Hey, everybody! Welcome back to Tumnus’ Bookshelf, where we review any and all books written by, about, and inspired by CS Lewis, The Land of Narnia, and The Inklings. For today’s review, we will be looking at the brand new board book World of Narnia: Animals adapted from The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis, pictures by Joey Chou.
TITLE:World of Narnia: Animals adapted from The Chronicles of Narnia
PICTURES BY: Joey Chou.
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN-10 : 006342746X
ISBN-13 : 978-0063427464
Summary:
Encounter some of the greatest animal friends in fantasy literature in this delightful new animal primer, World of Narnia: Animals.
Review:
If there is one universal constant among children it is that they love animals. Whether it’s seeing animals at the farm, playing with their companion animals at home, encountering even a squirrel out in nature while going for a walk, or seeing them in TV and movies they always delight at seeing animals. It’s probably why when it comes to school trips one to the zoo is the most anticipated. This is especially true for babies and toddlers who can sit in rapt attention as they watch animals scurry about.
Considering how many board books exist about animals, it’s almost surprising that there hadn’t been a book for the littlest friends of Narnia about animals. While James Rioardan and Pauline Baynes A Book of Narnians is an indispensable field guide to amazing creatures that call Narnia home, for the youngest and newest friends of Narnia something more geared to their level may be needed. Enter World of Narnia: Animals by Joey Chou, an enchanting animal primer about the creatures of Narnia.
We start the book off perfectly by introducing the little friends of Narnia to the character who Lewis admitted brought the whole story together, The Great Lion, Aslan. Considering how much children love lions and big cats, He’s the perfect starting point for the book, especially when He is the Alpha and Omega of Narnia. The image of Aslan feels right out of a stained-glass window, right down to a “halo effect “akin to the images of the resurrected Christ or the Holy Family at the Nativity, hinting at Aslan’s majesty, power, wonder and even His divinity without saying anything in words.
However, what makes this book so delightful, and probably even more special to long time Friends of Narnia is we don’t just see characters from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as Chou gleans form the other seven books in this series to compile a delightful safari through the land of Narnia. Other fan favorites including Reepicheep the Mouse, Farsight the Eagle, Maugrim the Wolf, Fledge the Flying Horse, Trufflehunter the Badger, Glimfeather the Owl and even Shift the Ape. Each page is met with basic summary of who the characters are and what their motivations are, allowing them to be captured in their most basic elements.
The cover art even features Bree from The Horse and His Boy, the Bulgey Bears from Prince Caspian (with one of them sucking his paw), and the robin from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Thus, aside from seeing Fledge in flight, World of Narnia: Animals only includes those creatures who exist in our world such as lions, mice, wolves, beavers, badgers and monkeys, allowing it to be a perfect companion to a child’s trip to the zoo. The fact is that apart from Jewel the unicorn and an occasional minotaur, or werewolf, Lewis largely populated his world with real animals from our world, with more mythical beasts like Griffins and a Phoenix only existing in the movies. To that end in some ways the board book ends up being more accurate to the source material then the big screen movies.
Most delightful whoever for this long-time Friend of Narnia was not only seeing some of these animal friends but the cameos by characters like Prince Caspian (who looks a bit like Ben Barnes), and even Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole from The Silver Chair. Considering how Narnian adaptations tend to be feast or famine as far as how far they go into the rest of the series, it’s always a special treat to see characters outside of the ones introduces in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe appear in a tie-in book.
World of Narnia: Animals is a magical safari through the world of Narnia that allows the youngest Friends of Narnia and their families to meet many of the wonderful animals from the Narnian stories, and even see other old friends once again beyond the four Pevensies. A delightful treat for fans young and old alike.
Buy the Book from Amazon.com
Five out of Five Shields.
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