Finding Narnia

The Story of C.S. Lewis
and His Brother

Roaring Brook Press
(MacKids)
(pub. 11.19.2019) 
48 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Caroline McAlister
 and illustrator:  Jessica Lanan

 
C haracter: C.S. Lewis and Warnie Lewis

O verview: 
     "Before C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, he was a young boy named Jack who spent his days dreaming up stories of other worlds filled with knights, castles, and talking animals.
     His brother, Warnie, spent his days imagining worlds filled with trains, boats, and technology.
     One rainy day, they found a wardrobe in a little room next to the attic, and they wondered, What if the wardrobe had no end?"

T antalizing taste: 
     "Another terrible war broke out. Families in London sent their children to the countryside to  be safe from the bombs. On Sundays, Jack noticed the church was full of refugee children, squirming uncomfortably on unfamiliar pews among unfamiliar people. He didn't know much about children, but he figured he and Warnie could help out.
     That's how two girls came to stay with Jack and Warnie. One rainy day, the girls were exploring the house, and they found the old wardrobe..."

And something more: Caroline McAlister's Author's Note explains that "Different groups of children arrived throughout the war, and Warnie met many of them. We don't know exactly which ones gave Jack the idea for the premise for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Perhaps it was more than one that asked about the old wardrobe." In these days of "shelter in place", it's nice to imagine stepping into a wardrobe into another world.