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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)

by C. S. Lewis

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
42,70673033 (4.1)800
Four English schoolchildren find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter.
  1. 171
    The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (FFortuna, Polenth, Omnigeek)
    Omnigeek: Classic Welsh mythology transformed into a children's fable enjoyable for all ages. The Book of Three is the first of Lloyd Alexander's pentology, The Prydain Chronicles, and starts the growth of young orphan (and Assistant Pig Keeper) Taran into a man.
  2. 90
    Five Children and It by E. Nesbit (Polenth)
  3. 103
    The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (GWoloszczuk)
    GWoloszczuk: Another story were a child goes to a fantasy world.
  4. 1914
    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling (Patangel)
  5. 40
    The Secret Country by Pamela Dean (wordweaver)
    wordweaver: This is a YA novel that takes the group-of-kids-discover-a-portal-into-a-fantasy-world idea found in the Narnia books and uses it to explore issues of the imagination. The world the children in this story encounter appears to based upon a fantasy game they had been playing, and many elements of that game were influenced by books the children had read, clearly including the Chronicles of Narnia.… (more)
  6. 97
    The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (krizia_lazaro)
  7. 20
    Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (MissBrangwen)
  8. 10
    The Door Within by Wayne Thomas Batson (multilingualmaid)
  9. 10
    A Soul as Cold as Frost by Jennifer Kropf (Anonymous user)
  10. 21
    A Walk out of the World by Ruth Nichols (bookel)
  11. 11
    Abarat by Clive Barker (Scottneumann)
  12. 00
    Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu (BookshelfMonstrosity)
    BookshelfMonstrosity: Ruled by a white witch, a wintry forest - enchanted and treacherous -- doesn't deter a young girl from trying to save a spellbound friend. Filled with fairy tale elements, both of these affecting fantasies speak to universal longings.
  13. 11
    The Thief of Always by Clive Barker (Scottneumann)
  14. 00
    The Storm Keeper's Island by Catherine Doyle (MissBrangwen)
  15. 00
    Elidor by Alan Garner (Anonymous user)
  16. 00
    The Riddle of the Trumpalar by Judy Bernard-Waite (bookel)
  17. 00
    Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski (JenniferRobb)
    JenniferRobb: Both books have children passing through a portal into a different world. Mlynowski's is the fairy tale world of Snow White; Lewis's is Narnia and is a Christian allegory.
  18. 11
    What I Learned in Narnia by Douglas Wilson (CherylLonski)
  19. 00
    The Wand: The Return to Mesmeria by Allan W. Eckert (bookel)
  20. 00
    Challenge of the Trumpalar by Judy Bernard-Waite (bookel)

(see all 33 recommendations)

1950s (10)
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» See also 800 mentions

English (701)  Spanish (7)  Dutch (3)  Finnish (2)  Italian (2)  Hungarian (2)  Portuguese (Portugal) (2)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  Polish (1)  German (1)  Danish (1)  Greek (1)  All languages (724)
Showing 1-5 of 701 (next | show all)
One of my favorite books! It is hard not to like it! ( )
  Curtisjm | Jun 6, 2023 |
Independent reading level:Grades 3-5
Awards: The John Newbery Medal, National Fantasy Fan Federation Speculative Fiction Awards, Retro Hugo Award ( )
  Amber_Vickers | May 4, 2023 |
Independent Reading Level: 4th Grade
Awards/Honors: None ( )
  Taylorsapp | May 4, 2023 |
I remember reading this series as a child and not understanding some things, so im rereading it now that I know more.

This is probably the story out of all of the books that I remember the best, partially because I also watched the movie a few times. I'm surprised at how close the movie was in my recollection.

I definitely understand more now, especially with the deep magic and Aslan's sacrifice. I look forward to reading the rest of the series and understanding even more. ( )
  BarnesBookshelf | May 2, 2023 |
You'd have to be pretty hard-hearted not to enjoy "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", at least as a nostalgia hit. There's no surprise that it has become such a prominent part of so many childhoods, with its fascinating idea of a world reached through someone's wardrobe, where bored children on summer holiday can find white witches and talking lions. It's an ideal escapist story for kids (very much in the 'Harry Potter' vein) and - unlike a lot of today's rather bland children's literature - has a real sense of being a story that can be shared. Lewis' narrative voice is wonderful, somewhere between "kindly adult" and "co-conspirator".

Of course, there is the religious element, which isn't so prominent here as in the later books, but which can leave an uncomfortable taste. Not that I think we should begrudge all items from other eras because of their cultural biases, but if I ever have children, I'd want to be able to explain to them why they should take the whole resurrection business with a grain of salt! Still, it doesn't take away from the childhood magic of this book, even if Philip Pullman is probably a worthy successor-cum-replacement! ( )
  therebelprince | May 1, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 701 (next | show all)
When I began reading the story, it seemed well written but the fairy-tale atmosphere was curiously cut-and-dried... Two of my daughters re-educated me. I made the mistake of reading them the first chapter, and since then it has been two chapter a night, sometimes followed by tears when a third chapter is not forthcoming.
added by Ankit_Kumar | editThe New York Times Book Review, Chad Walsh (pay site) (Nov 12, 1950)
 

» Add other authors (30 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
C. S. Lewisprimary authorall editionscalculated
Baynes, PaulineIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Birmingham, ChristianIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bovenkamp-Gordeau, Madeleine van denTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dan San SouciIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dillon, DianeCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dillon, LeoCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hague, MichaelCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hane, RogerCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hämäläinen, KyllikkiTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lavis, StephenCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mac Lochlainn, AntainTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nielsen, CliffCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rettich, RolfIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Tetzner, LisaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Van Allsburg, ChrisCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
York, MichaelNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
Dedication
To Lucy Barfield
My Dear Lucy,
I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be
your affectionate Godfather,
C. S. Lewis
First words
Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.
Quotations
"It means," said Aslan, "that though the witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still, which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."
"How stupid of me! But I've never seen a Son of Adam or a Daughter of Eve before. I am delighted..."
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Unabridged. Please do not combine with any abridged edition.

Please do not combine ISBN 0007206054 (abridged movie storybook) with original full-length book.

Please do not combine The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with The Chronicles of Narnia.

ISBN 0001857010 is also an abridged version.
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Wikipedia in English (3)

Four English schoolchildren find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary
Though some gender roles

are outdated, the story

stands the test of time.

(CathWhitney)

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