Narnia bloggin': more cover art for The Chronicles of Narnia books

 Previously: the different Chronicles of Narnia covers I collect

There were five blog posts between the first Narnia Bloggin' post and the most recent/second post (linked above), so since five more blog posts have been published since that one, it's time for a new Narnia Bloggin' post. Previously I shared about how I collect various cover art versions of The Chronicles of Narnia (TCON), and whether or not I have the full run of each series. I decided to post about other cover art TCON versions and why I don't collect them as well. The main reasons are: 1) I only have so much shelf space, and 2) I am not made of money.

 

Original covers with art by Pauline Baynes - you can see what these look like on this website. I like these well enough, but not enough to purchase them. If I were to find a set of these in good condition for a good price, I might buy them. But that is not very likely to happen. Obviously I am not going to buy actual first editions! I once held a first edition of (I think) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (LWW) in my hands once; it was in a rare books store in a giant mall in Las Vegas (possibly Bauman Rare Books). It was so cool. As far as I know reprints of the TCON books with these original covers have not been made, although of course other covers with Pauline Baynes' art exist; I own the full-color editions. 

~

image source

PB art circles TCON covers -  The illustrations within each circle are, of course, taken from Pauline Baynes' art. The only one I don't immediately recognize is the one for Prince Caspian (PC); this Reepicheep must have been drawn for one of the many other PB covers and Narnia books she drew for. It does look like her style.

~

image source. pay no attention to the Narnia trivia book

TCON covers by David Wiesner - I actually like these a lot, but not enough to buy them (they feel too... cartoony?). Probably my favorite cover of these is The Magician's Nephew (TMN); having having us be able to see a faint reflection of Digory in the silver apple he's holding, plus Jadis hiding behind the tree, is so cool! I think Wiesner's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (VotDT) is the only copy I can remember seeing that does not have the ship on the cover. 

~

image source

TCON covers by Chris Van Allsburg - You may remember Chris Van Allsburg from his iconic books such as Jumanji, Zathura, and The Polar Express. His art is so soft yet detailed and interesting; much less dreamy than it initially looks. I like these covers, but again, not enough to buy them. I like that he chose to show the scene where Doctor Cornelius is giving Caspian an astronomy lesson in the high tower for PC's cover; that scene happens towards the beginning of the book, and most covers just show people or boys fighting with swords etc. His VotDT cover is from nearly the end of the book; very beautiful. Having Jewel the unicorn be shown with blood dripping from his horn for The Last Battle (TLB) is a choice and I respect it. 

~

In googling, I just found out about this beautiful collector's edition set from Easton Press. Different colored leather bindings, with one Pauline Baynes illustration from each book done in gold outlines. That price tho! 😭

~

Folio Society TCON sets - Speaking of exorbitant prices, apparently at some point in the nineties the Folio Society made a TCON set in this gorgeous, richly detailed gilt style (possible second similar style). I'm sooooo tempted to get one of the under $300 set... but that would be so financially irresponsible... I'll reassess when I'm 40.

~

Back in the 2000s, Barnes & Noble made a beautiful leatherbound collector's edition TCON omnibus. I didn't buy it because the cover art was LWW themed and I don't like that for TCON omnibuses. I wish I had; it's not available anymore and the resale prices are ridiculous. :'(

~

TCON covers by Steven Lavis - Also from googling, I stumbled on this cover set by Steven Lavis from 1980, possibly from the UK or Canada and almost certainly not published in the US. I like them, especially the additional details at the top of the books above the titles (the wardrobe detail for LWW, etc.). Here's more pictures of the covers as well as the set's slipcover.

~

TCON covers by Julek Heller - There appear to be two versions of Heller's cover art: this TCON set with no border, and this TCON set that has cover art inside frames with a lion & unicorn plus other characters/creatures. For some reason those two TCON sets have different covers for PC and TSC. IMO it doesn't make sense to have the Black Knight on the cover of TSC because he barely comes into the story. The LWW cover is a bit spoilery, and the TMN cover is inaccurate because I believe only Digory sees that giant beautiful bird (the kids don't see it while on pegasusback).

~

Ok, this is different: here's another probably-foreign TCON set, but this set is in three volumes instead of seven or one. The first volume has TMN, LWW, and The Horse and His Boy (HaHB); the second volume has PC and VotDT, and the third volume has TSC and TLB. That's so random; why would they do it like that? The cover art is pretty, even if the children all seem to have the same face and hair.

~

I found some pretty medieval-inspired covers that I like a lot, via the C.S. Lewis editions website. To see the other TCON books' covers in that series, click on each book in the main TCON editions webpage. I would def buy these if I saw them at the thrift store etc. in good condition. I love medieval/renaissance-inspired art.

