The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)

We take voyage to the right hand side of the map, and the sea is filled with wonders. I liked this book, perhaps the second best Narnia tale, and I always will. It was the first nudge that I received in the exploration of medieval literature.
This is the Narnia book with Pauline Baynes' greatest illustration, "The heartbroken Dragon"! ( )

A slight book. Some of the adventures were interesting, but it didn't hold together as a story. And Aslan laid it on pretty thick there at the end, didn't he?

I really don't know what to do with Lewis's snide implication that being a vegetarian/pacifist/progressive makes you a horrible person and parent. Blecch. ( )

The usual mixture of very clever and humorous writing and really creepy Christian message. It's a bit more overt this time around as Aslan explains that he is in Lucy's world as well (but by a different name).

C.S. Lewis was a conservative (in the modern sentence of Christian values) so the parents and school of Eustace Scrubb come in for a few snide comments. C.S. Lewis keeps it up in the next book, "The Silver Chair".

Reepicheep's swagger is fun. ( )

Each Narnia book gets better and better. In this case we are introduced to Eustace Scrubb, a thoroughly unpleasant cousin of Edmond and Lucy.

They all go to Narnia, have adventures with Caspian and then go back to England.

I find it amazing how simple and concise these stories are and yet just how engaging and wonderful at the same time. I would find myself thinking "Well, what if..., or How would this..." and I would have to pull myself back and remember that Lewis was writing this primarily for children.

And yet I was never bored, nor did I ever roll my eyes at a simplification. This was great writing. And it really shows. ( )

I love Chris Van Allsberg's cover. It captures perfectly the wandering, near-aimlessness of the story. Re-read. ( )