Last year we read aloud the new illustrated edition of Little Pilgrim’s Progress. This is Helen L. Taylor’s retelling of the classic John Bunyan tale, and newly illustrated by the talented Joe Sutphin.

The characters are all woodland animals and while some of the events are simplified for younger readers, the overall message of the book remains intact.

Like the original telling, Book 1 recounts the story of Little Christian, a young rabbit living in the City of Destruction, who hears about the King and the Celestial City. He is then encouraged by the owl Evangelist to set off on his journey to the Celestial City. What follows is a wonderful retelling of Bunyan’s tale of Christian’s journey as he travels along, meeting many others, on his way to the Celestial City and the King.

Book 2 is the tale of Christiana, Christian’s young rabbit friend. While she doesn’t believe him at the time, after Christian leaves the City of Destruction, Christiana eventually sets off with her younger siblings – brothers Matthew, James and Joseph, and baby sister Innocence on their own journey to the Celestial City.

We actually read the John Bunyan’s unabridged version aloud during our morning time the previous year, and while I enjoyed it, I do think some of it was harder to understand for my younger children – mostly due to the language. I love that this version makes the story more readable for younger children without dumbing down the content.

I could go on and on about the illustrations! I follow Joe Sutphin on social media so I saw him post “in progress” pictures as this book was in development, and I couldn’t wait for the finished product. I absolutely adore the illustrations that go along with this story.

And I am excited to share that a companion coloring and activity book will be released in October!

As an aside – and look for a post once this releases – Joe Sutphin has also illustrated a graphic novel adaptation of Richard Adams’ Watership Down. So fans of Joe Sutphin – rejoice!