~

Warwick International Publishing House TCON editions - You can see them all here along with their other offerings since I'm too lazy to link to them individually. They look very pretty, and all have that wardrobe frame thing going like the Dillon's covers. Hang on, is the girl (probably Lucy) on the cover of LWW pointing a glowing magic wand at Aslan???? WTF?? Why is he a giant compared to her? If that were the White Witch (which it does not appear to be), Aslan should definitely not be so huge compared to her. PC just shows the lad; VotDT shows Aslan all big over the ship for some reason; HaHB shows a boy on a horse like usual but unusually he's wearing a royal military uniform, not unlike something an actual prince would wear?? That's a spoiler, wtf. TSC's cover is also unusual; I'm guessing that's supposed to be Rilian sitting on the silver chair with the snake around the top? He looks too young and too asleep; otherwise, good/interesting cover. TMN shows Aslan standing behind Digory, who is not dressed like he should be (whither his Eton collar?). It's pretty but meh. TLB's cover is almost identical to VotDT's, only it's Aslan's head over Cair Paravel (I'm guessing). It's pretty but we basically never go to Cair Paravel in TLB.

~

more TCON covers by Cliff Neilsen - Apparently Cliff Neilsen, who made one of my favorite TCON cover series, also made another set of digital cover illustrations for the TCON series. TBH I had completely forgotten about them until I started googling the covers. All of the covers are too dark and green, in my opinion. The LWW cover is the worst; it's obviously supposed to be Aslan, but he looks like a taxidermied stuffed lion that has gone evil (the red shading doesn't help). The PC cover is fine, if a bit boring; it's just a sword against a tree. VotDT's is a dark, danky silhouette of the Dawn Treader, which I don't really like. TSC's cover just shows a snake, which is boring. HaHB shows 2 crowns, which I think is a spoiler; it's the only HaHB cover I've seen to not show a horse or a scene from the book. TMN has a dark green apple (which is wrong; the apple was silver). TLB is the only other reddish cover and shows a unicorn as well. Overall I do not like this series of cover art at all; the only thing I do like is that these all have C.S. Lewis' signature on them, which I think is interesting. 

I JUST learned that Cliff Neilsen just redid his TCON digital art covers that I love! I thought I was losing my mind while looking at the various covers on B&N, because most of them just look slightly different, with the exception of LWW. I like them; I think TMN is my favorite. NarniaWeb helpfully posted them all with old/new cover comparisons. 

~

via the official Narnia Instagram

I never posted a picture of the new Owen Richardson TCON covers, despite discussing them. I like them, I think. They look dynamic and interesting, if a bit dramatic. I'm not really sure if I'll bother buying them; maybe one at a time via thrift stores etc. like my other TCON editions.

~ 

They're also going to come out with a beautiful new collector's edition TCON omnibus. Shut up and take my money!!!

Narnia bloggin': the different Chronicles of Narnia covers I collect

Previously: the first post in this series

I mentioned previously how I collect multiple editions of The Chronicles of Narnia that have different covers, which I brought up because of the announced upcoming new TCON covers by artist Owen Richardson that I wanted to talk about in my previous Narnia Bloggin' post. That got me thinking about all of the different cover editions of the TCON series that I own, and I decided to turn my Narnia bloggin' post into a series so I can post about all of them. Unless otherwise stated, I collected all of these by looking for them in thrift stores and yard sales and slowly buying them one by one as they turned up. I don't think I paid more than $3-5 for each copy. 

I first read The Chronicles of Narnia at my local public library, and they all mostly had these deeply strange and ugly neon illustrated covers that I nonetheless have a lot of nostalgia for. The cover for The Magician's Nephew (MN) is especially imprinted in my mind, as it was the first Narnia book I ever read. A quick google let me know that these are the 1970 Collier Books set with art by Roger Hane. I picked up from my various readings and Narnia fandom presence that these were made for the American market, although I may not be correct.

source

For the most part, these covers mostly seem to be the artist's take on scenes from the book, probably inspired by the preexisting inside illustrations by Pauline Baynes, whose illustrations remain inside of all of the different versions of the full Narnia books I've ever seen (even the mostly un-illustrated omnibus retains one of her illustrations to head each chapter). I don't remember if PB actually drew the four Pevensie children going into the wardrobe and Narnia the way Hane has for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (LWW), and the cover illustration for MN is drawn from a description of the children and Jadis emerging from a pool in the Wood Between the Worlds (Jadis had indeed grabbed Polly by the hair). The disembodied giant head of Aslan above Shasta and Bree on the cover of The Horse and His Boy (HHB) is, of course, artistic license. Overall, good and accurate covers, if a bit strange. I own all seven.

