A Pilgrim's Progress

by Geraldine McCaughrean (Adaptor), Jason Cockroft (Illustrator)

An adaptation for children of Bunyan's book.

Genres: Fiction, Christian

128 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2001

About the author

Geraldine McCaughrean is a British children's novelist. She has written more than 170 books, including Peter Pan in Scarlet (2004), the official sequel to Peter Pan commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital, the holder of Peter Pan's copyright. Her work has been translated into 44 languages worldwide. She has received the Carnegie Medal twice and the Michael L. Printz Award among others.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

First sentence: I had a dream last night. Like moonlight through the window of my cell it fell on me: not so big as to fall one night; large enough to fill the rest of my life.

Premise/plot: This is an adaptation--a retelling--of the classic allegorical novel, Pilgrim's Progress. Christian, in this version, is a young boy. Hopeful, Christian's companion along the way, is a young girl. The book has been completely rewritten as prose. And most--if not all the names--have been changed. For example, Obstinate and Pliable become Ob Stinate and Mr. Bendy. Because Christian is a young boy--not a married man with a wife and children of his own--there is no room for the sequel. Also the order of events have been shuffled around a bit.

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I did. I can't say that I like it more than the original. But I'm not sure it was written to replace the original at all. I liked the writing, for the most part. I do like how it ended.

I cannot describe what Christian saw when he came face to face with the King, nor what Hopeful felt when all her hopes were fulfilled. I woke too soon. And besides, no one can dream the Unimaginable; I shall have to cross the River myself before I can say exactly what the City of Gold contains. I would not have chosen to wake. But I did. I am awake now. Time to get up then, I suppose, and continue the journey. I am on a pilgrimage, too, you see. Everyone is.

[Kara Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A retelling of John Bunyan's classic for children. While I am told that there are things missing and/or rearranged from the original, I was delighted by this allegorical tale of our spiritual journey on Earth. I think that for children it was just right. It was on their level and easily understood with maybe a little explanation. The main character is named Christian and he runs into people like "Ob Stinate", "Miss Stake", "Faithful", "Hopeful", "Miss Trust", "Alec Smart", etc. He starts in his town of "City of Destruction" and makes his way through places like "Great Bog", "Vanity Fair", "Lucre Hill", and "Castle Doubting" all on his way to the "City of Gold". I really enjoyed it and the thought process it brought out and look forward to reading the original.

[Uri Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this review, I briefly address three retellings of The Pilgrim's Progress, which adapt Bunyan's Christian story (Part 1, anyway) and mostly succeed in overcoming the problems I mentioned that plague the original book:

(1) John Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress, an oversize book written by Geraldine McCaughrean and illustrated by Jason Cockcroft (1999). [That's the book you clicked on which brought you to this review.]

American readers might not be familiar with McCaughrean, a British author who's written over 170 books (!) and won the Carnegie Medal twice (including for A Pack of Lies, which I like a lot) as well as the Hans Christian Andersen Award (which has been dubbed the Nobel Prize of children's literature).

In this retelling, she makes some reasonable changes, such as to the names (e.g., Mr. Worldly Wiseman is now Mr. Alec Smart). Christian's two companions are still called Faithful and Hopeful, but Hopeful has been genderswapped and is now a woman.

McCaughrean's storytelling is excellent, and Cockcroft's pointillist art – mostly B&W with a few color spreads – is breathtaking. If you want to read Pilgrim's Progress, this version – which won the very first Blue Peter Award for Book of the Year – is probably the best way to do it.

That is, unless you would prefer a graphic novel. Here are two of them:

(2) The Pilgrim's Progress, Volumes 1 and 2, adapted by Lee Tung & Johnny Wong and illustrated by Creator Art Studio (Kingstone Comics, 2011).

The art is good but isn't winning prizes. (Some of the word bubbles are confusingly placed.) The story is faithful to Bunyan – too faithful. It leaves in minor scenes that McCaughrean wisely omitted, such as the ones that trash other religions. (These include the has-been giants Pope and Pagan, and the deadly mountain called Sinai. When someone dashes up to Christian and beats him up, the guy is identified as none other than Moses.)

One clever depiction is Christian's heavy burden of sin. When he's freed of it by accepting Jesus (a scene that appears in all the versions), the burden is revealed to be a skeletal demon masquerading as a backpack. Interestingly, Hopeful has been genderswapped in this version as well.

(3) The Pilgrim's Progress, adapted by Martin Powell (who has written hundreds of stories for graphic novels) and illustrated by Seppo Makinen (Marvel Comics, 1992).

