Save the Story Books in Order

Save the Story is a collaborative series in which contemporary writers retell classic works of literature for younger readers. The aim is simple and ambitious at the same time: to keep big, foundational stories alive by letting modern voices tell them again in clear, direct language. Each slim volume focuses on one tale and is designed to be read aloud as much as read alone.

Instead of abridging at random, the authors choose the episodes and images that first made them fall in love with the original. The books tend to keep the bones of the plot while softening the crueller edges, and they lean on strong, expressive illustrations. The result sits somewhere between a chapter book and a bedtime story, with enough space for jokes, moral puzzles and questions.

Jonathan Coe’s contribution is The Story of Gulliver, his version of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. He follows Lemuel Gulliver from the tiny island of Lilliput to the land of giants and beyond, paying particular attention to questions of size, power and perspective. The book keeps Swift’s curiosity about how societies organise themselves, but tells the tale in a way that an eight‑ or nine‑year‑old can follow without losing the sense of wonder.

What you can expect here is less satire than in Coe’s adult novels and more straight adventure: shipwrecks, strange cities, miniature armies and comic misunderstandings whenever Gulliver finds himself much larger—or much smaller—than everyone else. At the same time, the narration nudges readers to think about fairness, vanity and what makes a person or a country “great”.

For adults who know Coe mainly through books such as What a Carve Up! or The Rotters’ Club, this series shows another side of his writing: patient, playful, and happy to pause for an image or a quiet piece of wisdom. It works well as a shared read between children and parents, especially for families who like to talk about stories after they close the book.

If you’re reading chronologically, you don’t need to worry about order—just pick up The Story of Gulliver when you or a young reader are ready for a first encounter with Swift’s strange, enduring voyage.