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Pilgrim's Progress for Kids: Two Free Retellings and How to Read Them

AllegoryChristian Life

Yes, children can read The Pilgrim's Progress, and many families have made it a household book for generations. The story is simple enough for a child to follow: a man with a heavy load on his back runs from a doomed city, loses the load at a cross, fights a monster, escapes a giant's castle, and crosses a river to a shining city. What makes the original hard for young readers is Bunyan's 1600s English and the long conversations about doctrine. That is why TheWay Library carries two free retellings made for children, alongside Bunyan's own text.

The two retellings

The Pilgrim's Progress, Every Child Can Read (ages about 9 and up)

This edition was prepared by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, the author of a well-known children's Bible story book, and published in 1909. He kept Bunyan's own story and most of his wording, changed hard words to easier ones, and cut the long arguments. He explains why in his preface:

it was not in the purpose of John Bunyan to write a book for children or even for the young.

Every Child Can Read, preface

His goal was to put the story

in such a form that every child ten years old can understand it.

Every Child Can Read, preface

This edition covers both parts of Bunyan's book: Christian's road in the first eleven chapters, then the story of his wife Christiana, her four boys and her friend Mercy, guided by the brave Great-heart. It is divided into short chapters, which makes it the easiest version to read aloud a chapter a night. It also opens with a short life of Bunyan written for young readers.

The Pilgrim's Progress in Words of One Syllable (early readers)

This retelling, credited to Lucy Aikin, tells the whole story using only one-syllable words, except for the names. The preface says it was meant for new readers of any age:

it is intended for Adult Beginners, no less than for Children.

Words of One Syllable, author's preface

Here is how the cross scene reads in it:

Just as Christian came up to the cross, his load slid from his back, close to the mouth of the tomb, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.

Words of One Syllable, Part I

That makes it a good first chapter book for a child who is just learning to read, and a quick read-aloud for little ones. It is short, about two hours of reading in all, and it has two parts like the original: Part I for Christian and Part II for Christiana and her boys.

Which one to choose

Many families go through more than one. A child who hears the one-syllable version at six will know the story well enough to enjoy Hurlbut at nine and Bunyan at fourteen. Hurlbut said the same:

Every child should read the Pilgrim's Progress as a story if no more than a story; should read it until he knows it by heart. And the older he grows the deeper will be the meaning that he will see in it.

Every Child Can Read, preface

A reading plan

Here is a plan for the first part using Hurlbut's chapters. One chapter a night takes under two weeks.

  1. Chapter I: Christian leaves the City of Destruction, falls in the Slough of Despond, and is led astray by Mr. Worldly Wiseman.
  2. Chapter II: the Wicket-Gate and the Interpreter's House.
  3. Chapter III: the burden falls off at the cross; the Hill Difficulty; the lions; the Palace Beautiful.
  4. Chapter IV: the fight with Apollyon and the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
  5. Chapter V: Christian meets Faithful; they meet Talkative.
  6. Chapter VI: Vanity Fair.
  7. Chapter VII: Hopeful, By-ends, Demas, and Doubting Castle.
  8. Chapter VIII: the Delectable Mountains and the Shepherds.
  9. Chapters IX and X: Ignorance, the Flatterer's net, and the Enchanted Ground.
  10. Chapter XI: the land of Beulah, the river and the Celestial City.

When you finish, keep going with Christiana's story, starting at Courteous Companions. Children often love the second part even more, because it has children in it.

Questions to talk about

Keep the questions short and let the story do the work. A few for each stage:

Tips for reading aloud

For parents

If you want to know the story well before you start, read the stage-by-stage summary and the characters guide, which explains what each person and place stands for. The key quotes make good memory lines for older children. And for a story about the man himself, a poor tinker who went to jail rather than stop preaching, see Who Was John Bunyan?

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