The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe

For my next post, I decided to do the book: The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis. This book is a favorite for many children. Many children want to believe there is a whole other world that they can go to and become royalty. I think that is why this book is so popular for so many people. This book falls under the genre of fantasy. In this book there are talking animals, a whole other world, and a half man, half faun. These things do not exist in the real world. The book also takes place in a world that does not exist. 

This book follows four siblings on the quest of their life. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy live with an eccentric professor during World War II. While exploring the house they are staying in, Lucy finds a very large and beautiful wardrobe. Lucy goes into the wardrobe and is surprised to find a different world on the other side. When Lucy goes into this world, she meets a faun called Tumnus. Tumnus explains to her that she is in Narnia. Tumnus then tries to befriend Lucy by inviting her for tea. Tumnus ends up being a slave of the White Witch and is supposed to capture humans. Tumnus tells Lucy to leave before she gets into trouble. When Lucy returns, she tries to tell her siblings what happened, but no one believes her.One day Edmund follows Lucy into the wardrobe and realizes that she was right about Narnia. Edmund meets the white witch and is persuaded with a dessert to go with her. The white witch casts a spell on Edmund so he keeps craving the dessert. The white witch then asks Edmund with bring his siblings back with him when he returns to Narnia. Some time later, all four siblings end up in the wardrobe because they are hiding from guests. At this time, all of the siblings go to Narnia and realize it is real. The siblings then find out that the White Witch is very bad and had intended to kill the siblings and make Narnia a very bad place. The siblings travel to find Aslan, a lion, that can help them. Edmund has snuck off during this time to tell the White Witch of their plans. The witch decides to kill Edmund, but right before she can do it, he is saved by Aslan's people. Aslan makes a bargain to save Edmund from the white witch. He ends up being tied up, and killed by the White Witch. Nearby, susan and lucy are watching over him.They cry and grieve over his body after he is killed. All of a sudden he is miraculously saved and wakes from the dead. With the help of Aslan and other warriors, the siblings are able to battle the white witch and win. The siblings rule over Narnia for a few years and it prospers. After a while they remember about their life in England. They travel back through the wardrobe and end up to be children again.

This book is a classic in many children's eyes. I read this book in elementary school and it was always something fun to read. I always loved how the book had all kind of different creatures and also had a battle. I love stories where the good wins over the evil. The first project that I would do with this story is to have the students create their own creature and write about what they would do in the story. They could have the creature be part of the White Witch's army or the army of Aslan. They could even have the creature help out the four siblings. The next project that I would have the students do is to write about what the siblings did when they went home. Would they tell others of their journey or keep it a secret?

Lewis, C. S., and Pauline Baynes. The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.