Customer Reviews

Aslan (The World of Narnia Series)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

...with the negative reviews of these books. For one thing, the illustrations, while many and large, really aren't that great, and don't remotely hold a candle to Pauline Baynes' original illos *or* the Dillons' covers for the late releases of the books. (I'm a professional graphic artist who started out doing children's illustration, and I have a 6 year old daughter and 7 year old son, and I still hold an interest and look at quite a bit of it.)

I was a little angry the first time I saw these in a bookstore, but mostly, I was just sad. Like others, here, and many of my generation, I had "the Narnia books" read to me, all of them in a row, before I could read, when I was four-five and my sister two-three. Neither of us was bored by them, nor were we confused, and nearly thirty years later, we're still in love with the books and have read them umpteen times.

In addition, I have to agree with the customer from Georgia, about the obvious editorial bias shown in these "adaptations." I'm not a Christian myself, but why on earth would you want to read Narnia with all of Lewis' deep, sincere (and however you feel about the particulars, pretty reasonable) faith leeched from it, the very thing that gives it its lasting power? Aslan-as-Christ, the heart of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, is so glossed over in the picture books that it isn't surprising "Georgia" just plain missed it. In that sense, and in a small way, these books remind of of that attempt at sanitizing Huckleberry Finn in the mid-eighties. (As if one of the most powerful and lasting anti-racist works of a shamfully racist period *needed* sanitizing...)

I have kids of my own, now, and I've observed other parents, and...the "dumbing down," over the course of my lifetime, of children's fiction doesn't have anything to do with kids or what they want or what they can handle. It's all about parents who feel like their lives are somehow more busy, pressured and consumed than those of any other parents in history. This is nonsense--if anything, my contemporaries, and late-parenting Baby Boomers I know, have *more* time, more money, less pressure all around than my blue-collar family had. Parents I know have endless time and energy to spend on their own pursuits, including, most bizarre to me, among my "Gen-X" peers, obsessing over and collecting the works of obscure musicians, the detritus of our childhoods (Brady Bunch/Disney/whatever memorobilia, old video games, etc.), and most astoningly, buying and playing expensive video games, which are almost entirely directed at adults, now, not children. When it comes to reading with their kids, though, there seems to be a great demand for Cliff's Notes versions of *everything.* God forbid that you should spend more than fifteen minutes reading your kid a book or anything.

These books weren't created for kids. They were created for lazy parents. They, and other books like them, are a stain on this wildly-educated, economically properous, but wildly unfocused time, and any parent who passes up "the real deal" in favor of these Happy Meal versions of C.S. Lewis should be ashamed of himself or herself.

These are worse, much worse, than those awful Scholastic series of garbage novels, and I hate those an awful lot. (Anybody else remember when Scholastic's goal was to get *real books* into kids hands, cheap, not sell them market-priced editions of the juvenile equivalent of Dean R. Koontz and Danielle Steele?) END

While I eagerly anticipate the day when my 2nd grade children can read the "originals" themselves, these books offer an educated alternative to Pokemon and similar cartoon-based book series on the shelves these days. They enjoy the stories, study the illustrations and have developed a keen interest in the characters of Narnia.

I am not opposed to them reading a "Happy Meal version" of a classic at this age because in school they are encouraged to read to themselves, not listen while I read to them. They return to this series often because they enjoy it and I can't think of a better reason for a child to read a book. There is plenty of time for them to read the full series, and I'd rather they read it when they can absorb all of Lewis' symbolism. All of the books in this new series are a terrific introduction to C.S. Lewis' classic epic. I recommend them.

My five and seven year olds sat mesmerized on either side of me as I read all seven of the original books to them within a four week period. They weren't bored, didn't miss the pictures and seemed to "get" much more of it than I'd thought they would. The videos are wonderful, but I wouldn't let them see them until they had finished all the books, because what they came up with in their imaginations was infinitely superior even to those. No, they didn't understand it the way a teenager or a 47 year old would (I was thrilled to read the series for the first time myself) but they now have something real on which to build, something to which they can return in their imaginations, and something to demonstrate to them what "real" writing is. Please don't cheat your children...or yourselves.

If you love Narnia and all the symbolism it embodies, you will hate this representation of Aslan. I suppose Mize was trying to make it a story for small children, but lets face it, its not. The critical part of the story is Aslan's substitutionary death for Edward. That isn't even in this sanitized version. Lewis predicted long before his death that people would misinterpret his writing and he has proven himself a prophet. Harper as a publisher seems very happy to drain the meaning from these works and distribute the saccharine leftovers. If all you want is a simple story with adventure in a mythical setting by all means choose this. The illustrations are lovely. if, however, you want your children to treasure the story as you do, wait until they can read it and enjoy the WHOLE story.

I cannot understand why people feel the need to water down wonderful things. How arrogant are adults to assume that children must be given something "easier to swallow?!" I was by no means an extraordianry child, but my father read the chronicles, the complete chronicles, to me when I was three. Of course I dodn't understnad some of it the first time, but if father had read less challenging things to me, I am sure I would not developed as completely in the areas of imagination, intellectual, and emotion development. Please don't spend your money on this lushly illustrated insult to literature.

I love the illustrations in the World of Narnia series which were also made into calendars a number of years ago. The 4 books present the book "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe". I disagree that they take away from the original book in any way. As a teacher I've used these with my deaf and hard of hearing students and they have responded very well to the illustrations. For me, beautiful illustrations only stimulate my imagination and deepen my appreciation for the original story. I also think the purpose of these books is so that younger children can read them themselves. I think it's a good idea to read the original books to your children though. Anyway, please don't insult this wonderful artist just because the stories were written at a lower language level. I think they serve a very useful purpose. Anything that will encourage people to read the real Narnia books, even later on, cannot be a bad thing. I wish the artist, Deborah Maze, would illustrate the other books as well.

My 3 children (ages 3 through 6) absolutely love the four books in this series. What a wonderful introduction to Narnia for younger children.

I must disagree with the reader from Georgia's objection. Aslan's substitutionary death for Edmund is given a large role in the story and is explictly explained in the text.

4 stars because 5 stars are given out much too easily by reviewers on Amazon.

We've read all the colorful books in this series thus far. They are colorfully illustrated to hold a younger child's attention while introducing children to the wonderful stories of Narnia. Highly recommended.

I was a little appalled when my husband brought this book home from the bookstore, since I am an avid reader (always have been) and get particularly annoyed when people mess with the classics. But face facts, my five year old LOVES this book. So much so that I am ordering the rest in this "series." I've got stacks of great literature waiting to be read to him, and in another year or two he'll be ready for some of it, but right now, if it doesn't have big, colorful illustrations, with clearly visible swords and shields and magic power stuff, forget it. This book fills that bill and stays reasonably true to the original in the sophistication of vocabulary. For example, Father Christmas gives Lucy her gift and says "in this bottle there is a cordial made of the juice of the fire flowers of the sun..." Not your average 4-8 age range pablum. So count us in. Time will tell whether they have "damaged" my son's appreciation of the real thing, but somehow I don't think so.

I think it's perfect for little kids who wouldn't understand the full story yet.