For many readers, C.S. Lewis is best known for the 7 books comprising The Chronicles of Narnia. In C.S. Lewis Companion and Guide by Walter Hooper (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996: 397-456), he summarizes the books and their publishing history.
Hooper begins by reviewing how Lewis believed that ‘realistic’ stories were more likely to deceive children than fairy tales (398). Lewis, as author and Christian, had a message embedded in the exploits—underscored by Aslan–of the children who found their way into Narnia.
Briefly, The Magician’s Nephew features Digory, his uncle Andrew and Aslan, who creates Narnia. It follows with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in which the four Pevensie children find their way into Narnia through a wardrobe. There follows conflict and intrigue, involving Narnian animals and a White Witch, who uses magic that is written on tablets of stone and other places. The Horse and the Boy is “a story within a story” (414) and involves the reign of the Pevensie siblings. The story of Prince Caspian entails a return to Narnia by the four children. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader finds Eustace turned into a dragon before Aslan returns him to his human form, but with a new outlook on life. In The Silver Chair the witch is killed and the principle characters escape to Narnia. The Last Battle concludes the series
- The lion, the witch and the wardrobe: A story for children. (With pictures adapted from illustrations by Pauline Baynes) NY: Macmillan. Collier books edition 1970.
Contents: Lucy Looks into a Wardrobe; II) What Lucy Found There; III) Edmund and the Wardrobe; IV) Turkish Delight; V) Back on This Side of the Door; VI) Into the Forest; VII) A Day with the Beavers; VIII) What Happened After Dinner; IX) In the Witch’s House; X) The Spell Begins to Break; XI: Aslan Is Nearer; XII: Peter’s First Battle; XIII) Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time; XIV) The Triumph of the Witch; XV) Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time; XVI) What Happened About the Statues; XVII) The Hunting of the White Stag.
Think of “How Aslan, the noble lion, freed Narnia from the spell of the White Witch.”
- Prince Caspian: The return to Narnia. (With pictures adapted from illustrations by Pauline Baynes) NY: Macmillan. Collier books edition 1970.
Contents: I) The Island; II) The Ancient Treasure House; III) The Dwarf; IV) The Dwarf Tells of Prince Caspian; V) Caspian’s Adventure in the Mountains; VI) The People That Lived in Hiding; VII) Old Narnia in Danger; VIII) How They Left the Island; IX) What Lucy Saw; X) The Return of the Lion; XI) The Lion Roars; XII) Sorcery and Sudden Vengeance; XIII) The High King in Command; XIV) How All Were Very Busy; XV) Aslan Makes a Door in the Air.
Think of “How good Prince Caspian and his army of Talking Beasts conquered the Telmarines.”
- The voyage of the Dawn Treader. (With pictures adapted from illustrations by Pauline Baynes) NY: Macmillan. Collier books edition 1970.
Contents: I) The Picture in the Bedroom; II) On Board the “Dawn Treader”; III) The Lone Islands; IV) What Caspian Did There; V) The Storm and What Came of It; VI) The Adventures of Eustace; VII) How the Adventure Ended; VIII) Two Narrow Escapes; IX) The Island of the Voices; X) The Magician’s Book; XI) The Dufflepuds Made Happy; XII) The Dark Island; XIII) The Three Sleepers; XIV) The Beginning of the End of the World; XV) The Wonders of the Last Sea; XVI) The Very End of the World.
Think of “How King Caspian sailed through Magic waters to the End of the World.”
- The Silver Chair. (With pictures adapted from illustrations by Pauline Baynes) NY: Macmillan. Collier books edition 1970. ISBN 0 02 044250 5]
Contents: I) Behind the Gym; II) Jill is Given a Task; III) The Sailing of the King; IV) A Parliament of Owls: V) Puddleglum; VI) The Wild Waste Lands of the North; VII) The Hill of the Strange Trenches; VIII) The House of Harfang; IX) How They Discovered Something Worth Knowing; X) Travels Without the Sun; Xi) In the Dark Castle; XIII) The Queen of Underland; XIII) Underland Without the Queen; XIV) The Bottom of the World; XV) The Disappearance of Jill; XVI) The Healing of Harms.
Think of “How captive Prince Rilian escaped from the Emerald Witch’s underground kingdom.”
- The Horse and His Boy. (With pictures adapted from illustrations by Pauline Baynes) NY: Macmillan. Collier books edition 1970.
Contents: I) How Shasta Set Out on His Travels; II) A Wayside Adventure; III) At the Gates of Tashbaan; IV) Shasta Falls In with the Narnians; V) Prince Corin; VI) Shasta Among the Tombs; VII) Aravis in Tashbaan; VIII) In the House of the Tisroc; IX) Across the Desert; X) The Hermit of the Southern March; XI) The Unwelcome Fellow Traveler; XII) Shasta in Narnia; XIII) The Fight at Anvard; XIV) How Bree Became a Wiser Horse; XV) Rabadash the Ridiculous.
Think of “How a talking horse and a boy prince saved Narnia from invasion.”
- The Magician’s Nephew. (With pictures adapted from illustrations by Pauline Baynes) NY: Macmillan. Collier books edition 1970.
Contents: I) The Wrong Door; II) Digory and His Uncle; III) The Wood Between the Worlds; IV) The Bell and the Hammer; V) The Deplorable Word; VI) The Beginning of Uncle Andrew’s Troubles; VII) What Happened at the Front Door; VIII) The Fight at the Lamp-Post; IX: The Founding of Narnia; X) The First Joke and Other Matters; XI) Digory and His Uncle Are Both in Trouble; XII: Strawberry’s Adventure; XIII) An Unexpected Meeting; XIV) The Planting of the tree; XV) The End of This Story and the Beginning of All the Others.
“How Aslan created Narnia and gave the gift of speech to its animals.”
Anderson, Douglas A., ed. 2008. Tales before Narnia. The roots of modern fantasy and science fiction: Classic stores that inspirited C.S. Lewis. NY: Ballantine books.
Contents: Introduction. 1) Poem: Tegner’s Drapa by Longfellow; 2) The aunt and Amabel by Nesbit; 3) The snow queen: A tale in seven stories by H.C. Anderson; 4) The magic mirror by George Macdonald; 5) Undine by Fouque; 6) Letters from hell: Letter III by Thisted; 7) Fastosus and Avaro by Macgowan; 8) The tapestried chamber, or The lady in the Sacque by Sir Walter Scott; 9) The story of the Goblins who stole a sexton by Charles Dickens; 10) The child and the giant by Barfield; 11) A king’s lesson by William Morris; 12) The waif woman: A cue—from a saga by R. L. Stevenson; 13) First whisper of the Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame; 14) The wish house by Rudyard Kipling; 15) Er in sempiternum permeant by Charles Williams; 16) The dragon’s visit by J.R.R. Tolkien; 17) The coloured lands by Chesterton; 18) The man who lived backwards by Charles F. Hall; 19) The wood that time forgot: The enchanted wood by Roger Lancelyn Green; 20) The dream dust factory by William Lindsay Greshem. Author notes and recommended reading.
