This paper explores how Genesis 22:1–19 has been retold to young readers by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago in The Jesus Storybook Bible. The study addresses a lack of resources to evaluate children’s Bibles in two ways. First, it offers a method of analysis that can be used to explore Bible stories for children. Second, it puts the method to use by exploring the interplay between text and image to show how Lloyd-Jones and Jago faithfully retell the story of Genesis 22:1–19 for young readers.
Methodologically, the paper offers a comparative approach that utilizes textual and visual analytical tools. Historical critical biblical scholarship and narrative critical approaches inform the analysis of the base-text, Genesis 22. Media analytical approaches developed by Marshall McLuhan serve to identify gaps within both texts. Finally, Vasiliki Labitsi’s Visual Narrative Analysis Model explores the ways that Jago’s illustrations work with Lloyd-Jones’ text of “The Present” to tell the story. Utilizing these approaches allows each text to be analyzed, compared, and evaluated.