I was very young, when one of my favorite teachers started reading "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe," which is the first book I read in the series. I was so disappointed when the teacher read right up to the part about getting through the wardrobe and then stopped. She never got around to finishing the story...but later I did.

This is a story of four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, who are sent into the country to live with Professor Kirke because of the air-raids on wartime London. On their first morning, the weather is awful, so they play indoors.

"What's that noise?" said Lucy suddenly. It was a far larger house than she had ever been in before and the thought of all those long passages and rows of doors leading into empty rooms was beginning to make her feel a little creepy. --The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Lucy finds a "wardrobe" with a door hidden in the back. Because I lived overseas at the time I knew what a "wardrobe" was and actually had one in my own bedroom. The wardrobe is actually a magical door to Narnia and she enters a snowy magical world filled with talking animals. I was just fascinated when the teacher read this: ... And then she saw that there was a light ahead of her; not a few inches away from where the back of the wardrobe ought to have been, but a long way off. Something cold and soft was falling on her. A moment later she found that she was standing in the middle of a wood at night-time with snow under her feet and snowflakes falling through the air ...

This is the order I read them in, but my friends here at Amazon recommended I read them in the new order:

1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 2. Prince Caspian 3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 4. The Silver Chair 5. The Horse and His Boy 6. The Magician's Nephew 7. The Last Battle

The Magician's Nephew is my second favorite book. Voyage of the Dawn Treader is perhaps the most memorable because of all delicious imagery and talk of the sea. I loved Reepicheep the Valiant Mouse, he was so cute but so brave.

There are tales of magic books, sea adventures and someone naughty turns into a scary dragon (great lesson). To find out if they stay a dragon you have to read the books and I won't spoil the ending for you. All I can tell you is that when you start reading these books time won't stand still as it does when these children jump into a picture and start an adventure aboard the Dawn Treader. These books are nothing short of magical. The imagination of Lewis is so powerful that the numerous images become a part of you and you remember them forever. Through the books, C. S. Lewis weaves the morals and beliefs children need to learn. Aslan, the Lion, has great significance.

I love ships and sailing and intend to learn more when I have time. Could I have gained my love of travel from these books? I believe it! I will always thank the teacher who read these books to me, wherever she may be!

Life of C.S. Lewis DVD

Perhaps the Perfect C.S. Lewis Documentary, March 1, 2007

The beauty of the Oxford campus and the natural wildness of the English countryside is captured in especially warm images. This documentary goes into more details and shows C.S. Lewis' home on a sunny day with a garden in full bloom. The camera sweeps across Oxford, showing statues, focusing in on the detailing on iron gates and shows people wandering about on Addison's walk.

Within the story of his life, Lewis Scholars present their ideas about his life and give glowing testimonials of his work. They explain how the unifying elements in his writing gives them appeal to all denominations and comment on how he would have reacted to his work being adapted for film.

It is fun to learn about how he loved to read Medieval romances and that he responded to all his letters while he continued to teach and publish even more books. His friendship with Tolkien is briefly discussed and they mention how Tolkien disliked the mixing of mythologies. They also show original drawings and pictures from the The Chronicles of Narnia.

In the past few years I've been researching more of the life of C.S. Lewis and have begun to read more of his work. "The Magic Never Ends" is perhaps the perfect C.S. Lewis Biography for those interested in his scholarly pursuits. There are also quite a few extras to enjoy:

Introduction to C.S. Lewis
Tour of The Kilns
Tour of the Cotswolds and Oxford University
Interview with the Writer/Director
Bibliography - A section that includes a listing of 38 books written by C.S. Lewis and numerous books written about his life. My personal favorites are "A Grief Observed," and "Mere Christianity."

~The Rebecca Review

Life of C.S. Lewis DVD - Marriage and Personal Life

Life of C.S. Lewis DVD - Fireside Chat

As a child, my father would read me books by C. S. Lewis that you would assume would be far beyond a child's understanding and yet at a young age, this writer captured my heart. His Narnia books birthed in me a love for reading and his life is an interesting study in soul growth and maturing through life's complexity.

In this brief dramatized introduction to his life, we enter a world where C. S. Lewis talks about his life while sitting by a fireplace. This has the feeling of a fireside chat with portrayals of C. S. Lewis' discovery of true love, his life as a writer and his struggles to accept the reality of God's existence, all while he says he was angry at God for not existing. There are some great moments of humor throughout.

If you have read the work of C. S. Lewis, especially "A Grief Observed," then "Beyond Narnia" presents a deeper understanding of how C. S. Lewis lost the woman he loved. I found myself caught up in the tragic romance, the intimacy of the conversations and the stories of his life in Oxford.

The filming locations are beautiful, libraries and historic settings add intrigue. I suppose the only thing I felt a little distracted by was how C. S. Lewis' beliefs about God were presented. While most of the aspects of his conversion from atheism to Christianity seem correct, I think at the point at which he would have been telling his story, he would have been less critical of God. Reading Mere Christianity gives a much more in depth look at his true feelings.

It seems true to say that the more you learn about C. S. Lewis, the more fascinated you become. This docudrama doesn't really address the Chronicles of Narnia in detail, nor does it really explore any of C. S. Lewis' writing. This is more about his childhood, his personal relationship with God and his understanding of grief. When you think about, how many authors could so influence a life? Not only are his children's books completely fascinating, his writings on spirituality are some of the most profound literary moments I've ever encountered. Each time I take time to study more about C. S. Lewis, I find myself even more curious about this fascinating author who has so influenced my life.

So, I can recommend this to you if you are studying C. S. Lewis' life or you are curious about his childhood, marriage and emotional life. If you are looking for extensive details about the Chronicles of Narnia, you may be disappointed.

~The Rebecca Review

What Christians Believe

<*))))>< An Introduction to Christianity, June 3, 2008