Arthur, Sarah. 2005. Walking through the wardrobe: A devotional Quest into The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
What’s Inside: A Note from the author. Acknowledgments. Read this first. How to use this book. Part One: Walking With Lucy; Part Two: Walking with the Professor; Part Three: Walking with the Professor; Part Four: Walking with Edmund; Part Five: Walking with Peter; Part Six: Walking with Narnians; Part Seven: Walking with the White Witch (or Not); Part Eight: Walking with Aslan; Part Nine: Walking with Lewis. Read this last. Glossary of terms and fun facts. Guide to other works by C.S. Lewis. Notes.
“Sarah is a fun-loving speaker and the author of numerous books and resources on the intersection of faith and great stories, including the award-winning Walking with Bilbo: A Devotional Adventure through The Hobbit.” (From www.saraharthur.infor)
Baehr, Ted and James Baehr. 2005. Narnia Beckons: C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Beyond. Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman. [With pictures and illustrations.]
Contents: Preface: Once upon a time; Part I: In the beginning: C.S. Lewis. 1) C.S. Lewis: A profile of his life by Lyle Dorsett; 2) Oxford and C.S. Lewis: “The deepest thirst within us” by Deborah Smith Douglas; 3) The Inklings…and other influences; 4) Friends of Lewis, friends of Old Narnia by James S.C. Baehr; 5) Will we meet Plato in heaven? By Carolyn Stanford Goss and Joseph Stanford Goss; 6) Lewis’s last interview by Sherwood Wirt; 7) Following the bright blur by Jerry Root. Part II: New heaven and earth—the world of Narnia. 8) Through the wardrobe: A famous image explored by Michael Ward; 9) From the wardrobe to the stable: Lewis’s defense of the transcendent incarnate by Angus Menuge; 10) “His speech has gone out into all lands”: The talking beasts of Narnia by Andrew Cuneo; 11) Food for the soul: Eating in Narnia by Wayne Martindale and Kathryn Welch. Part III: The fullness of time—the lion, the witch and the wardrobe. 12) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe at fifty: A celebration (and a worry) by Paul F. Ford; 13) “Deeper magic”: Allusions in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Marvin D. Hinten; 14) The fascination with “other worlds” in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Peter Kreeft. Part IV: Into all the world—movies, television and beyond. 15) C.S. Lewis at the cinema by James S.C. Baehr; 16) Inspiration moments for reflection: Further up and further in by Ted Baehr and Peiree Baehr. Conclusion: Only the beginning of the adventures of Narnia. Epilogue.
Ted and James Baehr are both graduates of Dartmouth College. Ted Baehr is a founder and publisher of MOVIEGUIDE and chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission. James Baehr studied the literary achievements at Oxford and is an officer in the United States Marine Corps.
Bowen, John P. 2007. The Spirituality of Narnia: The Deeper Magic of C.S. Lewis. Vancouver, B.C.: Regent College.
Contents: Preface. 1) Life, the universe and Narnia; 2) Who was C.S. Lewis? 3) Aslan’s other name; 4) Narnia awake; 5) All creatures great and small; 6) A Neevil in the world: treachery; 7) The heart of the matter: pride; 8) A deeper magic; 9) “We hear and obey”; 10) Narnia is dead, long live Narnia! 11) All find what they truly seek; 12) Interlocking stories; 13) Through the wardrobe.
John P. Bowen is professor at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto.
Bruner, Kurt and Jim Ware. 2005. Finding God in the Land of Narnia. Tyndale House Publishers.
Contents: Introduction by Kurt Bruner. 1) Aslan’s song; 2) Evil has entered; 3) All get what they want; 4) Chinks and chasms; 5) Turkish delight; 6) Not safe but good; 7) Father Christmas; 8) Deep and deeper magic; 9) Sons of Adam and daughters of Eve; 10) Irresistibly drawn’ 11) Old Narnians; 12) Strange help; 13) Divine revelry; 14) A change of clothes; 15) The sign of the albatross; 16) Perilous table; 17) Heart’s desire; 18) Only ask; 19) Lion’s breath; 20) Foot in the fire; 21) Bugled but blessed; 22) “Narnia and the north!” 23) Most unfortunate; 24) The good we could do; 25) Seeing it; 26) Further up and further in. Afterthoughts by Jim Ware. Endnotes. Bibliography.
“It is not our intention to turn Lewis’s stories into sermons. But we do hope to dray spiritual insights from the faith that inspired their author and informed their plots. We seek to enrich rather than replace the experience of reading The Chronicles of Narnia” (xviii).
“In Finding God in the Land of Narnia, best-selling authors Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware explore the deep spiritual themes of redemption and grace found in the popular Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. With amazing clarity that captures the tone and style of C. S. Lewis himself, the authors offer a depth of insight that will surprise even the most ardent Lewis fan. Each chapter will help readers gain not only a deeper understanding of the popular Lewis series, but a deeper understanding of God himself.” (From Amazon)
Kurt Bruner, a graduate of Talbot School of Theology, serves as vice president of the Focus on the Family Resource Center.
Caughey, Shanna, ed. 2005. Revisiting Narnia: Fantasy, Myth and Religion in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles. Dallas, TX: Benbella.
Contents: 1) Introduction by Shanna Caughey; 2) The Silver Chair and the silver screen by Charlie W. Starr; 3) On the Origins of Evil by Lawrence Watt-Evans; 4) Elusive Prey by Natasha Giardina; 5) God in the Details by Naomi Wood; 6) Coming of Age in Narnia by Sam McBride; 7) The Chronicles of Narnia: For Adults Only? by Martha C. Sammons; 8) Believing Narnia by James Como; 9) The “Correct” Order for Reading the chronicles of Narnia? by Peter J. Schakel; 10) The Chronicles of Narnia: Where to Start by Wesley A Kort; 11) Narnia and Middle-earth by Joseph Pearce; 12) Aslan Is On the Move by Russell W. Dalton; 13) The Beginning of the Real Story by James V. Schall, S.J.; 14) Heathen Eye for the Christian Guy by Jacqueline Carey; 15) Would the Modern-day C.S. Lewis be a PETA [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals] Protester? by Ingrid Newkirk; 16) Greek Delight by Nick Mamatas; 17) Why I Love Narnia by Sarah Zettel; 18) Daughters of Lilith [Adam’s first wife and progenitor of the White Witch] by Cathy McSporran; 19) The Last of the Bibliophiles by Peg Aloi; 20C.S. Lewisand The Problem of Religion in Science Fiction and Fantasy by Vox Day; 21) Redeeming Postmodernism by Louis A. Markos; 22) The Horse and His Boy: The Theology of Bree [part of the Calormen society in The Horse and His Boy] by David F. Bumbaugh; 23) A Reconstructed Image by Mary Frances Zambreno; 24) A Knight in the Mud by Marie-Catherine Caillava; 25) “Most Right and Proper, I’m Sure…”; by Sally D. Stabb, Ph.D.; 26) Narnia in the Modern World by Colin Duriez.
“So, what distinguishes this book from others that come out this fall? Well, it’s probably the sheer diversity of the contributors. Or the fact that they all have a deep love for the series. We’ve got agnostic fantasists. Lewis scholars, devout Christians, pagans—you name it. All in this one volume. Each essay grabs onto one aspect of the series, gives it a good tug and delivers a detailed exploration” (2).
Based in Dallas, Shanna Caughey is a activist, currently at the Texas Campaign for the Environment
Coren, Michael, 1996. (Reprint edition.) The man who created Narnia: The story of C. S. Lewis. Eerdmans Pub Co.
