Despite a suc­cinct, straight-for­ward text, this sto­ry of Jon­ah cov­ers all of the bases. The prophet’s attempt to run away from God, the storm aboard the ship to Tarshish, Jonah’s three days inside the bel­ly of a giant fish, his jour­ney to Nin­eveh, his frus­tra­tion with God’s plan to quick­ly for­give the sin­ners, and even the part about the vine and the worm are all includ­ed. As with the author’s pre­vi­ous works, Let My Peo­ple Go!, The Queen Who Saved Her Peo­ple, and Mac­cabee! (all Kar-Ben Pub­lish­ing), the rhyming text is fun to read aloud and the ​“Oh No, Jon­ah!” refrain will invite par­tic­i­pa­tion. The dig­i­tal­ly pre­pared, mixed media illus­tra­tions are tex­tured with bold col­ors and the mul­ti-cul­tur­al cast of char­ac­ters is vibrant and expres­sive. While Jon­ah and the Two Great Fish by Mordi­cai Ger­stein (Simon and Schus­ter, 1997) and Jon­ah and the Whale and the Worm by Jean Mar­zol­lo (Lit­tle Brown & Com­pa­ny, 2004) pro­vide a more fleshed out retelling of the sto­ry, Balsley’s ver­sion can serve as both an intro­duc­tion to the sto­ry and as a spring­board for dis­cus­sion. Rec­om­mend­ed for ages 5 – 10.