~

The first Narnia books set I ever owned was the 1990s ones with cover art by Leo and Diane Dillon, a married couple and fantasy & science fiction illustration powerhouses who have illustrated a lot of famous books. I believe the brass-looking wardrobe frame around each cover illustration was made by one or both of them too. I think it's supposed to depict a dryad (?) and a dwarf welcoming you into the wardrobe and Narnia. As a child I received one book for each birthday and Christmas in a four-year span; my parents undoubtedly thought seven books were too many and too expensive to bestow upon me at once. 

source

MN focuses solely on its antagonist, as does LWW; the rest depict pivotal scenes in their respective books (well, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [VotDT] depicts the Dawn Treader just sailing on the water, a popular choice for the book). The Dillons' art is very detailed and has a bit of an alien, weird quality. The title areas all having different colors is a good idea to help tell them apart. I highly recommend clicking on the source link below the above image to see the original poster's other pictures of the covers.

~

After the Disney LWW movie I got into the Narnia fandom online and became aware of other book covers. 

One of my favorites is Cliff Neilsen's TCON covers; they're computer illustrated and feel fresh and modern. I especially love the flame lion Aslan that adorns the omnibus. 

 

 

The transparent, scifi-looking elements make the books seem spookier then they (generally) are. Looking at the covers now, they do rather look like products of their times, but I do still like them a lot. The LWW cover is probably my favorite. I own all of these except for The Magician's Nephew, for some reason.

~

Like most book lovers, I generally disdain movie tie-in book covers, but I did get the ones for the Disney Narnia movies. My mother actually bought me the LWW tie-in Narnia omnibus (the one with the White Witch), which a friend of hers had at her yard sale or something. I did not want to buy it myself because it only depicts art from the first book/movie (the fire Aslan omnibus pictured above is general so it was ok in my opinion). However, a gift is a gift. Owning that omnibus is what made me decide to buy the other movie tie-in covers. 

 

I genuinely cannot recall which of the two LWW movie covers is the one I have; maybe one is on the LWW omnibus? I cannot recall. I have all of these except for VotDT (I actually just purchased the movie cover Prince Caspian earlier this year). There seem to be a couple of variant covers for each of the movie tie-in books. 

~

There are many TCON series that have cover art by Pauline Baynes, the original illustrator; at least in the US, her illustrations within the TCON books always remain, regardless of the cover art. The ones I've decided to collect are the full-color collector's editions in paperback (identical to the hardcover ones shown below).

source

 

The MN, LWW, HHB, and VotDT covers show idyllic scenes from the books (Aslan did romp with Susan and Lucy, although there was no mention of a daisy chain); the other three books' covers show more suspense. These are good, if a bit precious and of the time. Having the inside illustrations be in full color is very nice, as is the thick glossy paper. My most recent thrift store trip yielded a slightly creased copy of the full-color VotDT, so now I have all of them! 🤩

Obviously, I could track these down and order them online, instead of getting them from the thrift store as they show up, but where's the fun in that? 

AMAZING website I just found in looking up the different covers!!

Narnia bloggin'

The Chronicles of Narnia was the first fandom I ever participated in online, having loved the books since I was seven, and it's still very near and dear to my heart (just look at my Instagram handle). I used to be very active on the NarniaWeb forums around the time of the first Disney movie (TCoN: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) through probably a bit after the second (TCoN: Prince Caspian) or third (TCoN: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader). More clearly, this was 2005-ish to around 2009/10. It was about the only social life I had at the time, until my last two years of undergrad; I think I was in grad school when I finally stopped reading and posting in the forums for good, although I still think of them and the people I met on there fondly. The NarniaWeb admins still send me a birthday message every year despite me being inactive. 

In terms of how I see the Disney movies, I liked the first one the best (LWW), Prince Caspian the worst, and VotDT the mediumest. There were of course additions to LWW that I didn't like, little remarks and actions for the kids that were annoyingly precious or modern or childish (clearly added to up the drama and cater to modern American audiences), and the (IMO) unnecessary waterfall scene. I was most active in the NarniaWeb forums during the making of Prince Caspian, poring over and freaking out about movie news for probably a year and a half with other die-hard Narnia fans, which whipped me into a frenzy probably no movie could have lived up to. Prince Caspian, which strayed even farther from the source material than its predecessor and was given even more unnecessary and egregious additions such as the Susan/Caspian kiss (I shudder and C.S. Lewis rolls in his grave), was a huge let-down that disappointed me greatly. I was busier during VotDT's making, not reading or participating in the forums as much, partially because of school, having IRL friends, and due to the disappointment I had incurred. I enjoyed VotDT more because of this; if you expect nothing, there is room to be pleasantly surprised. I heard from my most recent CSL class professor that CSL's stepson put a stop to the Disney Narnia movies after the third because he felt they were straying too far from the Christianity of the books (my professor knows him personally). I of course would have liked to see more Narnia books turned into movies, but understand fully. He was right to do so, I think.