Contents: 1) Beginnings; 2) Dreams and dreaming spires; 3) Friends, Gods, and devils; 4) Narnia; 5) And joy come in; 6) Out of the shadows. Chronology. A note on sources. Further reading. Picture sources. Index.
“Coren…takes a well-balanced approach to the creation of a life and treads carefully around the many pitfalls that await a biographer….He shows how the elements of Lewis’s life…have their echoes and resonances in Narnia….” (From the back cover)
“Michael Coren was born in London, England, and in 1987 came to Canada, where he now works as a syndicate columnist and as the host of ‘The Michael Coren Show’ on CFRB, Canada’s largest radio station.”
Dickerson, Matthew and David O’Hara. 2009. Narnia and the fields of Arbol: The environmental vision of C.S. Lewis. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. [On my Kindle]
Contents. Acknowledgments. Conventions and Abbreviations. Introduction: Ecological crisis, environmental critique and Christian imagination. 1) What he thought about everything; 2) Nature and meaning in the history of Narnia; 3) The Magician’s Nephew: Creation and the Narnian ecology; 4) The Last Battle and the end of Narnia; 5) Out of the Silent Planet: Re-imaging ecology; 6) Perelandra: Creation and conscience; 7) That Hideous Strength: Assault on the sol and soul of England; 8) The Re-enchantment of creation. Notes. Recommended reading. Index.
“The authors examine the environmental and ecological underpinnings of Lewis’s work by exploring his best-known works of fantasy, including the seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia and the three novels collectively referred to as the Space Trilogy. Taken together, these works reveal Lewis’s enduring environmental concerns, and Dickerson and O’Hara offer a new understanding of his pioneering style of fiction. An avid outdoorsman, Lewis deftly combined an active imagination with a deep appreciation for the natural world. Narnia and the Fields of Arbol, the first book-length work on the subject, explores the marriage of Lewis’s environmental passion with his skill as a novelist and finds the author’s legacy to have as much in common with the agrarian environmentalism of Wendell Berry as it does with the fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien. In an era of increasing concern about deforestation, climate change, and other environmental issues, Lewis’s work remains as pertinent as ever.” (From Amazon)
Ditchfield, Christin. 2003. A family guide to Narnia: Biblical truths in C.S. Lewis’s the Chronicles of Narnia. Wheaton: Crossway Books. [Also on my Kindle]
Contents: Foreword by Wayne Martindale. Preface. Introduction to The Magician’s Nephew. 1) The wrong door; 2) Digory and his uncle; 3) The wood between the worlds; 4) The bell and the hammer; 5) The deplorable word; 6) The beginning of uncle Andrew’s troubles; 7) What happened at the front door; 8) The fight at the lamp-post; 9) The founding of Narnia; 10) The first joke and other matters; 11) Digory and his uncle are both in trouble; 12) Strawberry’s adventure; 13) An unexpected meeting; 14) The planting of the tree; 15) The end of this story and the beginning of all the others. Introduction to The lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 1) Lucy looks into a wardrobe; 2) What Lucy found there; 3) Edmund and the wardrobe; 4) Turkish delight; 5) Back on this side of the door; 6) Into the forest; 7) A day with the beavers; 8) What happened after dinner; 9) In the Witch’s house; 10) The spell begins to break; 11) Aslan is nearer; 12) Peter’s first battle; 13) Deep magic from the dawn of time; 14) The triumph of the witch; 15) Deeper magic from before the dawn of time; 16) What happened about the statures; 17) The hunting of the white stag. Introduction to The Horse and His Boy. 1) How Shasta set out on his travels; 2) A wayside adventure; 3) At the gates of Tashbaan; 4) Shasta falls in with the Narnians; 5) Prince Corin; 6) Shasta among the tombs; 5) Aravis in Tashbaan; 8) In the house of the Tisroc; 9) Across the desert; 10) The hermit of the southern march; 11) The unwelcome fellow traveler; 12) Shasta in Narnia; 13) The fight at Anvark; 14) How Bree became a wiser horse; 15) Rabadash the ridiculous. Introduction to Prince Caspian. 1) The island; 2) The ancient treasure house; 3) The dwarf; 4) The dwarf tells of a Prince Caspian; 5) Caspian’s adventure in the mountains; 6) The people that lived in hiding; 7) Old Narnia in danger; 8) How they left the island; 9) What Lucy saw; 10) The return of the lion; 11) The lion roars; 12) Sorcery and sudden vengeance; 13) The high king in command; 14) How all were very busy; 15) Aslan makes a door in the air. Introduction to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. 1) The picture in the bedroom; 2) On board the The Dawn Treader; 3) The lone islands; 4) What Caspian did there; 5) The storm and what came of it; 6) The adventures of Eustace; 7) How the adventure ended; 8) Two narrow escapes; 9) The island of the voices; 10) The magician’s book; 12) The Dufflepuds made happy; 12) The dark island; 13) The three sleepers; 14) The beginning of the end of the world; 15) The wonders of the last sea; 16) The very end of the world. Introduction to The Silver Chair. 1) Behind the gym; 2) Jill is given a task; 3) The sailing of the king; 4) A parliament of owls; 5) Puddleglum; 6) The wild waste lands of the north; 7) The hill of the strange trenches; 8) The house of Harfang; 9) How they discovered something worth knowing; 10) Travels without the sun; 11) In the dark castle; 12) The queen of Underland; 13) Underland without the queen; 14) The bottom of the world; 15) The disappearance of Jill; 16) The healing of harms. Introduction to The Last Battle. 1) By Calron pool; 2) The rashness of the king; 3) The ape in its glory; 4) What happened that night; 5) How help came to the king; 6) A good night’s work’ 7) Mainly about dwarfs; 8) What news the eagle brought; 9) The great meeting on Stable Hill; 10) Who will go into the Stable? 11) The pace quickens; 12) Through the stable door; 13) How the dwarfs refuse to be taken in; 14) Night falls on Narnia; 15) Further up and further in; 16) Farewell to Shadowlands. Epilogue. Recommended Recourses.
“Christin Ditchfield is an accomplished educator, author, conference speaker, and host of the internationally syndicated radio program…. She is the author of more than 65 books, translated into half a dozen languages [and] has been speaking at conferences, retreats, banquets, and brunches. Christin holds a master’s degree in Biblical Theology from Southwestern University.” (From http://www.amazon.com/Christin-Ditchfield/e/B001IQXF1Q)
Ditchfield includes “Biblical Parallels and Principles” for each of her chapters as well as her personal thoughts and Scripture references.
Downing, David C. 2005. Into the wardrobe: C.S. Lewis and the Narnia chronicles. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Contents: A C.S. Lewis Time Line; Introduction: The Child as Father of the Man. 1) The Life of C.S. Lewis; 2) The Genesis of Narnia; 3) The Spiritual Vision of the Narnia Chronicles; 4) Moral Psychology; 5) Classical and Medieval Elements; 6) What’s in a Narnian Name?; 7) Lewis’s Literary Artistry. Appendix: Definitions, Allusions, and Textual Notes. Notes. Bibliography. Acknowledgments. The Author. Index.
Duriez, Colin. 2004. A Field Guide to Narnia. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. (Paperback edition also from Sutton Publishing Ltd. in 2005.)
