Baby Moses in a Basket
by Caryn Yacowitz, Julie Downing (Illustrator)
4 out of 5 stars

As Baby Moses floats down the Nile river, some animals help him drift along and keep him from harm until he arrives safely in the arms of the Egyptian princess who will adopt him.

I thought this was such a sweet story about little baby Moses! It’s nice to imagine that God really did send animals to watch over the baby.

This story is told in rhyme which is fairly good. The rhyming words are all good, but sometimes the rhythm doesn’t quite match up with enough syllables in each line. It didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the story though.

I did not like that the crocodile is one of the animals who helps. It seemed odd to me, because reptiles are not at all known for being maternal or protective the way mammals and birds might be. In fact, there are likely to be many readers who are afraid of reptiles, which doesn’t exactly give us a heart-warming or cozy book. I just thought it was a strange choice.

I loved the beautiful watercolor illustrations. The colors are bright and the art work is soft and calming. The background scenes are gorgeous with luscious vegetation around the river. So many of the scenes are cleverly designed from high or low perspectives, and even underwater perspectives. Sometimes we are seeing the basket from above as if we are flying with the birds, or from behind a row of flower blossoms, or sometimes from below with a school of fish in the river.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.