All this is to say: I've heard that Netflix is going to make new Narnia movies and possibly a TV show/s. This of course makes me a bit nervous but rather intrigued. Greta Gerwig is going to be the director, which I'm not totally on board with but trying to have an open mind about. I liked Lady Bird okay, liked Little Women quite a lot, and loved Barbie, but I'm not sure how her brand of feminist introspective teen-girlhood and young womanhood is going to fare. TCON has a few strong, well-rounded female characters, but they do not spend any time thinking about what it means to be a teenage girl/young woman in society and the way cultural and parental expectations effect their attempts to be themselves and live their lives the way they want. The closest to do so was Susan, and look where that got her. I didn't like Disney/Walden's attempt at this (introspective teen-girlhood), which consisted of having Susan be awkwardly talked to by a boy in the beginning of Prince Caspian, much to her dislike; this was clearly supposed to be a foil or something for her "relationship" with Caspian, which was barely (and badly) developed anyway. I'm not sure what the point of it was (the boy trying to talk to her in England); was it to show how Susan preferred muscular hot older guys to nerdy skinny boys? Was it an attempt to show character growth and maturing (Susan didn't like boys and then she did)? Was this their attempt at laying groundwork for what happens to Susan at the end of the series??? 

While typing this, I just remembered how they added a character to VotDT (a sailor's young daughter who stowed away on the ship to be with her dad) in order for the film to have another female character besides Lucy and the star's daughter (who is there for five seconds and isn't even named in the book) and to pass the Bechdel test, lol. I know the books are just so male, and there's not really a way to change that in a way that will keep everyone happy (far from it). IMO, the best way to do it is to make some minor characters female. Doctor Cornelius could be Doctor Cornelia, the seven lords Caspian tries to find in VotDT could be the seven lords and ladies, etc. This will make a lot of people angry but who cares. I'm sure the diversity that was "added" to the background characters made people upset; look at the blowback the current LOTR prequel TV show got for their Afrolatino elf (whom I love of course). As the books are set during the 1940s in our world and a classic fantasy European medieval era-inspired world, plus were written in the 1950s, there are period-typical attitudes towards gender roles. I'm curious to see how Greta Gerwig deals with these without making the changes too focus-pulling.

The Disney/Walden movies' director, Andrew Adamson, put in his boyish love of the battles and fighting in the Narnia books, expanding and inflating them to mythic LOTR-like proportions. I obviously feel the battles and fighting and war etc. have their place, but it was unnecessary to inflate them and add more; this made the movies feel like kiddie-LOTR or LOTR-lite. There are as many views of Narnia as there are readers, I guess. I personally liked the fantasy and magic stuff the best, as well as the history that is only hinted at but never fully told. I know Greta Gerwig loved the TCON books as a kid, as did most of us; hopefully the adaptations she helms will be balanced and not too much of anything.

I do think it makes sense to turn Voyage of the Dawn Treader into a TV show; the stories are very episodic anyway and would translate nicely into TV episodes. The Silver Chair would also work decently well as a TV show, as would The Last Battle. The other books, I feel, would not, although LWW and PC have of course already been turned into BBC miniseries (TV shows with only one series, usually of 4-6 episodes) as well as movies. 

One thing I am really looking forward to is new Narnia merch. When the Disney movies came out, I was in college and had very little money, so I couldn't buy everything I wanted to. This time I have plenty of money to spend on frivolities, but my fear is that Netflix won't put out any official Narnia merch. I can't recall seeing any official merch for most Netflix shows, apart from a few shows' merch on Hot Topic/Boxlunch. Well, there's always fan-made merch. 

~

A new set of illustrated covers for the TCON books were announced; they remind me a lot of Cliff Nielsen's excellent cover illustrations as they're both dynamic and computer/digitally illustrated, only the new ones look extra dramatic. I mostly liked them, until someone online pointed out that they look AI-generated, and my stomach sank. After scouring them and finding Digory's case of AI-hand, I commented on the official Narnia Instagram post about the covers asking if they were AI-generated, and both the artist and his daughter replied that they were not (kind of embarrassing but I did comment somewhere very visible, so). I do kind of agree with some of the other comments that all fantasy covers look kind of the same nowadays. I don't think I'll buy a set of the new covers books brand-new, unless I find a great deal or something, and my guess is that it'll take a few years after they are published for copies with these covers to make their way to thrift stores and secondhand bookshops if I want to buy them the way I've bought the others (aka individually and slowly depending on what the thrift stores have at the time).

