Tower of Babel
Excerpted from the Book of Genesis
Adapted by Alison Greengard
Illustrated by Carol Racklin-Siegel
EKS Publishing Co., 2001
ISBN: 978-0939144358
The story of the Tower of Babel is found in chapter eleven of the Book of Genesis. This Bible story has been adapted for young readers by Alison Greengard, and is accompanied by illustrations of silk paintings created Carol Racklin-Siegel. The story centers around a group of people, who all spoke the same language, as did everyone in the world at the time. They decided that they wanted to build a tower to the sky. G-d, for reasons that you will need to decipher on your own, decided to confuse (mix up) the language of man so that now, instead of just one common language, there were many. This made it difficult for people to work together for a common a purpose. In addition, G-d took this opportunity to scatter the people over all the earth.
It is fitting that this story, The Tower of Babel is printed in two languages, two of just the many languages that G-d created when he confused the language of man. This right-opening book is printed with the original Hebrew text from the Bible, along with a simplified English translation for young readers on the same page. For those studying Biblical Hebrew, you'll find a literal, English translation of the story toward the end of the book, along with a glossary of the Hebrew words found in the text.
The Tower of Babel is the second book in the EKS Publishing Company's series of Bible stories designed for young readers. The book begins with a short introduction that explains the importance of the story of the Tower of Babel, and the lessons that can be drawn from it. This, and the other books in the series are all ideal for reading aloud to pre-readers. They also are excellent texts for use in the home, and at school, for students just beginning their study of Biblical Hebrew. The glossary at the end of the books contains not only definitions for the Hebrew words found in the text, but also a guide to their pronunciation.
Although not published as a large print book, the bulk of the text in The Tower of Babel is in large print. The book's introduction, and the English and Hebrew text of the story appears to be in at least a 18-point font size, and the literal translation at the end of the book is in 16-point. The book's glossary, however, is in a 12-point font, which is why this book is technically not a large print book. However, for those needing or desiring a large print book to read aloud to your kids, or to use to study either Hebrew or English, this book, along with the other books in EKS Publishing's series of children's bible stories, may be just what you are looking for.
Related Reviews:
Rebecca, adapted by Alison Greengard.
The Biblical story of Rebecca and how she came to marry Isaac comes alive in this adaptation for children.
In the Beginning, adapted by Alison Greengard.
The first two chapters of the book of Genesis, recounting the story of the Creation, have been excerpted and adapted for young readers in Bible story for children.
