I’m looking for an illustrated book, vertical format, that featured all the strange, bizarre, mythical creatures that did not make it onto the ark. There was a looming storm approaching and many of the illustrations show the rising water level of the approaching flood. The artwork was very dark, surreal, and nightmarish, in an unusual style similar to Hieronymus Bosch paintings.
Each page had a different creature and I can remember just a few of them:
• One was two-headed, and for each head was a gun. The two gun-heads were pointed at each other.
• A creature had a body of a glass bottle with long arms and webbed fingers, swimming in the water.
• A creature that had a paddle or oar for a head.
I don’t recall an explicit connection to the story of Noah’s Ark, but instead maybe just a subtle connection.
Hope this rings a bell!
The story was very similar to Countee Cullen’s “The Lost Zoo” but the illustrations were much darker and surrealist in nature.
I also remember a detail about the flood water rising throughout the course of the book.
Solved!
Roll Call: The Story of Noah’s Ark & the Worlds First Losers.