I was intrigued by the artist adding Easter eggs to the cover illustrations in the form of the planetary symbols for the planet each book falls under according to Michael Ward and his Planet Narnia/seven heavens theory. I don't subscribe to it but I was brought much closer to agreement by a classmate's presentation on that theory in my CSL class (Dr. Ward also gave a presentation on his planetary theory to my CSL class since my professor knows him as well). For Owen Richardson (the new book covers' artist) to use the books' assigned (by Dr. Ward) planetary symbols show that he loves the Narnia books enough to read books about them; I am comforted by this knowledge.

Someone else pointed out online that they're using the Disney logo/font for the new books' titles, and won't that look dated, especially by the time the Netflix movies come out? I like the Disney font a lot but I rather agree; it'll be cool to see what Netflix does with the titles design.

January books

 January felt so long but also like wow, it's over already? Time is weird.

My first read of 2024 was a book from the Sister Fidelma mysteries series, Suffer Little Children (summary here). I got this one, as I got the other first four books, from the free books rack in my library. As usual, this was an interesting murder mystery where I didn't see the twist coming. Peter Tremayne surprisingly limited himself to only one mention of Fidelma's "rebellious red strands of hair snaking out of her headdress", and then only right at the beginning. I did not enjoy this one because there were multiple instances where children (and adults etc.) were massacred in cold blood. Just way too sad. I gave it 3.5 stars. Trigger warnings: murder, children murdered, graphic depictions of corpses including blood, bodies burned, assassination mention, death, sexism.

 

I'm auditing a C.S. Lewis class for fun this quarter, and I'm really enjoying the class and rereading Lewis's books again. The professor lived in and ran the Kilns (CSL's home) for several years and is friends with lots of CSL-related people, including his stepson, so she has tons of fascinating insight to share. So far I've reread the first two Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. Those are the only two Chronicles we're reading in the class, so I may reread the others at some point later this year. 

I also reread Surprised By Joy: The Shape of My Early Life, which is his memoir of his life up to becoming a Christian, and how the Joy/longing/sehnsuct he felt at nature and fairytales and mythology primed him for God despite being an atheist. Unsurprisingly, Lewis also talks about his schooling, and there was just so much physical abuse and bullying throughout his childhood and adolescent schools that it's a surprise he was able to learn anything. I think I maybe last read this book in my early twenties, and of course bring different views/opinions/etc. to the reading now as an adult in my mid-thirties. Lewis's account of how he felt he had to play a certain role with his father instead of being himself I had completely forgotten; his annoyance at having to forgo his alone time and reading in order to play the dutiful son was just too real. I think his father had ADHD, given Lewis's depictions of the way he thought and acted. Some of the stuff, such as his dad's quick, confusing way of thinking and him making his sons be/sit with him constantly out of some idea of family is so much like my mom. So often during my adolescence and young adulthood I'd be holed up in my room reading and hear my mom call out, "Michelle! Come be with your family!" and it was so annoying. Justice for introverted bookish children of extroverted ADHD parents! The sheer amount of everything he read and all the languages he learned is staggering; I especially enjoyed reading about his time studying with his uber-logical tutor. 4 stars, not sure how to rate this spice-wise because while there are frank depictions of "immorality", they are just written frankly in an academic/general way and not meant to titillate. Trigger warnings: physical abuse/punishment of children, starvation of children, neglect, bullying, passive suicidal ideation, loss of parent, mentions of sexual relationships between minors/teenage boys, war mentions, bugs/insects mentions (Lewis had a phobia at least as a boy)

I'm really enjoying all the readings, and am currently making my way slowly through Mere Christianity and Out of the Silent Planet.

HarperCollins and subsidiaries books of 2022

The HarperCollins strike is over, so I'm going to publish short book review blurbs about the HC books I read since the strike started. TBH, it's been a while, so I may not remember everything about the books.

 

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew (read in November) is the first Narnia book I ever read and as such I have a soft spot for it. Such a good story. Two English neighbor kids in 1900 set out to explore their townhouses and are forced into a magical experiment that will show them the end of one world and the beginning of another, setting in motion the rest of the series. To me it has some of the most creative and rich imagery. Uncle Andrew should be in jail and deserved a lasting comeuppance. More males acting stupidly again; Lewis's misogyny where?? lol One minor plot point I want to talk about: Aslan says Frank the cabbie and Helen his wife have not yet encountered grief, but they're totally OK with being yanked out of their world and never seeing anyone in it again? Don't they have families? If they don't have families, then haven't they known grief? Didn't they have friends they'd miss? If you don't have family or friends you know grief, in my opinion. 4.5 stars, permanent collection. Trigger warnings for this book: children used/forced to participate in magical/scientific experiments without their consent by adult, physical violence, an adult physically hurts/harms children repeatedly, threats of violence and death, animal abuse and cruelty (to a horse), sick/dying parent, verbal manipulation of children, off-page magical genocide, off-page magical immediate extinction of all living species, sexism, theft

 

