Manu’s Ark: India’s Tale of the Great Flood

From ancient India comes this Eastern story of the Great Flood, lushly illustrated and retold for children. When good King Manu prays for God Vishnu to protect the world, his prayers are answered in a most unexpected way. Vishnu appears as a small fish that grows and grows, obliging the king to find larger and larger aquariums to hold him. Eventually, Vishnu reaches a gigantic size and enters the ocean. He announces that a terrible flood will drown the world and that Manu should fill an ark with plants and animals of every species. As in the biblical tale, the floods eventually subside and peace returns to the earth. Emma V. Moore’s elegantly simple storytelling, complemented by her dazzlingly luminous artwork, is an ideal introduction to this universal wisdom tale.