Thursday, August 5, 2010

Narnia Reading Challenge Summary


Chronicles of Narnia
Over the past year or more, my children and I have listened to the unabridged audio versions of the Chronicles of Narnia, with frequent repeats of their favorites: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Magician's Nephew, and The Horse and His Boy. I had hoped to listen to them all again in chronological order this month for Carrie's Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge, but unfortunately we didn't quite get that much done. We revisited parts of our favorites while traveling, and I listened to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader while canning tomatoes, and I must say that audio books are a great way to keep one's mind engaged while one's hands are busy!

After hearing the story again, I am even more excited about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie coming out in December because I think this book and The Horse and His Boy have the best storylines of all the books, at least as far as the flow, characters, and creativity are concerned, although The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe certainly ranks up there too. I am cautiously hopeful that the movie will follow the book fairly closely in plot, but I will be surprised if it retains all the profound spiritual lessons that are so beautifully illustrated in the story. Oh well, that just makes reading (or listening to) the book all the more important!

Edmund and the White Witch (Narnia)Lucy Steps Through the Wardrobe (Narnia)Additionally, I also scoured our library for Narnia themed picture books and found Lucy Steps Through the Wardrobe and Edmund and the White Witch, which both my three-year-old and six-year-old enjoyed.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Welcome to Narnia (I Can Read Book 2)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Tea with Mr. Tumnus (I Can Read Book 2)We also own a couple of "I Can Read" Narnia books, and I am overjoyed to hear my daughter reading Welcome to Narnia and Tea with Mr. Tumnus! Narnia is not just for summer reading challenges at our house, though, and we will be returning by whatever means we can find throughout the year!

2 comments:

Carrie said...

I think it's awesome that you drew from your library. It's so hard to find picture books. When Voyage comes out in December I am going to buy up every picture book I find based on the movie! THey are so handy and awesome for young readers.

Thanks for sharing your journey through Narnia!

bekahcubed said...

I agree with you about audio books being a good thing for while your hands are busy with other things. I like to listen to audio books, lectures, or sermons on my MP3 player while sewing or cleaning. It makes the handwork go so much faster--and keeps my mind busy at the same time.