Contents: Foreword by Brian Sibley. Preface. Abbreviations and symbols of reference. Part One: The Creation of Narnia. 1) The life of C.S. Lewis; 2) The background to the Chronicles of Narnia; 3) Aslan, Narian and orthodoxy; 4) Worldview and Narnia; 5) Literary feature os the Chronicles; 6) Themes, concepts and images in Narnia. Part Two. Abou the Chronicles of Narnia. 7) An overview of the Chronicles of Narnia; 9) The history of Narnia; 10) Other writings of C.S. Lewis in a Narnian context; 11) A who’s who in the making of Narnia. Part Three: The A-Z of Narnia. Appendix: A brief chronology of C.S. Lewis. Notes. Bibliography. Index.
Edwards, Bruce L. 2005. Further up & further in: Understanding C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Contents: Preface: Through the Wardrobe: Our Passport to Narnia. Acknowledgments. 1) Meeting C.S. Lewis: Retelling the Gospel as a Fairy Tale; 2) Finding What You’re Not Looking For: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Chapters 1-3; 3) Turkish Delight and Other Tempting Confections: Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Chapters 4-6; 4) Hospitality Is as Hospitality Does: Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Chapters 7-9; 5) Aslan on the Move: Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Chapters 10-11; 6) Deep Magic Is Never Enough: Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Chapters 14-17. For Further Reading. Study Questions. Endnotes. Index.
Edwards, Bruce L. 2005. Not a tame lion: Unveil Narnia through the eyes of Lucy, Peter, and other characters created by C.S. Lewis. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale.
Contents: Dedication. Acknowledgments. Prologue: Discerning the Spiritual World of Narnia; 1) Inkling of Neverland: C.S. Lewis and the Origins of Narnia; 2) Encountering Aslan: The Danger of Goodness; 3) Valor Finds Validation: Reigning with Aslan; 4) Victory over Vanity: Transformations and Revivals: 5) Villainy Meets Viciousness: Witches, Traitors, and Betrayers; 6) Vindication and Valediction: Last Battles, Last Words; Epilogue: After Narnia (Re-enchanting our cosmos; Narnia apologetics; Lewis Redux). Suggested Reading. Study Guide. Notes.
“We most accurately discern the spiritual world of Narnia in the biography of Aslan. If, as some say, the Narnia tales resemble in genre the New Testament Gospels…perhaps Not a Tame Lion can be thought of as a synoptic treatment of Aslan’s character and personality as seen in his encounters with the kingdom under his rule. We come to know him first by watching him relate to others and thereby encounter him ourselves” (xvii).
Ford, Paul F. 1980. Companion to Narnia: A complete, illustrated guide to the themes, characters, and events of C.S. Lewis’s imaginary world. Foreword by Madeleine L’engle. Illustrated by Lorinda Bryan Cauley. San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers.
Contents: List of Illustrations and Maps (21 + 3). Foreword by Madeleine L’Engle. Acknowledgments. Introduction. Using the Companion. The Companion from A to Z. Appendix One: Chronology of the Composition of the Chronicles; Appendix Two: List of Comparative Ages. About the Author.
“The Companion to Narnia has been written for those who know the Chronicles to be good stories and who want to take a friend back with them to point out sights they haven’t seen or want to see again through another pair of exes….Thus Chronicles of Narnia means to help you explore the various strands that Lewis weaves into the fabric of the Chronicles—literary, religious, philosophical, mythopoeic, homely, and personal images—the same fabric out of which our own stories are woven” (xxi).
“Dr. Ford is a Professor of Systematic Theology and Liturgy at St. John’s Seminary. He earned a B. A. in Philosophy, St. John’s Seminary College, Camarillo, a M. A. in Religion, St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo, and a Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. He studied for the priesthood for the then diocese of Monterey-Fresno, 1961-1973, but was never ordained. He was a Benedictine monk at St. Andrew’s Abbey, Valyermo, from 1973-1978. Dr. Ford was the first Roman Catholic in the doctoral program at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. His primary areas of competence are ecclesiology, spirituality, and music and liturgy; his secondary areas are Mariology and chant.” (From http://veritas.org/speakers/paul-f-ford/)
Gormley, Beatrice. 1998. C.S. Lewis: The man behind Narnia. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
This edition published in 2005 by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. The same contents as in Lewis: Christian and Storyteller. (Some photos are different.)
Haverkamp, Heidi. 2015. Advent in Narnia: Reflections for the season. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press
Contents: Introduction. Week One: 1) Through the wardrobe; 2) The lamppost; 3) A great light; 4) Mr. Tummus; 5) Repentance; 6) Turkish delight; 7) The bread of life. Week Two: 8) Lucy; 9) The professor; 10) Becoming like children; 11) Edmund; 12) Keeping awake; 13) The fur coats; 14) Adam and Eve. Week Three: 15) Like a thief; 16) The robin; 17) Angels and messengers; 18) Mr. and Mrs. Beaver; 19) Christmas and Eucharist; 20) The Witch’s house; 21) The house of David. Week Four: 22) Is it safe? 23) Father Christmas; 24) The full armor of God; 25) A tiny feast; 26) God will prepare a feast; 27) Aslan is near; 28) The winter is past. Sessions for Small Group Discussion: A leader’s guide; Session 1: The wardrobe; Session2: The witch; Session 3: Father Christmas; Session 4: The lion. Creating a Narnia Night for Families: Decorations; Activities; Closing prayer service. Appendix A: Movie versions of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Appendix B: An easy recipe for Mrs. Beaver’s sticky marmalade roll. Notes.
Heidi Haverkamp is Vicar of the Episcopal Church of St. Benedict in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Her blog is www.vicarofbolingbrook.net.
Hinten, Marvin D. 2005. The keys to the Chronicles: unlocking the symbols of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia. Nashville, TN: Broadman.
Contents: An Introduction: “Further Up and Further In”. 1) Lewis, the Chronicles, Allusions, and Allegory; 2) “Deeper Magic”; Allusions in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; 3) “Old Narnia is True”: Allusions in Prince Caspian; 4) “The Way to Aslan’s Country: Allusions in The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader”; 5) “The Healing of Harms” : Allusions in The Silver Chair; 6) “Myself”: Allusions in The Horse and His Boy; 7) “The Founding of Narnia”: Allusions in The Magician’s Nephew; 8) “Further Up and Further In”: Allusions in The Last Battle; 9) Allusions and the Future of Narnia; Appendix A: A Brief Background of C.S. Lewis; Appendix B: What Are Allusions, and How Important Are They?; Appendix C: Dating the Chronicles. Works Cited.
“Portions of this book previously appeared in The Lamp-Post, a C.S. Lewis journal….This book originated with a doctoral dissertation. Bruce [Edwards], as my dissertation director, penciled in helpful notes on virtually every page” (vii).
“[T]he allusion sometimes borrows from the original exactly; more often it takes a portion of the original and alters it or adds to it” (100-101).
Marvin D. Hinten is an English professor at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas.
Karkainen, Paul A. 1979. Narnia explored: The real meaning behind C.S. Lewis’s chronicles of Narnia. Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell.
Contents: Preface. 1) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; 2) Prince Caspian; 3) The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader”; 4) The Silver Chair; 5) The Horse and His Boy; 6) The Magician’s Nephew; 7) The Last Battle.