This version is more abridged than the other two, but it still manages to squeeze in some of Part 2, about the pilgrimage of Christiana and her children. (They don't know how to fight, but Bunyan has them protected by a warrior named Great-Heart. By the way, in this version Hopeful is a man, but Great-Heart is a woman.)

Two aspects of this version stand out for me. First, the art is professional and looks exactly like a Marvel superhero comic. Second, some of the setting has been moved to the present. For example, the corrupt city at the start of the story is reminiscent of Gotham City (oops, that belongs to the other comic book company). Christian's lazy friend Iggy (short for Ignorant) looks a lot like Pee-wee Herman. In other words, the Marvel version is a hybrid of Bunyan's 1600s story and modern visuals.

[Elkaza · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was another great second-hand find for me, as I wanted to read this book again, after seeing the cartoon version of it, a few weeks ago. This was a reread for me, as I had to read this book many years ago, at university, but didn’t appreciate it, as a spiritual text, only a historical one.
But, this time, my heart was ready to hear its message, faith is a journey. However, being Catholic, I seem to edit it. Yet, this book is still a great masterpiece of storytelling, as for its time, was a stunning piece of literature. Everyone, should read the Pilgrim’s Progress, at least once in their life.

[bookblurbage · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I have been wanting to read for years. Unputdownable. Read until the end.

A great story written by John Bunyan, stays true to elements of the Bible such as the lions Christian faces (a nod to the story of Daniel) and the marketplace chapter aswell (where Christ knocks down all the market stalls).

[Kaitlin]

I really enjoyed this boo k! I’ve started it a couple of times before but never finished it. I’m glad I have now.

I love the names of the characters like Christian, Hopeful and Faithful and the different challenges they had to face to get to the City of Gold.

I found some of the words hard to understand and had to look them up but I still think this author is an amazing writer.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was rewritten for children so it isn’t exactly like the original, but the vocabulary and the writing style was still a bit complex for kids. It’s a beautiful story and the illustrations were beautiful too, but I did have to slow down and explain quite a bit along the way because of how it was written.

[Luisa Hedler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as "Kristians Resa", the Swedish translation, and it's a lovely (and at times quite relatable) allegory...

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say that I really disliked this book or that I liked it either. It was a nice read, like you would have a nice break during work. The first line of the book was my favourite part which was why I picked it up and read it
"Like moonlight through window of my cell it fell one me: not so big as to fill one night; large enough to fell the rest of my life".

The metaphors were good, the embodiment of the ideas, that are spoken of but never seen, I thought were subpar. Where I enjoyed some of the characters but didn't enjoy others, which could just be my own subjective but alas it still took something away from the story for me.
I would have loved to gotten to know some of the side characters a little better and been able to understand more of the settings that were introduced.

Maybe if I gave the original a whirl I might come out with a different opinion, but for now this is it.

[Charles Daborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just read that this book won a 'Blue Peter' award, I think that made me want to read it when I was about 10. I am now 24 and have just re-read it in advance of starting teacher training. I felt the same knowing sensation upon completion of reading second time around. This truly magical and adventurous tale gives children a great introduction to philosophical / biblical teaching and allows them to gain a deeper understanding of its meaning through its use of immersive allegorical story-telling. Embedded in each chapter are essential messages and life lessons allowing children to develop their spirituality. I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to my pupils and I am looking forward to using it in lessons.

[Nicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is perhaps based on John Bunyan's Original work, but does NOT follow the plot or story-line. Portions are rearranged and others omitted entirely. The whole tone of the book is different and makes Christian seem two-faced and wishy-washy. And although it is not written in "Olde English", it is by no means written in a modern vernacular. I was hoping for a "modernized" version of the original, since it was published in this millennia. What a disappointment!

[Lisa Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a bit cheesy, but somehow it works for helping kids understand how to do the right thing (which is often the hard thing). Geraldine McCaughrean's edition of the classic is the palatable way to go.

[Sinéad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting and thought provoking allegorical tale retold in simpler language for older children. I borrowed it from the library and decided to buy one for the home because I would like all my children to have the chance to read it.

[Philippa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing compares to the original but this is a beautifully written abridgement as a simplified overview for children (and some adults). Do go and read Bunyan's book for much more depth and meaning though.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A joy to read.

[Kirsti S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

MCL.

[Todd Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit corny and obvious, but a classic worth reading.

[Aleah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is definitely for kids because it was excruciating for me to read this.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, what a story!!! Moving, thoughtful, well written!