A True Wonder: The Comic Book Hero Who Changed Everything (read in November) is a picture book biography about Wonder Woman and how her comics came to be, with an especial focus on the women who made her possible. It was written by Kirsten W. Larsen and illustrated by Katy Wu. I loved this book and learned a lot from it. A must-have for fans of Wonder Woman and comics! GIRL POWER! 5 stars, keeping.  Trigger warnings (that I remember): sexism towards real women and Wonder Woman, sexualization of Wonder Woman's outfit (wanting her to be more/less covered up)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle (read in December) is indeed the last book of the series. I like it but at the same time it's depressing. Eustace and Jill are called back to Narnia to help its last king attempt to save his country's creatures and soul from forces outside and within. I found Shift's truth-bending and manipulation of religious belief for power to be prescient when I last re-read this series during the Bush administration, and I continue to find it prescient during this current era of fake news and Christofascism. My heart hurts for Tirian, the Narnians, and all the sad stuff that happens. Important to note that racism rears its head again, due to the part Calormenes play in this story. To go about undetected, Tirian and the kids put on brownface to impersonate Calormene soldiers. Tirian and other Narnians say racist things about Calormenes and their skin colors. This book's One Good Brown Person is Emeth; I can't go into his whole thing in the short paragraph I want this review to be (a good article; 'ware spoilers). Not to mention, the problem of Susan (ditto. all of his Narnia articles are so good)! There's a lot packed into this little book; you could say it's bigger on the inside, like the stable. 4.5 stars, permanent collection. Trigger warnings: war, battles, murder, death, physical violence, animal cruelty, cruelty to sentient creatures, slavery mentions, brownface, racism/colorism, child soldiers, hunger and thirst mentions, fantasy horror, sexism, heavy-handed Christian symbolism

Rest of May books - children's books

Continuing my Narnia reread, I read The Horse and His Boy, which is one of the most unique books of the series. Two enslaved Talking Horses and their runaway child charges escape from Calormen (Arabian Nights land) to go to Narnia, braving the bustling capital city, royal entanglements, and mysterious lions. All the other books are set in Narnia and partially in England, so the change is refreshing. We see the story through the eyes of Shasta, a Northern (white) boy who decides to run away with Bree (Talking Horse) when his adoptive father decides to sell him to Bree's master. I would have liked to equally hear the story from Aravis, the Calormene noble girl escaping an arranged marriage with her Talking Horse Hwin. But of course the whole point of this book is that brown people can't be trusted, except for One Good Brown Person. Fascinating setting, even if the males in this story act stupidly. The kids stumble onto conspiracies which are interesting and dangerous. I liked this book despite the racism, and I liked Aravis' classism being pointed out and comeuppance given. 4.5 stars, permanent collection. Trigger warning: racism, racist stereotypes and caricatures, misogyny, slavery, war, child soldiers, children with weapons, physical violence, child abuse mentions, children hit by adults, a slave is whipped, a lion claws a child, sexism, classism, entitlement, child marriage, arranged marriage

Next was Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise and illustrated by Paola Escobar, which I bought from Book Outlet. This is a picture book biography of Puerto Rican librarian Pura Belpré, who brought Spanish stories and bilingual storytelling to the latine children who attended the New York Public Library. The American Library Association has a Pura Belpré award for excellent latine children's books, such as this one (note the silver medal). This is a beautiful semi-bilingual book with bright, lovely illustrations, and I enjoyed reading it. My mom, who was born in New York and grew up in the sixties and seventies, was delighted to learn about Belpré. I really look up to Belpré, as a latina librarian. Representation is so important, and I laud those who paved the way. 4.5 stars, keeping.

Rest of March books - children's books

Continuing my Narnia reread, next up was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This book has many of the same characters as Prince Caspian, and introduces the Pevensies' cousin Eustace Scrubb, a deeply annoying stuck-up brat. In the first two books, the Pevensies were called (or blundered into) Narnia to save it from an invading colonizing force; in this one, Edmund and Lucy (and Eustace) just get to chill on the Dawn Treader and go on cool interesting adventures with Caspian (now King) without any specific quest they have to do. Don't Peter and Susan deserve such a vacation?? The gang only has like 2 near-death experiences instead of being in near-constant danger and discomfort! Only 3 years have passed for Narnia, instead of the 1,000 or so in Prince Caspian. Each chapter deals with a new adventure, as Caspian and co. find out what happened to his fathers' friends who went that way some 20+ years before them and were never heard from again. They also try to get to the end of the world. I love VotDT, as the stakes aren't very high (in one adventure, Caspian, the Pevensies and Eustace are kidnapped into slavery but are rescued like 2 hours later) and the different adventures are fun and fascinating to read about. The pacing and vibe is different from the first two books; reluctant readers might do better with this one. 4.5 stars, permanent collection. I read the copy from my OG Dillons cover art series. Trigger warnings for this book: horror (psychological mostly), suspense and creepiness, death (off-page), dragon cannibalism, slavery, bullying, greed, period-typical sexism, feminism depicted as stupid (sole feminist sentiments given to worst, most annoying character), danger, animal bullied (altho Reep can take care of himself), swords and weapons, pro-monarchy statements, they almost run out of drinking water on the boat at one point

