Reader Louise has a favourite classic book to share with you... and it's one with a real wintry flavour!
Louise says:
THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE by C.S. Lewis is my favourite children's classic ever. I read it from the local library when I was in primary school and I was totally enthralled by it, the imagery of hiding in a wardrobe filled with fur coats and moving through the coats to find the crunch of snow underfoot was so, so powerful for me, I will never forget it or love an image as much! Things just keep getting better, too - a magical land where it is always winter and never Christmas, an evil witch on a sleigh who gives you Turkish Delight, a faun who invites you to tea, a heroic lion who makes you into a pre-teen freedom fighter... it's a perfect book.
Once I was hooked on the book, I read it several times and found out that the book was part of the CHRONICLES OF NARNIA and there were others in the series... they fitted both before and after THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE. There was one with guinea pigs that I was obsessed with for a while, and one with a flying horse... they are all amazing in their own way, and completely magical. There was a film as well, and I got a DVD of that and watched it over and over. I got a boxed set of the books for Christmas and that was possibly the pivotal moment I went from enthusiastic reader and library user to geeky bookworm girl and would-be writer.
I am at uni now studying English and I am writing an essay on British children's literature. It makes me smile that I can write about the book I loved so much as child, and study he way it was put together. Mostly, though, I am just thrilled that I picked that book off the shelves when I was ten or so, the perfect age to begin to understand it, and that I had the series to dip in and out of all through my teens. Children's books are not just for children, you see, they are for everyone who needs a little bit of magic in their lives... and no book is better to open the door to that than THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE! How many marks would I give it out of ten? Eleven, at the very, very least!
Cathy says:
I absolutely love this book too... I know exactly what Louise means about the magic! Have YOU read it? Or do YOU have a favourite children's classic book you'd like to tell us more about? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!
THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE by C.S. Lewis is my favourite children's classic ever. I read it from the local library when I was in primary school and I was totally enthralled by it, the imagery of hiding in a wardrobe filled with fur coats and moving through the coats to find the crunch of snow underfoot was so, so powerful for me, I will never forget it or love an image as much! Things just keep getting better, too - a magical land where it is always winter and never Christmas, an evil witch on a sleigh who gives you Turkish Delight, a faun who invites you to tea, a heroic lion who makes you into a pre-teen freedom fighter... it's a perfect book.
Once I was hooked on the book, I read it several times and found out that the book was part of the CHRONICLES OF NARNIA and there were others in the series... they fitted both before and after THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE. There was one with guinea pigs that I was obsessed with for a while, and one with a flying horse... they are all amazing in their own way, and completely magical. There was a film as well, and I got a DVD of that and watched it over and over. I got a boxed set of the books for Christmas and that was possibly the pivotal moment I went from enthusiastic reader and library user to geeky bookworm girl and would-be writer.
Cathy says:
I absolutely love this book too... I know exactly what Louise means about the magic! Have YOU read it? Or do YOU have a favourite children's classic book you'd like to tell us more about? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!
I was never really into the Chronicles of Narnia but I agree with Louise when she says children's books aren't just for children. I'm still a massive fan of A Series of Unfortunate Events despite the fact they're marketed for pre-teens and I'm into my 20s. The thing is, kids see the magic and joy whilst adults see the message hidden under it all. As a child, I loved reading the adventures of the plucky young Baudelaire orphans, rooting for them to uncover Count Olaf's latest evil scheme and relating heavily with Klaus, the bookworm, all the while. It may not have been The Happy Little Elf but it was gritty whilst remaining fantastical and I loved it. I still do love it. Because I read the books as an adult (why not?) and I feel I understand it better now. Some of the messages are blatantly obvious and literally spelled out for you (Vernacular Fastening Device anyone?) but some of them are a bit more subtle and really make you question your own moral stance. Klaus himself likens it to the idea of looking into the abyss but remembering that the abyss also looks into you and being sure not to become a monster in the process of fighting monsters. But how easy is that, really? Anyway, I'm getting too deep here. My point is that reading what one considers to be children's books can actually be really rewarding and insightful as an adult. Never let age suggestions limit you when it comes to literature. Being well-read is indeed a virtue.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Harry Potter helped me learn a bit of Latin so y'know, there's a lot of knowledge to be gained from children's books!