Using Classics to Teach About God: A Review of Little Pilgrim's Big Journey

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this book from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Teaching our children about God is an important part of our homeschool day. While there are complete curriculums available, sometimes it is nice to include a story that will allow us to spend more time together. Little Pilgrim's Big Journey, published by Lithos Kids Press, would make a wonderful addition to your read-aloud time for your preschooler, kindergartener, or first grader. We are currently using this beautiful hardcover book and the coloring book during our homeschool lessons. 

About the Book 

Little Pilgrim's Big Journey is John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress fully illustrated and adapted for the next generation by Tyler Van Halteren with illustrations by Beatriz Mello. This hardcover book is 223 pages long with thick, glossy pages and a red ribbon to mark your place. There is a lovely place to dedicate the book to your own little pilgrim, a brief introduction to the life of John Bunyan, and an explanation of an allegory. All the people and places in Little Pilgrim's Big Journey are meant to teach readers important lessons. To help readers – both children and parents – understand the allegory, there are chapter summaries as well as questions at the end of the book. 

If you have never read Pilgrim's Progress, I recommend you set aside time to do so. For your younger children, Little Pilgrim's Big Journey will provide an excellent introduction to this wonderful allegory by John Bunyan. Children will read of Christian as he leaves the city of Destruction carrying a huge burden, receives advice from the Evangelist and Good-Will, travels the narrow path, journeys through the Valley of Humiliation, meets other pilgrims, and, in the end, he is welcomed by the King in the Celestial City. 

"Believe the King's Word...Follow the King's Path...Seek the King's City" 

Our Thoughts 

The story is written and adapted in such a way as to make it a lovely read-aloud. Reading Little Pilgrim's Big Journey makes for a nice break from our homeschool lessons as well as enjoyable bedtime reading. I have snuggled up on the sofa to read with both our first grader and our third grader. They are both intrigued by the story and while our third grader more easily answers the questions, our first grader has brought up the story outside our reading time. I think the story is reaching both of them and helping them better understand God. 

In addition to Little Pilgrim's Big Journey, Timberdoodle also provided us with a copy of the coloring book to review. The beautiful illustrations are repeated as black-and-white line drawings for children and adults to color. One could copy the colors from the hardcover book or you could pick your own color scheme to create original pictures. Our first grader and I have been coloring a page during her homeschool studies. It is nice to sit and discuss the events depicted in the coloring book as they relate to Little Pilgrim's Big Journey. The quality of the pages in the coloring book is thick and easy to color upon. We have only used colored pencils for our pictures so far and the pages, so I am not sure if markers would bleed through or not.

I think my favorite part of Little Pilgrim's Big Journey is how it has brought our children and me closer together during our homeschool time. I really appreciate the chapter summaries, which allow me to review the point and reason behind each chapter. And the questions that help one dig deeper into the allegory are a wonderful blessing. Sometimes as parents, we need that extra bit of help to bring the message home to our children. 

Little Pilgrim's Big Journey with its bright, colorful illustrations and the accompanying coloring book would be a welcome addition to any Christian home. It is a wonderful introduction to allegories for our young children, so not only will it help children on their journey with their faith but also in their language arts lessons.

Looking for more products from Timberdoodle? Be sure to read my review of Battle Sheep and Clumsy Thief Junior.