Customer Reviews

The Narnia Cookbook: Foods from C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Having a 7-year old boy who loves The Chronicles of Narnia, this book really caught my eye. He has pored over it, and we have already made two of the recipes: Lucy's Roast Apples and Marmalade Roll. They both turned out very well, and were quite popular with the whole family.

This book has approximately 68 recipes divided into categories such as Breakfast, Lunch, Afternoon Tea, Dinner, Dessert, and Drinks.

In my opinion, the mark of a good cookbook is the percentage of recipes that one would actually make. In this cookbook, there is a high percentage of the recipes that I would try.

Each recipe has a bit of commentary from Douglas Gresham, Lewis' stepson, and a quote from one of the books that lists the dish the recipe is for. The commentary is interesting and informative. There is also a foreward written by Gresham. At the end of the book are some menu ideas so that you can have a Narnian dinner party with your friends.

I LOVE the Chronicles of Narnia, even as a "grown-up".So I jumped at the chance to learn how to make foods described in the books.

The book is supposedly aimed at kids. I will say though, that the taste of the foods is really more adult (or English). They taste great, don't get me wrong, but kids (unless they are really excited about the recipies being Narnian) will likely think them wierd. I made the Tea Cakes with Lemon Curd Filling for a friend's kid's Communion Party, and all the adults raved--but the kids wouldn't even go near them. (Incidentally, the Tea Cakes are DELICIOUS. A wonderful treat).

A note of advice, you will need stuff like double boilers and parchment paper for some of the recipies. Plus you will have to make some trips to specialty food stores. However, most of the stuff is middling easy to make.

Overall, this is a wonderful book. I am so glad I have it. The recipies are very tasty, and the book itself provides a wonderful cornicopia of foods and ideas that Americans are not very familiar with.

We checked this book out from the library again and again. We loved it. There are seven very 'American' children in our family, and we ate or drank every recipe we tried from this cookbook.
The illustrations and descriptions were delightful. The recipes were tasty and appealing to all literary-minded children who have been permitted or encouraged from babyhood to have adventurous palates.
Several recipes have been oft requested birthday favorites.

Yummy. Wish it were still in print.

I keep getting this book from out of our local library system. I just love it and have always enjoyed the Narnia stories and others by CS Lewis. What a pity that the publisher chose NOT to reprint this book amid all the hoopla over the new movie. I too would LOVE to own this book but will NEVER pay the outrageous prices the private booksellers want for a book published in 1998. This is a wonderful book to share with your children. If the publisher ever reads these reviews, PLEASE REPRINT THIS BOOK!

I was given this book several years ago when I was 10 or so. The person purchased it for something like 5 dollars on a bargain table at some store. I am now 16 and love it more than ever, in fact, I used it one year to celebrate a complete Narnian Christmas! What fun! I appreciate it now particularly knowing it is out of print and being sold for such an outrageous price! I really agree with the other reviewers that this needs to be republished!

It's a great cookbook with fun foods to make, but also just a neat book to read for pleasure, maybe while enjoying some tea and sugertopped cake :)

Update: I told the author about Amazon's option to publish the book on demand through Amazon. He thanked me for the information and is now looking into this possiblity. Here's hoping the Harper Collins will agree to let Amazon print the book on demand! :-)

Original Review: I found the title for this book while searching for a recipe for Narnian Turkish Delight. Obtaining the book was harder, but eventually my turn came to get it from the library. It's worth the wait. Ultimately, I don't know whether the recipe for Turkish Delight or Toffee was my favorite, they were both wonderful (as were many other recipies). Equally delightful were the color illustrations, excerpts from the book next to the appropriate recipe, and the bits of trivia (i.e. C.S. Lewis' favorite kind of tea). Any Narnia-lover will be enchanted. The author is quite willing (I asked him) so why won't Harper Collins reprint this book? I guess they think we aren't interested. I want to own this one! If you do too, borrow the book from your local library and review it here. Better yet, contact Harper Collins and ask them to reprint!

I needed this book to go with some of our homeschool curriculum. It's a fun cookbook to have, especially if you have read and loved the chronicles of Narnia books. But, because it's out of print the price is three times (or more) what it should cost. If I hadn't needed it for a long period of time, I would have just borrowed it from the library.

Alright, with the recent success of the film, you'd think they'd find a way to get this back into print. There is no way I'm paying 150 dollars for a 128 page book--even if it is Narnia. I really want to have a narnian feast one of these days, so this book needs to come back into print. The Narnian (an autobiography of C.S. Lewis) was out of print and was just republished this year...so I suppose there is hope.