A Pilgrim's Progress

I don't think I ever imagined I would read A Pilgim's Progress to a class and have them absolutely gripped. The children are constantly asking if we can read some more. The larger edition with colour pictures is my favoured version for reading in class, but this book is so packed with vivid language and moral challenges that the children almost forget about illustrations. In fact, when I showed the illustration of Apollyon, they were disappointed, in that they felt the illustrator hadn't quite got the horns in the right place! This shows the degree of engagement they had with the text. Certainly the children have developed a much better understanding of metaphor, and they constantly have ideas for what each character and place represents. It is also lending an opportunity to discover stories from the Bible, and to talk about them in the same vivid way as this book retells A Pilgrim's Progress. At recent Student Led Conferences, many of the children wanted to talk about this book with their parents! My first introduction to A Pilgrim's Progress was Beth, in 'Little Women'. I have always wondered, and wanted to know more about it. This book has been a joy to read and share, and has helped me approach the orginal with much more enthusiasm!

I had been looking for a "children's" edition of Pilgrim's Progress, and this one is excellent! The pictures are somewhat updated and clear, readily identifiable by children. This was exactly what I was looking for.