Saturday, April 13, 2013

Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair

Title:  The Silver Chair
Author:  C. S. Lewis
Series:  Chronicles of Narnia
Approximate reading level:  9th grade

Summary
The story begins at Eustace's school, where he finds a schoolmate named Jill crying because of the bullying of other schoolmates. He begins telling her about Narnia, when they hear the bullies returning. They run towards a door in the wall around the school, hoping to find it unlocked so they can escape the bullies. Instead, they find their way into Narnia, where they meet Aslan, talking owls, Marshwiggles, giants, and more. Aslan sends them on a quest to rescue Prince Rilian, giving them four signs to guide them along their way. They explore more new areas of Narnia and meet more Narnians that previous explorers from other books never knew about. The success of the quest depends on Jill's remembering the signs given by Aslan at the beginning of the quest, which she does as long as she follows his instructions.

Review
A magical enchantment and the threat of the main characters being eaten by giants may be disturbing. The importance of following instructions is seen when Jill forgets Aslan's signs because she does not follow his instructions to remember them. An evil witch also turns into a snake—the same snake which killed the queen earlier in the story. This is another great story in the Narnia series containing examples of bravery and forgiveness. Another great read for older children and adults and a great listen for younger children.
****4 stars

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Title:  Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Series:  Chronicles of Narnia
Author:  C. S. Lewis
Approximate reading level:  7th grade

Summary
Lucy and Edmund are again called to Narnia, this time with their cousin Eustace rather than Peter and Susan. They enter through a picture into the ocean and are pulled aboard King Caspian's best ship, the Dawn Treader. King Caspian and his shipmates are traveling east from Narnia, seeking the seven lords who were lost when sent exploring under King Miraz's reign. Some of the seven lords have died, and some have been enchanted. As always when in Narnia, the children have many adventures and meet many new and wondrous creatures. Before the children reach the end of the world and return to England, Eustace is profoundly changed by his part in the adventures.

Review
There are fewer battle scenes in this book than in the other Chronicles of Narnia, but there are still some scenes that may worry some children. Eustace's hard-learned lesson about his bad attitude may be quite helpful for some children. Like the other books in the Narnia series, I think this book is good to read to young children who are unable to read it alone as well as for older children (or adults) to read on their own.
**** 4 stars