“The purpose of Narnia Explored is to ferret out of the Narnia takes the principle themes, particularly those which reflect Lewis’s Christian viewpoint…..Ideas the Christian has taken for granted or the unbeliever rejects without understanding are revitalized or deepened through his images” (7).
Those he outlines in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are: allegory and symbolism, the children as disciples, the old house, the great lion, sin and evil, sacrifice and salvation and the gift of Christmas.
In Prince Caspian, Karkainen identifies themes of Medieval Narnia, Soulish beasts, in the Lion’s tracks, the faithful skeptic, the crooked path to nowhere, and the wild awakes.
The Voyage of the ‘Dawn Treader’ reveals the beginning the quest, cleansing the Augean stables, the saga of useless Eustace, the noble mouse, the art of contentment, Aslan’s table and last things.
An outline of The Silver Chair includes: harried into heaven, a drink of water, the cheerful voice of doom, the signs of the times, poison green and the magnitude of evil, archetype and ectype, and the other side.
Themes in The Horse and His Boy are the Tisroc’s realm, a free Narnian in command, to Narnia and the North, and the lion’s claws.
In The Magician’s Nephew we find the call of the occult, the calm before creation, the lion’s song, and the apple of life.
Finally, in book seven, The Last Battle, are summaries called: the great deceit, humility and servility, the sin of despair, the adventure Aslan sends, the cancer of cunning, Tash’s revenge, blindness in Paradise, the sincere seeker, making an end and the holiday begins.
Paul A. Karkainen is a teacher and a longtime fan of Aslan. He lives in Washington State.
Khoddam, Salwa. 2011. Mythopoeic Narnia: Memory, metaphor, and metamorphoses in the chronicles of Narnia. Winged Lion Press.
Contents: Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction: Towards a Definition of C.S. Lewis’s Mythopoeic Aesthetics; 1) The Roles of Memory, Metaphor, and Metamorphoses in Lewis’s Mythopoeia; 2) Light and Sun Iconography in Narnia; 3) Mnemosyne in Narnia: Prince Caspian and The Silver Chair; 4) Satanic Cities in Narnia: Charn, the Castle of Ice, and Underland; 5) A Tale of Two Cities of Man: Tashbaan and Anvard in The Horse and His Boy; 6) The City of God: Cair Paravel in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; 7) The Gardens in Narnia; 8) The Sea-Serpent, the Ship, and Bifurcated Sea in The Voyage of the Dawn Trader; 9) The Narnian Apocalypse in The Last Battle; 10) Ovide Moralisée in Narnia: Metamorphoses and Thêosis. Conclusion. Works Cited. Index.
“This book is primarily an attempt to secure a well-deserved place for C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia in the history of the Western Imagination as product of the confluence of the classics and Christianity….The stories are a literary, and subtle form of what he had reiterated in his Broadcast Talks…and other apologetic and literary works (assuming one can separate the two), that the purpose of life is to live in imitation of Christ….” (i)
Salwa Khoddam, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of English at Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma City.
Kopp, Heather and David Kopp. Illustrated by Martin French. 2005. Roar! A Christian family guide to the Chronicles of Narnia. Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Publishers.
Contents: Part 1: Tell me more about Roar! Part 2: Let’s talk about the Chronicles: Book One: The Magician’s Nephew: 1) The wrong door; 2) Digory and his uncle; 3) The wood between the worlds; 4) The bell and the hammer; 5) The deplorable word; 6) The beginning of uncle Andrew’s troubles; 7) What happened at the front door? 8) The fight at the lamp-post; 9) The founding of Narnia; 10) The first joke and other matters; 11) Digory and his uncle are both in trouble; 12) Strawberry’s adventure; 13) An unexpected meeting; 14) The planting of the tree; 15) The ending of this story and the beginning of all others. Book Two: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: 1) Lucy looks into a wardrobe; 2) What Lucy found there; 3) Edmund and the wardrobe; 4) Turkish delight; 5) Back on this side of the door; 6) Into the forest; 7) A day with the beavers; 8) What happened after diner; 9) In the witch’s house; 10) The spell begins to break; 11) Aslan is nearer; 12) Peter’s first battle; 13) Deep magic from the dawn of time; 14) The triumph of the witch; 15) Deeper magic from before the dawn of time; 16) What happened about the statues; 17) The hunting of the white stag. Book Three: The Horse and His Boy: 1) How Shasta set out on his travels; 2) A wayside adventure; 3) At the gates of Taasbaan; 4) Shasta falls in with the Narnians; 5) Prince Corin; 6) Shasta among the tombs; 7) Aravis in Tashbaan; 8) In the house of Tisroc; 9) Across the desert; 10) The hermit of the southern march; 11) The unwelcome fellow traveler; 12) Shasta in Narnia; 13) The fight at Anvard; 14) How Bree became a wiser horse; 15) Rabadash the ridiculous. Book Four: Prince Caspian: 1) The island; 2) The ancient treasure house; 3) The dwarf; 4) The dwarf tells of Prince Caspian; 5) Caspian’s adventures on the mountains; 6) The people that lived in hiding; 7) Old Narnia in danger; 8) How they left the island; 9) What Lucy saw; 10) The return of the lion; 11) The lion roars; 12) Sorcery and sudden vengeance; 13) The high king in command; 14) How all were very busy; 15) Aslan makes a door in the air. Book Five: Voyage of the Dawn Treader: 1) The picture in the bedroom; 2) On board the Dawn Treader; 3) The lonely islands; 4) What Caspian did there; 5) The storm and what came of it; 6) The adventures of Eustace; 7) How the adventure ended; 8) Two narrow escapes; 9) The island of the voices; 10) The magician’s book; 11) The Dufflepuds made happy; 12) The dark island; 13) The three sleepers; 14) The beginning of the end of the world; 15) The wonders of the Last Sea; 16) The very end of the world. Book Six: The Silver Chair: 1) Behind the gym; 2) Jill is given a task; 3) The sailing of the king; 4) A parliament of owls; 5) Puddleglum; 6) The wild wastelands of the north; 7) The hill of the strange trenches; 8) The house of Harfang; 9) How they discovered something worth knowing; 10) Travels without the sun; 11) In the Dark Castle; 12) The queen of Underland; 13) Underland without the queen; 14) The bottom of the world; 15) The disappearance of Jill; 16) The healing of Harms. Book Seven: The Last Battle: 1) The Caldron Pool; 2) The rashness of the king; 3) The ape in its glory; 4) What happened that night; 5) How help came to the king; 6) A good night’s work; 7) Mainly about dwarfs; 8) What news the eagle brought; 9) The great meeting on Stable Hill; 19) Who will go into the stable? 11) The pace quickens; 12) Through the stable door; 13) How the dwarfs refused to be taken in; 14) Night falls on Narnia; 15) Further up and further in; 16) Farewell to Shadowlands. Part Three: Final Exams for Narnians: Narniac final exams; Narniace final exam for little ones; Blow the horn for help: Hints for Narniac final exam, Parts 1,4,6, and 8. Part Four: Leading the way into Narnia. A) What C.S. Lewis really believed by Marcus Brotherton; b) The literary bloke by J.I. Packer; c) The meaning of magic in Narnia by Marcus Brotherton; d) Who said anything about safe? by Mark Buchanan; e) Seeing through the mist by Erin Healy; f) Unicorns, myth and mystery by Erin Healy; g) Just say “Boo”! by Laurie Winslow Sargent with David Kopp; h) Mercy! How the wine doth flow in Narnia by Laurie Winslow Sargent with David Kopp; i) Color & culture in Narnia by Marcus Brotherton; j) Riding the light by Kristen Johnson Ingram. Part 5: Roar! Fact files: a) The official Roar! guide to what happened when in Narnia; b) Glossary of difficult and unusual words; c) Index of characters and creatures; d) Index of places in Narnia; e) Index of Bible allusions and parallels; f) All the answers to all the questions (for Part Two plus the Narniac final exams); g) Sources for Part 4 essays: g) Resources for Narniacs; h) About our contributors; i) Acknowledgments; j) Authors and illustrator; k) All about RoarofNarnia.com.
