My Pilgrim's Progress class is a hybrid class, with recorded lectures and discussions fully online with a number of synchronous online 'remote' meetings via Zoom. And we're at the stage in semester when students have been writing assessments of different adaptations of The Pilgrim's Progress that they have found. A number of these are briefly featured in the Latest News section of this website. The latest to arrive in the mail is the Lithos Kids 'Little Pilgrim's Big Journey' adapted by Tyler Van Halteren and beautifully illustrated by Beatriz Mello. Available already on the publisher's website (and soon on Amazon), an intriguing Matrix-like offer of a red or blue cover features at the moment. The same book, but the red comes with additional stickers, small map poster, and coloring booklet. Yes, I ordered the red, and it came in just about the best packaging I've seen in a long while.
Without going into detail beyond the bearing of a blog post, what distinguishes this children's (and adults!) adaptation, besides the clarity of the language used and the overall faithfulness to key episodes of the original across its 223 pages, is the care given to set out chapter summaries at the end of each chapter, and further end of book discussion questions to aid family conversation. These questions first aim at 'Understanding the Allegory' and then at 'Applying the truth' - these latter questions have Bible verse references in keeping with John Bunyan's commitment in marginal notations to point his readers to Scripture. By way of Epilogue, the book encourages readers (and hearers of the read-aloud experience) to take away three lessons: 'Believe the King's word' , 'Follow the King's path', and 'Seek the King's city'.
Get this book for yourself, or make it a great gift for kids and grandkids in families you love this (remote) Christmas season.