I was around seventeen when I first heard of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. My curiosity was first aroused when talk of a move began to circulate. My family has a Christian background, so the fact that the title had a witch in it didn't sit well with me. I never would have picked the book up if I hadn't heard a man on a Christian broadcasting station saying that it was "family friendly".
Well if the movie's okay, I thought, the book must be okay too. Thus I found myself in my high school library looking for the book. I spotted it right away. The librarians had just put out the brand new books with the fancy covers. I picked it up and headed to the check out.
"Revisiting fairytales!" the librarian smiled at me. "Well, this one's good to read again," she continued as she stamped the return date on the back of the book.
"Thank you." I smiled. I put the book into my backpack and hurried home. Once there, I finished the book in one night. It was amazing! The whole story was about Jesus! I marveled over Lewis' genius, partly annoyed that I hadn't done it first.
"This guy is amazing!" I whispered as I shut the book. I had seen other books in his series at the library as well. I determined to check them out as soon as I could. One by one, The Horse and His Boy, The Magicians Nephew, and all of the others passed through my hands and into my heart.
As I read, I pushed down feelings of regret... regret at having not been exposed to them at a younger age. I wanted so badly to be able to compare a childhood view of Narnia to my now grown-up view. I placated myself with the fact that my future children would have the chance to read it in their youth and then the choice of revisiting it in adulthood, perhaps when they read it to their children. Most of all, I want my children to fall in love with Aslan.
As soon as I finished it I recommended the books to my siblings, but it wasn't until the movie came out and we saw it that their interests were truly peaked. My siblings and my mother are all in love with The Chronicles of Narnia. I don't regret picking up this book for one moment.
Narnia is an amazing read. One of my high school friends remarked that, "C. S. Lewis doesn't talk condescendingly to kids. He makes you feel like you know something, and I really like him for that." I hope that your kids will be able to discover for themselves, the magic of Narnia and fall in love, as I have, with the greatest story ever told.
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.