Manlove, C.N. 1993. The chronicles of Narnia: The patterning of a fantastic world. New York: Twayne.
Contents: Illustrations. Note on the References and Acknowledgments. Chronology: C.S. Lewis’s Life and Works. Literary and Historical Context: 1) Historical Context; 2) The Importance of the Chronicles; 3) Critical Reception. A Reading of the Chronicles. 4) Introduction; 5) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; 6) Prince Caspian; 7) The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader”; 8) The Silver Chair; 9) The Horse and His Boy; 10) The Magician’s Nephew; 11) The Last Battle; 12) Conclusion. Approaches to Teaching: Discussion topics for children; Use of sources for comparison; Passages to read out load; Sections to act out. Notes and Reference. Selected bibliography. Index.
Colin Manlove is Reader in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Miller, Laura. 2008. The magician’s book” A skeptic’s adventures in Narnia. New York: Little, Brown and Co.
Contents: Introduction. A Note on the Order of the Chronicles of Narnia. Part One: Songs of Innocence: 1) The Light in the Forest; 2) Animal-Land; 3) The Secret Garden; 4) Boxcar children’ 5) Something Wicked This Way Comes; 6) Little House in the Big Woods; 7) Through the Looking-Glass. Part Two: Trouble in Paradise: 8) Forests and Trees; 9) The Awful Truth; 10) Required Reading; 11) Garlic and Onions; 12) Girl Trouble; 13) Blood Will Out; 14) Arrows of Desire; 15) The Other Way In. Part Three: Songs of Experience: 16) Castlereagh Hills; 17) The Far Country; 18) Northern Lights; 19) The Builder and the Dreamer; 20) The Second Love; 21) Marvelous Journeys; 22) A Too Impressionable Man; 23) The Old Religion; 24) Riches All About You; 25) The Third Road; 26) A Formula of Power over Living Men; 27) Further Up and Further In. Acknowledgments. Index.
“I’d been raised as a Catholic, but what faith I’d had was never based on anything more than the fact that children tend to believe whatever adults tell them. As soon as I acquired any independence of though, I drifted away from the Church and what I saw as its endless proscription and requirements, its guild-mongering and tedious rituals” (6).
“I am no longer young and I can’t read the Chronicles the way I once did, with the same absolute belief. Some of what I find there still moves me profoundly, but other bits now grate and disturb….I wouldn’t have much liked the man who wrote them, despite the proselytizing that most adults assume is their only real content” (15).
“Laura Miller is a journalist and critic living in New York. She is a co-founder of Salon.com, where she is currently [2014] a staff writer, and a contributor to the New York Times Book Review, where she wrote the Last Word column for two years. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian and other publications.” (From Amazon)
Rigney, Joe. 2013. Live like a Narnian: Christian discipleship in Lewis’s chronicles. Eyes and Pen Press. [Sample on my Kindle]
Contents: Acknowledgments. A Word to the Reader. Introduction: Learning to Breath Narnian Air: Discipleship and the Shaping Power of Stories. 1) Deep Magic, and Deeper: The Moral Law and Sacrificial Love; 2) The Witch’s War on Joy: Why Christmas, Feasts, and Spring’s
Arrival Really Matter; 3) We Will Be Who We Are Becoming: Our Direction Determines Our Destination’ 4) Trumpkin’s Surprising Obedience: The Difference between Giving Advice and Taking Orders; 5) The Lost Art of Chivalry: Recovering the Virtues of Ferocity and Meekness; 6) The Folly of Nothing-Buttery: There’s Always More Than Meets the Eye; 7) After Darkness, Light: Seeing Everything by the Light of the Lion; 8) Parents, Educats, and Bureaucrats: Lewis’s Subtle Assault on Progressivism; 9) Breaking Enchantments with Burnt Marshwiggle: Defending the Faith against Modern Fables; 10) Shasta’s Hard Lesson: Receiving the Reward for a Job Well Done; 11) A Society of Self-Regard: Learning to Whistle Like a Humble Narnian; 12) The Heart of the Laughing King: Learning from Lune What it Means to Be a Man; 13) Tell Me Your Sorrows: Pursuing Healing through Happy Endings; 14) A High and Lonely Destiny; 15) Tirian’s Trials and Tragedy: Enduring Deep Doubt and the Soul’s Dark Night.
“In Live Like a Narnian Joe Rigney shows that Owen Barfield was right–What C.S. Lewis thought about everything was secretly present in what he said about anything. From apologetics to his thoughts on education, from his view of science to the role of government, from Natural Law to true manhood and womanhood–the breadth of Lewis’s bright vision of life shines through in his beloved Chronicles. Come, learn to breathe Narnian air.” (From Amazon)
Joe Rigney is a professor at Bethlehem College and Seminary.
Robinson, Nigel. 2005. The unofficial Narnia quizbook: 1000 questions and answers about C.S. Lewis’s enchanted land. NY: Gramercy Books.
Contents: 50 titled questions, covering the Chronicles and their characters followed by 50 titled answers.
“The thousand questions in The Unofficial Narnia Quizbook are designed to test your knowledge not just of Lucy’s adventures in Narnia, but of the whole history of Narnia and of all the other children from our world who were called there by Aslan” (ix).
“Nigel Robinson is a freelance writer and the author of sixty-eight published novels, non-fiction books, and RV and movie tie-ins.” (From the dust jacket)
Rogers, Jonathan. 2009. The Word, the Name, the Blood: Christian meaning in C.S. Lewis’s beloved chronicles. FaithWords.
Contents: Copyright. Acknowledgments. Introduction. 1) Reality you could not have guessed: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe; 2) Myth become fact: Prince Caspian; 3) Finding self, forgetting self: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; 4) Remembering the signs: The Silver Chair; 5) Up from slavery: The Horse and His Boy; 6) Adventurer and magician: The Magician’s Nephew; 7) Further Up and Further In: The Last Battle. Notes. Bibliography.
