Baby Moses in a Basket

by Caryn Yacowitz, Julie Downing (Illustrator)

Overview

The story of a tiny baby’s epic journey—and the surprising help he gets along the way—in a touching, transcendent picture book.

In the time of the pharaohs, a loving mother saves her son by tucking him into a basket and setting him afloat on the wide, wild Nile River. Over one long night, the creatures of the Nile—Curious Ibis, Mama Hippo, Mighty Crocodile—watch over Moses, nudge him on his way, and keep him safe through catching reeds and a raging storm. As morning breaks, the river delivers the baby safe and sound into an unexpected safe haven—the welcoming arms of the pharaoh’s daughter. With a poetic text and sumptuous watercolors, Caryn Yacowitz and Julie Downing introduce the youngest readers to Moses and the Exodus story and weave a warm, reassuring tale of love and comfort. Ideal for Passover and year-round, this universal story invites little ones of any faith to experience a thrilling journey in perfect, protected safety.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536206098
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/02/2021
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.38(w) x 9.81(h) x 0.36(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Caryn Yacowitz is a playwright, speaker, and the author of several picture books. She lives in California.

Julie Downing is the illustrator of more than forty-five picture books and a professor of watercolor and children’s book illustration. She lives in California.

Editorial Reviews

02/08/2021

This book’s wordless opening spread offers a moment of intense drama: a woman looks anxiously over her shoulder while extending her arm toward a basketed infant carried away on a river. But as Moses floats toward yet-unknown safety, Yacowitz’s gently rolling rhymes and Downing’s inventively framed watercolors—rendered in washes of emerald, citrine, and lapis—he enters a world far more benevolent than what he faced on shore. An ibis nudges the basket out of the shallows with its beak, “Mama Hippo, like a mountain,/ rises upward from the deep” to move him along, and “Mighty Crocodile” shelters him during a sudden storm. By the time Pharaoh’s daughter lifts Moses from the water in this quietly beautiful story, it seems that all of nature has determined to protect the infant. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

The story of the Exodus from Egypt begins for the very young. . .The full-bleed watercolor illustrations depict a lush and detailed setting of flowers, butterflies, and fish. . .Sweet and pretty.
—Kirkus Reviews

. . .As Moses floats toward yet-unknown safety, Yacowitz’s gently rolling rhymes and Downing’s inventively framed watercolors—rendered in washes of emerald, citrine, and lapis—he enters a world far more benevolent than what he faced on shore. . .By the time Pharaoh’s daughter lifts Moses from the water in this quietly beautiful story, it seems that all of nature has determined to protect the infant.
—Publishers Weekly

The simple yet beautiful lyrical poetry and Julie Downing’s soothing wildlife illustrations give both adults and children a sense of God’s peace. It’s a creative retelling that parents and children can read together again and again.
—WORLD Magazine

From the Publisher

2021-01-13
The story of how the Exodus from Egypt begins for the very young.

Ever so carefully, a mother casts off her baby, carefully wrapped in a blanket, in a basket. Fish swim around Baby Moses. An ibis lands close by and frees the basket that has become entangled in reeds. The tiny hamper keeps floating on the busy river Nile, past boats and attentive hippos. Mighty Crocodile shelters it in a storm. Finally, the pharaoh’s daughter gently picks up the baby and holds him close. The story of the infant Moses is, of course, the beginning of the tale of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt. Families familiar with the opening lines of Exodus, Chapter 2, may welcome this account, told in rhyming quatrains, as part of the holiday celebration of Passover. There is no note or afterword that provides a credit or context, which could cause confusion or even concern to some readers. Moses is named from the beginning rather than by the pharaoh’s daughter, who plucks him from the Nile at the end, which will disorient readers who know the story and mislead those who don’t. The full-bleed watercolor illustrations depict a lush and detailed setting of flowers, butterflies, and fish, and they captivate in a way the text does not. Even the crocodile, with its tail wrapped protectively around the basket, manages to appear comforting. Moses, his mother, and the pharaoh’s daughter all have brown skin.

Sweet and pretty—but limited in its audience appeal. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews