The Biblical Flood Story as Retold for Children : The Dove, the Rainbow and the Unicorn

Collated for the first time ever, Emma England presents a detailed methodology for analyzing the content of biblical narratives as they have been retold for children throughout the ages.

England complements her literary analysis of the means of presenting biblical tales to children with a rigorous quantitative analysis of which elements of the Genesis flood were included in 273 re-tellings published in English, in England, between 1837 and 2006.

England uses this research to provide a close reading of the ideologies presented in between the lines of word and image.

England demonstrates how the interpretations have increasingly less to do with the biblical text and more to do with biblical norms for children.

This shift in emphasis has resulted in the gradual transition from realistic and historicized depictions of the biblical story to fictionalized and fantastic versions.

England discusses the implication of this ideological shift, and draws a parallel between the increasing consumerism of the children's bible market and the increasingly fantastic renderings of the bible stories. A companion website includes the qualitative information for all 273 re-tellings, and includes copies of the images for the reader's reference.