The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (original 1950; edition 1970)

This book takes place in a fantasy world, where a group of children during war times are sent to a home. Here they find a wardrobe that transports them to a magical realm where the evil queen has taken over. The children find out they are the "chosen ones" and work to help the creatures take on the evil queen.

There continue to be things that you pick up as an adult, even after repeated readings. I did not pick up quite as many "new" things this time through. However, it was interesting to realize how the picture of Aslan changes in the books. In LWW, Aslan sometimes walks like a man and this picture changes somewhat as we go through the Narnia books (note the cover of the book). The entire portrayal of the talking animals is at a beginning stage (yet another reason to read LWW first).

The book sets the stage for all of the Christian themes to follow. ( )

So, this is my first time reading this book and I was highly impressed with C.C Lewis' writing. It is an infrequent occurrence for me to go back and re-read sentences or paragraphs just because I find them fascinating, i.e., the combination of words themselves, not the story. Anyway, I thought the book was great mostly, I thought the ending was not as strong as it could have been. Partly, because I found the characters like Mr. Tumnus and the Beaver's to be more interesting than Aslan. I also wasn't fond of Lewis' roles he chose for the girl characters, i.e., Lucy and Susan. For example, this is Father Christmas giving Susan a bow "You must use the bow only in great need," he sad, "for I do not mean you to fight in the battle". And when Lucy asks why she shouldn't fight because she thinks she is brave enough he responds "that is not the point...battles are ugly when women fight". And towards the end of the book, the girls cry and dance more than anything else. Also, it became very clear to me that Aslan was supposed to represent Jesus, so much so that I became distracted by it. But his writing style is so strong that I would recommend this book to young adults in a heartbeat. I would make sure to let them know the book was written in the 50's when women's roles were far different than today though. ( )

I have loved this story since I was in elementary school! There is something so magical and child-like and exciting to think that at the back of a closet, a whole other world could be waiting for you to walk into it. Can't say enough about how wonderful this story is. Rich with detail, imagery and it encourages a child's imagination like no other. Not much in the way of illustrations but I'm sure there are other versions out there with lots of illustrations to accompany the story if you're looking to have images to show alongside the story.