The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
 
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was written by C.S Lewis and is the second in a trilogy of books.
The story is about four chidren, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, who are evacuated to the country to escape bombs in London. The children go to live with an old professor and while they are exploring, the youngest child, Lucy, comes across a wardrobe, this is where the adventure in Narnia begins.
 
The book has many themes including trust, imagination and belief. This book has strong Christian undertones in it, as it has a lot of similarities to the bible throughout the book, although a younger child reading it may not realise this. The four children are prophesised Saviours of the creatures of Narnia. Elements such as Edmunds betrayal of his siblings for Turkish Delight and hot chocolate mirror Judas' betrayal of Jesus for 40 pieces of silver. Another example of this parralell is the scene where Aslan rises from the dead, this is symbolic of the ressurection in the Bible. The people of Narnia are following Aslan as his disciples.
 
Although this book includes some violence, such as Peter slaying a wolf that attacks his sisters, The White Witch killing Aslan while he is tied down and the huge battle at the end, this is is a thoroughly enjoyable book for children and adults alike. Younger children may need this book read to them as some of the ideas and dark imagery may need to be explained to them. Considering this is a sequel to 'The Magicians Nephew' this book can be read and thoroughly enjoyed in isolation from the others. If you enjoy this book I would recommend reading the others.This story has also been adapted into a film, widening its appeal, particularly to younger children who wouldn't be able to read the book. In my opinion it is by far the best book in the Trilogy and has proven itself to be the most popular.
 
I'd give this book a 5 out of 5, because it captures the imagination and allows the reader to become completely lost in the fantasy world of Narnia :)
 
By Fay Carroll

 

A book that I have read recently is ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ by C.S Lewis. It is a fictional adventure book based around the story of four siblings called Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, during their stay at a Professor’s house during World War two.

The story follows the children as they have great adventures in house. Then Lucy finds a secret wardrobe, and when the children hide away in the wardrobe they find out that it is a secret door to another world called Narnia.

I think the main message of the story is to let your imagination run free. I thought the story-line was good and was filled with imagination. I thought the relationships between the characters were believable because of the way the children acted around each other and the creatures of Narnia.

The writing was good except it was old fashioned and the story went by way too fast. The descriptions were excellent and the author compared a lot of the creatures of Narnia to normal animals we would see. I thought the ending was good and it left me wondering what happened next.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a book full of adventure and imagination and loves a quick read.

By Rhea Cassidy

Four children (Peter, Susan Edward and Lucy) living in London with their mother, are forced to leave London during the war due to increasing air-raids. They are sent away to the heart of the country to the house of an old professor. He owns a giant house and because he had no wife or children the house was quite empty. The children are looking at the bright side and looking forward to exploring the grounds of the house, when it rains so instead they decided to explore inside the house. As expected most of the doors revealed more empty spare rooms. They came to a room only containing a big wardrobe and a dead blue bottle on the window-sill, they all saw nothing of it and move on to the next room, all except Lucy. Her curiosity, to weather or not the door of the wardrobe would be open or not, got the better of her. To her surprise it was open. She stepped into the wardrobe which seemed to only be revealing fur coats and a funny smell but as she went on she found that the wardrobe was actually a portal to another world by the name of “Narnia” and this is where the adventures begins. 

    I enjoyed the read because I found after every page you were curious to what kind of talking creature would next enter your imagination. What I liked most about the book was the extra bits that were cut out of the movie, for example in the movie when father Christmas arrives he only gives gifts to Peter, Susan and Lucy but in the book he brings presents for Mrs Beaver (a sewing machine ) and Mr Beaver (for his dam is complete and mended). I would recommend this book but only if you are willing to read the first one (The Magicians Nephew). It is not essential but some things make more sense, for example why the lamp post is in the middle of a strange wood and how the wardrobe is magic and how the professor is related to all of the adventure. . In conclusion I enjoyed The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe because it was intriguing, interesting and imaginative. 

By Toni Webb