The Family Pilgrim's Progress

by Jean Watson, Jean Watson

Once upon a time, there was a man called Christian who lived in the City of Destruction with his wife and four children. One day he found a book that sent him on a dangerous adventure to save his life... Bunyan's beloved tale is a parable of the Christian life and has been a treasured resource for centuries. Jean Watson's modern-day translation opens his classic for this generation. Edition includes special features that explain the meaning of the various adventures and illuminate Bunyan's world and thought.

Genres: Christian

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Matthew Heyward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this at bedtime with a four year old and a six year old, a chapter a day. They both loved it. The illustrations really helped bring it to life for them. It took them a while to realise that the names told us something about the nature of a character or place, but once they had got this idea they enjoyed making predictions about what was going to happen next whenever a new situation was introduced. The book includes sections with extra information about what some of the names mean, which would be helpful for older children reading this on their own. The story is fairly brutal at times, and if you aren't familiar with the original version I would definitely read this book through yourself before doing it with small children, to ensure you are ready to deal with any questions that it may lead to. We enjoyed it greatly.

[EC Freiberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Pilgrim's Progress is a good classic family book because all the characters have names like: Christian, Evangelist, Interpreter and Charity. I also like it because it shows us that if we ignore God then we will go to Hell. I like the last chapter because when Christian and Hopeful were crossing the river Hopeful cheered Christian up so they can both cross the river. I highly recommend it!

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written so it is easy to understand. The drawings recreate the world of the original. Character studies explain some of the people in the allegory.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book illustrates and paraphrases a classic work in a way that was accessible to my young child.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really liked this book, it is one of my favourites.It is a very adventurous book.

[Damaged Goods · Rating 2 out of 5]

In which our hero recreates John Bunyan's fever dream with distinctly early-eighties illustration. A man stays quite literally on the straight and narrow, and maintains faith in the face of manifold terrifying challenges, including tripping over.

This is a competent children's retelling, but even the most wide-eyed toddler would struggle to believe our hero was in any danger of giving up at the sight of some of these perils. Strip out allegory and context to be left with a monotonous drag; keep it in for a curiosity, but it's still pretty dull.

[Nobi Nobes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book!

[L.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some inaccuracies about what Revelation says heaven will be like, a vague reference to turning away from God even way down the journey, and a few other clarifications we made along the way, but this is the version I grew up with, and I love the character sketches along the way that pull in biblical context for each of Bunyan’s characters. I feel the illustrations and text are overall very good. My 3- and 6-year-old both enjoyed this.