Bob Dylan’s “All the Animals” Turns Into New Children’s Book
Bob Dylan‘s Slow Train Coming track “Man Gave Names to All the Animals” will serve as inspiration for a children’s book bearing the same name, TwentyFourBit reports. According to artist Jim Arnosky, Dylan approved the song title for use in the project, which will feature drawings inspired by Dylan’s lyrics. A CD featuring “Man Gave Names to All the Animals” will accompany the book.
Check out Bob Dylan’s own artwork in our Art of Music gallery.
“From the first time I heard it, the lyrics created pictures in my mind of a land of primeval beauty,” Arnosky said in a press release. “I thought this vision would make a dream of a book, and I asked for Bob Dylan’s permission to make this dream come true. Happily, he said yes.” The song title itself references a line from Genesis 2:20, and appears on Dylan’s first Christian-influenced album Slow Train Coming, the first of three faith-based albums following Dylan’s conversion as a born again Christian.
“[Arnosly] has outdone himself with the lush, detailed illustrations, and we couldn’t be more delighted to have this opportunity to work with Bob Dylan,” said Sterling Children’s Book Senior Editor Meredith Mundy in a press release. Sterling previously released a children’s book dedicated to “Puff the Magic Dragon,” and its success persuaded them to publish another book by a folk legend. No publication date for Man Gave Names to All the Animals has been announced.
Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time a children’s book based on “Man Gave Names to All the Animals” has been published. According to Amazon, a children’s book of the same name was released in 1999, with illustrations by artist Scott Menchin (it was published by Harcourt Children’s Books). The ’99 Man Gave Names to All the Animals has since gone out of print, but one new copy is up for sale at Amazon for $600.
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