Today’s “Why I Love Wednesdays . . .” post is all about children’s books. Now, if you read my previous WILW post on a Childhood Book Friend, found HERE, you might recall that I can’t remember what my favorite book was as a child. Maybe I didn’t have one. The world may never know . . .
So, I’ll be talking about a book—or rather, book series—that I remember loving as a child: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. This series is probably what began my obsession with the whole Fantasy genre. If you haven’t read the books, you’re missing out. The same goes for the movies. They’re excellently done. (Ben Barnes playing Caspian in the second and third movies is just an added bonus.)
There are two ways you can read the series: either in order written/published, or in the world’s chronological order. I’ve read it both ways, and I kind of like it in chronological order. Since I originally read it in order published when I was a child, I’ll discuss it that way.
The series begins with four siblings in the real world—World War I Era England. They find a magical land called Narnia in an old wardrobe. (If you don’t know what a wardrobe is, it’s sort of like a freestanding closet.) There they meet a fawn, some talking beavers, and other creatures. They are told that the land is under an enchantment cast by an evil witch and that the children must help break it.
The children also meet a talking lion named Aslan. He was there at the creation of the world, and he is the only character who is consistently present throughout all seven books. one great thing about the books is that even though most of the characters aren’t in all the books, the author did a fabulous job of connecting the characters together.
I won’t spoil the end of the series. I will, however, say that I was extremely surprised. I think it’s a great series for both children and adults. My eleven-year-old cousin is currently reading the series—I can’t wait to ask him what he thought of them.
