Look at That

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series that I have no memory of reading for the first time, it just seems like I've always known the stories.  For my home use I have a compete set of all the stories in one edition that was given to me as a gift.  Having all the stories together gives it a nice weight and it's perfect for a rainy day marathon reading session. 

But here at school I have all the books separately.  Many students are scared off by enormous volumes so having the books separately makes them seem more manageable.  These are an eclectic set, pieced together from my personal copies and books people have donated, varying in wear and edition.  To me this makes for a good bookshelf-it feels authentic, these books have had lives-they aren't just arranged for show.  

So when I decided to blog about The Chronicles of Narnia I just grabbed a copy of book one (chronologically, others choose to read the books in the order they were released) off my school shelf.  What a happy choice.  This copy of The Magician's Nephew was an illustrated edition. 

I don't care how old you are or how much of a reader you are or how cool you try to be, everyone loves when something has pictures.  It's especially good when the illustrations fit the mood of the book which these absolutely did.  

For those who don't know, The Magician's Nephew tells the story of how Narnia was created.  This book is one of my favorites for the same reason the first Harry Potter book will always be my favorite in that series, this is where it all started.  This is where we get the awe and the wonder.  Everything is new and amazing and just waiting to be explored.  You can just imagine the characters looking around with their mouths hanging open saying, "Would you look at that!!?"  

But that doesn't mean it's perfect.  Just like in the wizarding world or Middle Earth or The Capital, no world is perfect.  It's how you respond to the intrinsic evil that makes the story. 

Taking time to look at that...that's kids stuff.