps this was an intentional "mistake" on behalf of the author so as not to confuse her predominantly older child/young adult readership?

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this story based on the biblical story of Noah's Ark to be inventive, inspiring, and fun! The author has managed to keep the true elements of the original story in place while imagining how God would have provided for Noah, his family and the animals. Whether the imagined parts are true or not (remember this is a work of fiction), I found the story to be God honoring and inspiring and truly a pleasure to read. The story covers not only the building of the ark, animals entering the ark, and lots of rain, but it is a story about friendship, community, caring for one another, having courage, and seeking divine wisdom for the journey. It is a worthy read for your late elementary/middle schooler and adults too!

[Eleynore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I wasn't feeling good, and man... i am glad i did. I felt so happy and i forgot about everything except this book. It was so fun following along these animal friends, and as they meet more animals heading to the ark, and we even get a peek at Noah's family before the flood, and during it, and after it. And the battle with the devil as a cobra was fun too... but i don't want to spoil anymore.. but i will warn you, there is a tragedy that happens to max and liz, and even though i knew all was going to be fine since i got my sister to spoil it for me... i still cried, so i guarantee you will cry if you don't know... but lemme tell you, don't be sad... all will be AMAZING!!! <33333

[Henna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved reading this book!! My husband’s nephew has been wanting me to read this book for the longest time and I’m so glad I finally got to!

I love how this book is a historial/fabtasy fiction based on the true story of what happened in the Bible with The Ark. I love how the author said that she used everything accurate from the Bible and had fun imagining what happened with the animals and their journey’s. The animals were so cute! 🥰 I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

This story taught me that we need to put our faith first in Jesus for everything, and second is logic.

[Bogdan Ciubotariu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nu aș citi cărți pentru copii dacă jobul meu nu ar presupune acest lucru. Într-un singur an am tradus zeci de volume – de la Biblii pentru copii și romane creștine pentru adulți, până la lucrări teologice. Totuși, cea mai mare bucurie o am atunci când traduc ficțiune biblică pentru cei mici.

Jenny L. Cote este o autoare extraordinară, care îmbină într-un mod fabulos istoria, narațiunea biblică și ficțiunea, transformând această carte într-o adevărată capodoperă. Dacă ai un copil, oferă-i această carte – îți promit că îi va schimba viața.

Cartea va fi disponibilă în lunile următoare pe librariamaranatha.ro.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells the story of Noah's Ark from an entirely fresh perspective, that of a cat and a Scotty dog. It's well-written, child-appropriate, and got me immersed in the Bible like I've never been before! Jenny Cote has written The Ark, The Reed, and The Fire Cloud as the first in a series about immortal animals, who travel throughout biblical history helping some of the Bible's most prominent figures. From journeying to Egypt along with Joseph, to helping Handel write the Messiah, Cote has thoroughly changed the way I experience and read God's history. A must-read!

[Lindsay Woodward · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beloved by our entire family. The way the author weaves spiritual lessons and scripture throughout the story is beautiful and challenged me as I read it. My boys looked forward to reading it each night and made me buy the second one in the series the minute we finished this one. The story of Noah’s ark came alive to our whole family through this story and made us so thankful for and in awe of our awesome God!

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the optimism and idealism, as well as the message about kindness to animals and diversity. But I do understand that the original story is also a metaphor not to be taken literally. I took the anachronisms as falling under the rule of funny. I do believe there is a Maker- but I also have an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and believe in science being able to explain everything eventually.

[Alesa Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this to my 10 and 7 year olds as a bedtime story. We enjoyed it immensely. The book follows the animals as they are called to join Noah on the ark, their time in the ark, and their departure. The last 4 chapters were the hardest for my kids (spoiler…a couple beloved main characters died, but God rose them back to life), but we pushed through to the happy ending.

If I could give this more than 5 stars, I would.

[Allie Carlisle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun, yet deeply impactful read. When taken for what it is, historical fiction, it’s incredibly easy to enjoy. Yet there are almost-devotional qualities to this book that cause the reader to turn inward and reflect on the glorious character of God, the Maker and how He draws us into deeper dependence upon Him. I loved the way the author so masterfully wove biblical reality into a fun, fictional adventure. Can’t wait to start book 2!

[Christy Gould · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, really. It wasn’t quite good enough to be as long as it is. I really disliked the last bits, in which God is speaking to animals as if he has given them the ability to make rational decisions. I’m not against animal characters, but having God speak to them went too far, in my opinion. But the kids loved the story overall.