“Instead of giving you a lecture on the importance of staying warm, Lewis build a fire and says, “Here—feel this.” You can hardly help but love Aslan for the things he says and does. You can hardly help but desire what’s good and right and true. You can hardly help but feel that a life of virtue is an adventure you wouldn’t want to miss.” (From Amazon)
Roller, Julia L., ed. 2010. A Year with Aslan: Daily reflections from The Chronicles of Narnia. New York, NY: HarperOne
“In the tradition of A Year with C.S. Lewis, get your daily dose of inspiration from this one-of-a-kind devotional collecting 365 readings from the beloved Chronicles of Narnia. C.S. Lewis channeled his profound spiritual understanding into The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and the other books in his seminal fantasy series. This enthralling anthology (with lavish illustrations by Pauline Baynes) is the perfect gift for fans of the beloved children’s books, and a peerless set of meditations for anyone looking to step through that secret door to their own world of devotion.” (From Amazon)
Ryken, Leland and Marjorie Lamp Mead. 2005. A reader’s guide to Through the Wardrobe: Exploring C.S. Lewis’s Classic Story. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Contents: Introduction. Part 1: A guided tour of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 1) Lucy looks into a wardrobe: How the story begins; 2) What Lucy found there: Discovering more about the strange world; 3) Edmond and the wardrobe: Characterization; 4) Turkish delight: Archetypes; 5) Back on this side of the door: How it feels to be normal; 6) Into the forest: Worldmaking and the Storyteller’s art; 7) A day with the beavers: The good place motif; 8) What happened after dinner: Images of good; 9) In the witch’s house: Images of evil; 10) The spell begins to break: What readers like best in a story; 11) Aslan is nearer: The dynamics of the plot; 12) Peter’s first battle: The Romance genre; 13) Deep magic from the dawn of time: The uses of magic; 14) The triumph of the witch: Parallels to the passion story; 15) Deeper magic than before the dawn of time: The genre of fairy tale; 16) What happened about the statues: The role of myth; 17) The hunting of the white stag: The happy ending as narrative pattern and spiritual reality; 18) Retrospect: Putting it all together. Photo Section. Part 2: Narnian Backgrounds. 19) How the Narnian books came to be; 20) Receptive history of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; 21) The Christian version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; 22) A brief biography of C.S. Lewis. Appendix: What is the correct order in which to read the Chronicles of Narnia? Recommended reading list. Notes. Acknowledgements and permissions. Index.
Ryken, Leland and Marjorie Lamp Mead. 2008. A reader’s guide to Caspian: A journey into C.S. Lewis’s Narnia. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Contents: Preface. Introduction. Part I: A Guided Tour of Prince Caspian: 1) The Island: How Lewis Decided to Begin His Story; 2) The Ancient Treasure House: A Discovery Story; 3) The Dwarf: Plot, Setting and Character as a Narrative Harmony; 4) The Dwarf Tells of Prince Caspian: The Device of Flashback; 5) Caspian’s Adventure in the Mountains: Escape and Rescue; 6) The People That Lived in Hiding: Travelogue; 7) Old Narnia in Danger: Preparation for Battle; 8) How They Left the Island: Preparation for Mission: 9) What Lucy Saw: Another Perilous Journey; 10) The Return of the Lion: A Fairy Story and More; 11) The Lion Roars: Epiphany; 12) Sorcery and Sudden Vengeance; Evil Council Convened; 13) The High King in Command: Challenge to Single Combat; 14) How All Were Very Busy: Conquest Story; 15) Aslan Makes a Door in the Air: Denouement. Part 2. Caspian Backgrounds: 16) Are the Narnian Stories Allegorical? 17) The Christian Vision of Prince Caspian 18) Contemporary Review of Prince Caspian; 19) The Critics Comment on Prince Caspian; 20) A Brief Biography of C.S. Lewis. Appendix A: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Movie; Appendix B: Using the Guide with Reading Groups; Appendix C: Using This Guide with Home School Students; Appendix D: Pauline Baynes’s Illustrations of Prince Caspian. Recommended Reading List. Notes. Acknowledgments and Permissions. Index.
“This guidebook has two basic purposes—to introduce C.S. Lewis’s Price Caspian and to give readers some assistance in the basic principles of reading literature” (10).
Leland Ryden (Ph.D., University of Oregon) is Clyde S. Kilby Professor of English at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois; Marjorie Lamp Mead has been associate director of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College since 1977.
Sammons, Martha C. 2004. A guide through Narnia. Revised and expanded edition. Vancouver, British Columbia: Regent College Publishing.
Contents: Acknowledgements. Introduction. Seeing Pictures: The creation of the Chronicles; Summary of the Chronicles and events; Other versions and resources. Selecting the Ideal Form: Fairy tales; Style; Narrative. Seeing Man as Hero: Sons of Adam and daughters of Eve; The role of humans. Stealing Past Dragons: Myth; Allegory; Supposition: Aslan; Creation; The tree and garden; Evil; Sacrifice and resurrection; Salvation. Stepping Through the Door: Longing; Writer as creator; Dream and reality; Platonism; Stable door; Aslan’s country; The happy ending. Appendix. Dictionary of names and places in the Chronicles of Narnia. Bibliography. Index.
“A Guide Through Narnia was one of the first in-depth studies of C.S. Lewis’s seven Chronicles of Narnia. The focus and organization of this revised and expanded edition is on why Lewis wrote the books as fairy tales, the best “Form” for his ideas. It is written for both students and scholars who want to expand their understanding of these popular classics.” (From Amazon)
Schakel, Peter J. 2005. The way into Narnia: A reader’s guide. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
The Chronicles: The Author and the Books: 1) The Story-maker and His Stories (2-12); 2) Controversies over Texts and Reading Order (13-21). The Chronicles as Fairy Tales: 3) The Storytelling: Fairy Tale, Fantasy, and Myth; 4) Magic and Meaning in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (39-49); 5) Believing and Seeing in Prince Caspian (50-59); 6) Longing and Learning in The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader” (60-70); 7) Freedom and Obedience in The Silver Chair (71-81); 8) Place and Personal Identity in The Horse and His Boy (82-93); 9) Endings and Beginnings in The Magician’s Nephew (94-102); 10) Endings and Transcendings in The Last Battle (103-113); 11) The Stories Told: Fairyland and Its Effects (114-118); The Chronicles: Annotations (121-162); Sources and Notes (163-194); Further Reading (195-198);
“This book reuses some material from those earlier [Narnia] studies, but it is a new book in approach, emphasis, and insights. Its unifying theme is that the best way to enter Narnia is to read the Chronicles as fairy tales. This book brings out the influence on the Chronicle of the ideas about Faërie developed by Lewis’s friend J.R.R. Tolkien in his essay ‘On Fairy-Stories’” (ix).
Smith, Mark Eddy. 2005. Aslan’s call: Finding our way to Narnia. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Contents: Abbreviations. Introduction. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver chair; The Horse and His Boy; The Magician’s Nephew; The Last Battle. Afterword. Reflection and Discussion Questions. Editions Used.
“C.S. Lewis has created a wonderful place, a place where anything can happen. Even the stones can talk. In Aslan’s Call Mark Eddy Smith shows us how—in this fanciful world—we discover the truest reality. In the children who travel to Narnia we find ourselves. In Aslan we find Christ. And in the place of Narnia we find the very adventure for which God made us. We begin with the journey, and it is the journey that shapes us.” (From the back cover)
A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Mark Eddy Smith is graphic designer at InterVarsity Press.
Vaus, Will. 2010. The hidden story of Narnia: A book-by-book guide to C.S. Lewis’ spiritual themes. Cheshire, CT: Winged Lion Press.