I feel like I bought A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston (illustrator) from Barnes & Noble, although of course at this point I have no record of that. I bought it several years ago and displayed it propped up on top of my AC unit, then finally read it in March. Summary below:

A little girl sails her raft across a sea of words, arriving at the house of a small boy and calling him away on an adventure. Through forests of fairy tales and across mountains of make-believe, the two travel together on a fantastical journey that unlocks the boy’s imagination. Now a lifetime of magic and adventure lies ahead of him . . . but who will be next? 

 It's exactly the kind of picture book I love to read: full of book love, wonder, and whimsical illustrations. It leaves you with such a wonderful, warm feeling after reading it. I was surprised by how grayscale the illustrations were, however; while beautiful, creative, and text-based (the text is taken from classic works of literature and classic children's books), hardly any colors were used in the illustrations. I would have also liked to see more diversity; both children appear to be white. I do highly recommend this book, especially to metabook lovers (metabook = books about books). 4.5 stars, keeping. Trigger warnings for this book: if I remember correctly, the children get into slightly dangerous situations? being chased by trolls etc. but nothing major or "real"

Rest of February books

I read the book The Internet Is a Playground by David Thorne throughout the month of February. It is the perfect bathroom book because it's a bunch of essays and email conversations, so you can pick up and put down the book at any point. You can read the synopsis here. I had heard of the blog/website, and I'm pretty sure my brother sent me some of the greatest hits from it (as well as seeing some on tumblr), so I was somewhat familiar with a few of the chapters. One of David Thorne's viral email conversations is credited with "inventing" NFTs (the spider). It is a very funny book, but the humor is mean and problematic. The tagline includes the blog's name, Evil Online Genius, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I couldn't help laughing anyway, although I did find it less funny than I would have/did ten+ years ago. I consider this a good time capsule of mid-2000s to mid-2010s online humor. 3.5 stars, giving to my brother since I know he'll find it funny. Source: BookOutlet. Trigger warnings for this book: fatphobia, sizeism, ableism, the r*tard slur is used multiple times, sexism, homophobia, homophobic slurs (directed by others towards author), child endangerment jokes, animal death & cruelty jokes, probably other stuff I can't think of

Continuing my TCON reread, I read Prince Caspian on the 27th. I had fewer problems reading this book vis-a-vis thinking of reading it out loud (I'd stick with the original vaguely Spanish accents for the Telmarines. It fits with the names). It's such a good book, and a good continuation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Having the kids go back when they do adds such a fascinating, mysterious element. Memorable characters, wilderness survival, and battle scenes, not to mention magical creatures and happenings. What more do you want? I'd also try to eat the chocolate-looking soil. The copy I read was from my trusty set with the Leo & Diane Dillon cover art, since I don't yet have a full-color illustrations edition of Prince Caspian. 5 stars, permanent collection. Source: gift. Trigger warnings for this book: war, death, murder, threats of the above (including to children), blood, children fighting duels and battles against adults, child soldiers, bear attack, children using weapons, animal death, children shot at with arrows, scary fantastical characters, evil magic, fatphobia, people turned into animals, magic referred to as dark or light when we now know that's racist, suspense (mostly kid-friendly)

January 2022 books

 'Twas a picture book-heavy reading list this month. I am very firmly a mood reader, so I never set my reading list ahead of time. These were mostly lying around the house.

Finding Narnia: The Story of C.S. Lewis and His Brother Warnie is the first book I read this year. As you know, I collect books about Narnia and C.S. Lewis (and by him). This one is a picture book biography by Caroline McAlister and illustrated by Jessica Lanan. It briefly tells the big-picture, broad-strokes story of C.S. Lewis's imaginative, creative, and physical life, from his childhood to his middle age (when he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia). It focuses a bit more on young Jack and Warnie's fantasy kingdoms that they made up, and how they joined them so they could play together. I learned a few things, such as that Warnie was the one who typed the manuscripts of The Chronicles of Narnia, which CSL handwrote! The illustrations appear to be watercolor, and I was pleasantly surprised to find an illustrator's note after the story where Jessica Lanan wrote about going to these places in Lewis's life (the Kilns, Oxford, etc.) and how she patterned places and objects to look like the real thing. She includes endnotes about liberties she took (for example, she painted the wardrobe that inspired THE wardrobe lighter than the one in real life, in order to show off the carved details). I appreciated this, and the illustrator's notes made me like this book even more. This book was a real treat, and CSL fans will love it. It deals with Narnia less than the title suggests, but Narnia fans will like this too, I think. I'm not sure how kids will like it past Jack & Warnie's childhoods. 4.5 out of 5 stars, keeping obviously. Source: Book Outlet. Trigger warnings for this book: death, war mentions, wound mention, grief mention, atheism and Christianity

