A Children's Bible

In a story concerned primarily with outlining humanity’s devastation of the natural world, animals feature prominently as reminders of the widespread consequences of global warming. Evie’s conservation-minded brother Jack has learned about the “sixth mass extinction”—a calamitous dying off of countless species and genera due to human activity—and A Children’s Bible dramatizes the growing vulnerability of the many animals that people often take for granted. As Jack points out, animals are not at “fault” for the growing dangers of human-caused storms, floods, and widespread environmental damage. Throughout the book, Jack takes on the role of the animals’ Noah-like savior, as if to do penance for the sins of his own species. Significantly, the parents possess knowledge of animals, and show off this expertise by comparing Val, an avid climber, to a variety of monkeys such as gibbons, macaques, capuchins, and marmosets. However, they tellingly expend their knowledge in ersatz wit instead of putting it to more constructive use; this pattern highlights their general betrayal of science and the potential of the human mind. By contrast, Jack and his friend Shel become the novel’s moral center as they go to heroic lengths to find shelter for countless animals threatened by the storm.