Thursday 17 October 2019

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis - The Chronicles of Narnia

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Chronicles of Narnia Book #1 Publication Order
Chronicles of Narnia Book #2 Chronological Order
C.S. Lewis 
Harper Collins
ISBN 9780064471046
eISBN 9780061974151
ASIN B001I45UF


I first read this book in the early 90’s while a student at Queen’s University. Having grown up with a dual form of Dyslexia I never really read children’s books when I was a kid. And buy the time I could read them I never went back. I read this book for personal pleasure in the 90’s and then in the early 2000’s I read it in a children’s literature course at the University of Waterloo. And I have just finished reading it again with my youngest two children.  Two years ago, my son got a boxed set of the books. And we read The Magician's Nephew almost immediately. But we kept reading other things, until this one was on a list for this school year.

All three of us love this story. After reading Further Up & Further In: Understanding Narnia by Joseph Pearce I understand even more why this story can still captivate and have a hold on me almost 30 years later. And I love that I am introducing these stories to my children. And that after watching the newest iterations of the movies and the BBC Wonderworks editions, that they want to read the books, and notice so many of the differences. I have read the books in both orders, the order they were published and the chronological order. With my children we are now reading them in chronological order.

If you have not read the book or seen any of the adaptations on either large or small screen let me tell you about this book. It is a story set in war time England. The four Pevensie children have been sent to the countryside because of bombings. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy find them self in a large old strange home, with an old strange professor as their host. In this volume the door between our world and Narnia opens and there are three tips across the realms. First Lucy, then Lucy and Edmund at the same time but separately, and finally all four children make the trip. Narnia is under a spell of the White Witch, who calls herself the Queen of all Narnia. The story is of the cosmic battle between good and evil. Between choice and responsibility. Between doing what you want and at times choosing what you ought and should. And you will learn about consequences, weather we are aware of them or not.

My children loved the book. And often we read longer than was needed for their signature for school. They love the incident after the stone lion is unfrozen. The Giant amused them. But most of all they fell in love with Aslan. He might not be safe, but he is good. 

We loved the book and will soon return to the next volume. And ever after 30 years, and multiple readings, this book easily gets 5/5 stars from me. And so I encourage you if you have not read this book, or you have children to read it to, pick it up and go Further Up & Further In!



Books by C.S. Lewis
Narnia Publication Order:
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Last Battle

Narnia Chronological Order:
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

Other Reviews of Lewis's Books.
A Grief Observed
The Four Loves
Out of the Silent Planet
Perelandra
That Hideous Strength
The Dark Tower and Other Stories
...









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