 

 

Next up was the book itself by the man himself, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe! This is obviously a reread for me; I decided to reread the entire series this year since I haven't in quite a while. It was actually surprisingly difficult for me to read this; for some reason I could not stop thinking of reading this book aloud *while* reading it and of the voices I'd give each of the characters, often doing so. It kept taking me out of the story. I enjoyed it, of course. It strikes me each time I read a book I loved as a child that when I revisit it, the story is over too quickly, and it is no longer as deep and magical and mystical as I found it as a child. Now I just think of me reading it out loud to children myself. Such is growing up, I suppose. What I'm going to do next is read all of Tor's blog entries on LWW for the Great Narnia Re-Read and see what the author had to say about it. I'm going to read a book a month this way. I of course own multiple copies of the Narnia books; I read the full-color one (they added color to Pauline Baynes's illustrations). 4.5 stars, permanent collection. Source: thrift store I think. Trigger warnings for this book: war, death, murder, threats of the above, blood, spit, violent mob (lynching?), scary fantastical creatures, evil magic and enchantment, magic referred to as dark or light which we now know is racist, child endangerment, child soldiers, children using weapons, suspense (mostly kid-friendly)

After that I read The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish by Tim Flannery, which is a historical fiction/mystery novel set in Australia and partially the Venus Islands in the 1930s. This young museum anthropologist guy goes to live with the Venus Island people for five years, then has to readjust to white Australian life and keep the museum director happy while finding out what happened to missing museum curators. He suspects the VIF has something to do with it (see title). He also has to try to win back his girlfriend and would-be fiancee, who flipped out when he gave her a penile love token as a proposal. This had that fun retro vibe I look for in comic early twentieth century lit, but it was weighed down by period-typical racism towards Aboriginals and Venus Islanders (and Italian immigrants). The main guy's roommate sets out to learn about Australia's bloody, horrible colonial past (it's much like America's with the genocide and child murder, etc.). It's good that the author didn't shy away from that and just pretend colonial Australia was hunky dory, but it did make this a much more difficult read than I was anticipating. The fact that so much of museums' historical collections are stolen from indigenous and non-European/Western people  is also included in this book (the VIF is stolen). Personally, we spent way too much time with the roommate and the rich museum donor (sort of a Trump type); it didn't really add anything to the story. I wish we'd spent more time with the Venus Islanders; they were cool. The ending was kind of rushed and weird? I also didn't get the literary device of pretending the story was found in a stuffed monkey in the Sydney museum; it also didn't add anything to it. I did like reading a book from Australia; usually everything I read is from the US or England. I did overall enjoy this (minus the awful colonial racism parts). 3.5 stars. Source: Dollar Tree. Trigger warnings: all the awful colonial racist violence I mentioned, murder (including of children), violence, racism, genocide, candid descriptions of body parts and bones from dead people and animals, cultural insensitivity and theft of "foreign" items for the museum, racist evolutionary ideas, inappropriate museum and archival/preservation practices

 

 I went back to children's lit after this, reading two different picture books about libraries and books.

 

The Night Library by David Zeltser, illustrated by Raul Colón. This cute picture book has one of the famous New York Public Library lion statues coming to life at night and taking a little boy who doesn't like books to discover the magic of the public library. I liked the dreaminess of this one and its art. This is the sort of book I'd have pored over and loved as a child. Recommended for both children and adults, although if you read a lot like I do, the story is not unique. It also feels more like it should be a short film than a book. Supposedly the boy is latino; I did not pick up on that. Bonus diversity points, I guess? It was probably Raul Colón's doing. 3.5 stars, probably keeping. Source: Book Outlet. Trigger warnings: can't think of any. Might make children think lions are safe to ride? They might also start throwing library books around to make them fly

Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown, illustrated by John Parra. This book is about a little girl in Colombia who has only one book and dreams of more. Luckily, her town is visited one day by the Biblioburro, a traveling library on the backs of two burros named Alfa and Beto (I cry. Get it, alfabeto? Alphabet?). The bright, colorful, naive-ish Latin American-inspired illustrations are nice to look at. The librarian with the Biblioburro is real; this is based on a true story. I enjoyed this, and it's nice to see a library-related picture book that is from Latin America. Both author and illustrator are latines. 3.5 stars, probably keeping. Source: Book Outlet. Trigger warnings: hinted-at poverty, hinted-at educational neglect of children, suggested parentification of child, can't really think of anything else