Editorial Review

“Oh No, Jonah!, by Tilda Balsley, illustrations by Jago. A straightforward verse retelling of the story of Jonah, with a refrain younger kids will love to chime in on: ‘Oh no, Jonah!’ (Jonah screws up a lot.)

I appreciated that the text correctly refrains from calling the big fish a whale and tells the story of the sheltering plant as well as the one about the fish. And Jonah comes off, properly, as a whiny pill.

‘Preach,’ said Jonah.
‘That’s not fun— Ragging, nagging everyone.
Who will thank me when I’m done?
I’ll tell you who: Not even one.’

Jago’s textured, luminous illustrations look painterly, but they’re digital, made entirely on a Mac and with an iPad. (‘I could tell you how I make each picture, but then I’d have to kill you,’ he says cheerfully on his website.)”