Shortlisted
• Amelia Francis-Gibbon Award for Illustration, 1993
• Mr Christie Book Award

Quill & Quire, (Starred Review)
"The story of Noah and the ark is a perfect and well-loved subject for a picture book. In Two by Two, Barbara Reid tells the traditional story by writing new verses to the old song "Who Built the Ark?" This form allows her to relate the story succinctly but with imaginative words and images: "The sky had sprung so many leaks! That whales swam over mountain peaks."

"The pictures tell the story too. They are full of action, as the traditionally clad family hurries to prepare the ark. Reid's characteristic three-dimensional Plasticine artwork is particularly effective in a double-page spread of the ark's frame rising on dry land against a blue sky. But as is only right, the animals are the stars of this picture book - and they are a delight. Each pair has a heft and a texture and a way of moving particular to it.

One of the book's great strengths is that it can be enjoyed in several ways. The words can be read or sung (music is included) and the story told from the pictures alone. Some small children will be drawn to a favourite page over and over again. Or, they may simply want to name all the animals, from frogs leaping over a kangaroo at the beginning to bats blinking in the sun at the end. However the book is used, all the elements work together in a most satisfying way."

Booklist, Chicago
"each page offers new visual delights which bring this fascinating biblical story closer to the younger generation."

Publishers Weekly
"Three-dimensional artwork of extraordinary richness highlights this verse retelling of the Noah story by the illustrator of The New Baby Calf. Reid's vibrantly coloured, sculpted Plasticine illustrations give her pictures the illusion of depth seldom achieved with conventional techniques. The intricate spreads teem with activity rendered in real-as-life tactile detail: characters wear robes trimmed with textured embroidery; Noah's long beard descends in whorls like white icing on a cake; every painstakingly moulded fin, feather and strand of fur on the arkful of animals begs to be touched. The palette is equally impressive, as the cloud-filled sky darkens and lightens again with the passing of the storm, and the deep blues of the sea offset the pinks and oranges of the sun-drenched landscape. There are cleverly crafted shifts in perspective, too, notably a bird's-eye-view of the animals boarding the ark."

Kids Toronto Magazine
"A new book illustrated in Barbara Reid's Plasticine art is always a treat worth waiting for. Two By Two tells the Noah's Ark story. A variation on a old folk song that has the animals coming in two by two, three by three, ten by ten, the text is just a skeleton for Reid to flesh out with her incredibly detailed pictures. From her other books we know how cleverly she textures plasticine to give every tactile sensation from fur to feathers to
elephant hide. Here she also uses what in many hands would be an intractable medium to create a sense of the flow and fold of middle eastern garments from the peasant woman's tunic to a wealthy merchant's turban. Your children will love reading the pictures to
find what mischief the animals are up to. My favourite picture, especially for a Where's Waldo-type hunt, is the cross-section of the loaded ark."

Canadian Materials
"This well-produced, colourful picture-book is a "must have" addition to any collection. Young ones will enjoy and quickly learn the rhyme when it is sung, and older children will enjoy the chance to read the verses by themselves. The wide age range to which this book appeals makes it an excellent choice for any home, school or library collection."