Contents: Preface. Introduction. I) The Magicians Nephew, Creation & Fall; II) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Crucifixion & Resurrection; III) The Horse and His Boy, Calling & Conversion; IV) Prince Caspian, Restoring True Religion after a Corruption; V) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Spiritual Life; VI) The Silver Chair, War against the Powers of Darkness; VII) The Last Battle, The Coming of the Antichrist, the End of the World, and the Last Judgment. Conclusion: How to Live Like a Narnian. Bibliography. Index. Acknowledgments.
“In a number of Lewis’ letters he comments on how children almost always recognize who Aslan is, whereas grown-ups seldom do. However, this book is written for people of all ages who have read the Narnia books and want to understand more of the hidden story behind them all. What I attempt to do in this book is to share with the reader the correspondences I see between Narnia and certain spiritual and biblical themes in our world, as well as demonstrating the connection between what Lewis wrote in the Narnia books and what he wrote elsewhere” (5).
Velarde, Robert. 2008. The heart of Narnia: Wisdom, virtue and life lessons from the Classic Chronicles. Colorado Springs, CO: NAVPRESS. Previously published as The Lion, The Witch and the Bible.
Contents: Acknowledgments. Introduction. 1) Good and evil in Narnia; 2) Courage and cowardice; 3) Fairness and unfairness; 4) Honesty and dishonesty; 5) Mercy and cruelty; 6) Peace and war; 7) Humility and pride; 8) Repentance and unrepentance. Conclusion. Appendix: Chronicles of Narnia plot summaries. Notes. About the author: “[A former atheist], Robert Velarde is a writer and editor for Sonlight Curriculum. He is the author of The Heart of Narnia (NavPress, 2008), Inside the Screwtape Letters (Baker, forthcoming), The Power of Family Prayer (National Day of Prayer, 1999), The Lion, the Witch and the Bible (NavPress, 2005) and Examining Alternative Medicine (InterVarsity Press, 2001). A former editor for Focus on the Family, he received his M.A. in Religion from Southern Evangelical Seminary.” (From www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/author.pl/author_id=1021)
Wagner, Richard. 2005. C.S. Lewis & Narnia for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing Co.
Contents at a Glance: Part 1: C.S. Lewis: Christian Apologist and Storyteller; Part II: All Things Narnia: Voyaging to the World of Aslan; Part III: Tell Me More Stories: Lewis’s Other Novels and Fantasies; Part IV: Getting Real: Discovering Lewis’s Nonfiction; Part V: The Part of the Tens; Appendix: Complete List of the Works by C.S. Lewis; Index. (The main Table of Contents is detailed and covers over 9 pages.) “Richard Wagner is the author of Christianity for Dummies and Christian Prayer for Dummies. He has been an avid student of C.S. Lewis’s works for more than 20 years and has let discussion groups on his writings.” (From the back cover)
Ward, Michael. : 2008. Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the imagination of C.S. Lewis. Oxford University Press.
Contents: 1) Silence; 2) The Planets; 3) Jupiter; 4) Mars; 5) Sol; 6) Luna; 7) Mercury; 8) Venus; 9) Saturn; 10) Primuum Mobile; 11) The Music of the Spheres; 12) Coda. List of Abbreviations. Notes. Bibliography. General Index. Biblical Index. Drawing on the whole range of Lewis’s writings…Ward reveals how the Narnia stories were designed to express the characteristics of the seven medieval planets…which Lewis described as ‘spiritual symbols of permanent value’ and ‘especially worthwhile in our own generation’.
“Planet Narnia is a ground-breaking study that will provoke a major revaluation not only of the Chronicles but of Lewis’s whole literary and theological outlook. Ward uncovers a much subtler writer and thinker than has previously been recognized, one whose central interests were hiddenness, immanence, and knowledge by acquaintance.” (From the dust jacket)
Michael Ward is Senior Research Fellow at Blackfriars, Oxford and Professor of Apologetics at Houston Baptist University. His Ph.D. is in Divinity from the University of St Andrews.
Williams, Rowan D. 2013. The lion’s world: A journey into the heart of Narnia. NY: Oxford University Press.
Contents: Preface. Introduction. 1) The point of Narnia; 2) Narnia and its critics; 3) Not a tame lion; 4) No story but your own; 5) The silent gaze of truth; e6) Bigger inside than outside. Conclusion. Notes. “…Lewis is trying to recreate for the reader what it is like to encounter and believe in God” (16). “In Narnia, you may be on precisely the same spiritual level as a badger or a mouse” (21).
“Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams offers fascinating insight into The Chronicles of Narnia, the popular series of novels by one of the most influential Christian authors of the modern era, C. S. Lewis. Lewis once referred to certain kinds of book as a “mouthwash for the imagination.” This is what he attempted to provide in the Narnia stories, argues Williams: an unfamiliar world in which we could rinse out what is stale in our thinking about Christianity–“which is almost everything,” says Williams–and rediscover what it might mean to meet the holy. Indeed, Lewis’s great achievement in the Narnia books is just that-he enables readers to encounter the Christian story “as if for the first time.” How does Lewis makes fresh and strange the familiar themes of Christian doctrine? Williams points out that, for one, Narnia itself is a strange place: a parallel universe, if you like. There is no “church” in Narnia, no religion even. The interaction between Aslan as a “divine” figure and the inhabitants of this world is something that is worked out in the routines of life itself. Moreover, we are made to see humanity in a fresh perspective, the pride or arrogance of the human spirit is chastened by the revelation that, in Narnia, you may be on precisely the same spiritual level as a badger or a mouse. It is through these imaginative dislocations that Lewis is able to communicate–to a world that thinks it knows what faith is–the character, the feel, of a real experience of surrender in the face of absolute incarnate love.” (From Amazon)
Williams, Thomas M. 2005. The heart of the Chronicles of Narnia: Knowing God here by finding Him there. Nashville: W Publishing Group.
Contents: Preface: Not a puzzle, but a flower. Introduction: The world of the wardrobe: The Narnia phenomenon. Part I: The Story of Narnia: 1) Not a tame lion: The truth about God; 2) The song of Aslan: The creation of Narnia; 3) Mammals, mountains and muffins: The pleasures and wonders of creation; 4) Bad magic: The invasion of evil; 5) Turkish delight: Temptation and sin; 6) Deep magic before time: The defeat of death; 7) Romping with the lion: Fun, happiness, and joy. Part 2: Living like a Narnian. 8) Slaying the dragon inside: Kicking the sin habit; 9) Follow the signs: Knowing God’s will and doing it; 10) Asking Aslan: The puzzle of prayer; 11) Aslan on the move: The mystery of providence; 12) Flying your flag: The committed company; 13) The blind dwarfs: Faith and sight. Part 3: The end and the beginning. 14) Beyond the Shadowlands: The supernatural parallel world; 15) Further up and further in: A glimpse into heaven; 16) Longing for Aslan: The object of all desire. Afterword. Discussion guide. Notes.
In the C.S. Lewis Readers’ Encyclopedia, an entry by Paul Ford (“The Chronicles of Narnia,” 121-122) reiterates that Lewis claimed that his stories began with pictures or dreams and were not allegories as such.
Lewis wrote to a young reader that he had not planned the series as such, but that one book led to another. The chronology of writing is not the same as the events, but this should not matter—which readers should keep in mind.
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