REVIEW: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Author: C.S. Lewis

One of the best Christmas presents I ever received as a  young child was a box set of the entire Chronicles of Narnia series. I read those books over and over again until they literally fell apart. I have re-read this series many, many times since then. The stories of adventure, friendship and loyalty, and magic never grow old for me.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is the first book in the series, although it is second in the accepted reading order (Many read The Magician's Nephew first). Four children are evacuated from war torn London to a country estate. The youngest, Lucy, finds a magical wardrobe that is a doorway to another land....Narnia. Narnia is under control of a horrible witch and the children soon find themselves drawn into a battle to save the magical land from evil. Boo to an evil witch that makes it always winter and never Christmas! Boo! Hiss!

My favorite character in this first book has always been Lucy. I was the youngest of 5 children. My closest sister was 9 years older than me, so I got used to my brothers and sisters never listening to me or believing anything I said. Lucy has similar problems at the start of this story. I remember laying across my bed the first time I read this story just livid that nobody would listen to her....and then angry with one brother who lied to make her look a fool.

I listened to an audio book version of the story this time. It was so nice to have one of my favorite stories read to me. :) I listened to a bit each night before bed. Nothing like Aslan, the Pevensie children and Mr. Tumnus to provide happy dreams. I still smile every time the book repeats Lewis' aside comments that the Pevensie children are bright enough to know that they shouldn't never shut themselves into a wardrobe. :)

Awesome classic book! The audio version I listened to is narrated by Michael York. He has a very nice, relaxing deep voice...perfect for this story, in my opinion. The audio from Harper Collins is just shy of 4.5 hours long. Enjoyable listen!

A big thank you to The Great American Read for getting me to re-read this favorite series. The votes are in and the Chronicles of Narnia placed 9th on the list of 100 favorite American books. The list can be found here: https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books/#/  My plan is to read through the list until I've read all 100 books....or at least attempted to read each book. I've already DNF'd two books that I didn't like. Reading is personal....and if I'm not enjoying a book, I move on. The list is varied...a little something for everyone. So glad Narnia placed in the top 10! It's been a favorite series of mine for 40 years!