The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

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The second book in the Chronicles of Narnia series – despite being published years before The Magician’s Nephew - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is one of the most well-known and celebrated stories in children’s fantasy. The fact that it’s been immortalised in film and television time and time again is testament to the exciting events and beautiful places that are to be found within its pages.

Taking place years after Polly and Digory accidently let Jadis the witch loose in Narnia the book tells the story of four siblings –Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy- who stumble into the world of Narnia through a wardrobe. Trapped in an eternal winter, Narnia is at the mercy of Jadis who has taken over as Queen and turned anyone who opposes her to stone. But her reign is threatened with the arrival of the children who are unwittingly fulfilling an ancient prophecy and soon it’s a race against time to find Aslan and rid Narnia of Jadis before she rids it of them.

Having only come to know the story through screen adaptations, I found it very hard to read this book without constantly picturing Tilda Swinton in her Witch’s garb, but I digress… it really is no wonder that this is the story that is constantly being made and remade for the screen. Despite the simplicity of the writing –it is a children’s book after all- it’s such a rich and complex story that’s packed to bursting with everything you could want from epic battles to a magic potion that conjures Turkish Delight. Talking animals, Father Christmas, and scores of mythical creatures inhabit its pages making it not only a wonderful –even visual- treat for the imagination, but also a wondrous adventure that keeps your eyes zooming from paragraph to paragraph. Quite literally there is never a dull moment, even the scenes of boredom in our world have this delightful promise of something wonderful about to happen, though that could be just because we know the story.

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Either way The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a wonderful bite of children’s fantasy that sits comfortably in the canon where it is completely untouched by the expiring affects of time.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book in C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia and was first published in 1950 by Geoffrey Bles.