Narnia Reading Project 2012

Hi, everyone! Time for another 2012 Reading Challenge!!

I have been wanting to read this series aloud to my kids, so this challenge will be good timing for me! I still have the original box set from when I was a kid. I never did get very far in the series - I think I just read the first two - so I want to enjoy them again now with my kids.

This challenge which is being hosted by Rikki at Rikki's Teleidoscope.

Here are the details copied from Rikki's blog:

Welcome to the Narnia Reading Project. If you would like to explore Narnia and share your thoughts and reviews with others, then, please, sign up in the link collection below. If you would like to use a project button, please go to my project announcement post.

This is no read-along with a reading schedule. If you blogged about one of the books or want to discuss anything, just leave a comment on this page to link us up to your post or just share your thoughts right here.

The seven books in publication order (German titles in brackets):

1. The lion, the witch and the wardrobe (Der König von Narnia)

2. Prince Caspian: The return to Narnia (Prinz Kaspian von Narnia)

3. The voyage of the Dawn Treader (Die Reise auf der Morgenröte)

4. The silver chair (Der silberne Sessel)

5. The horse and his boy (Der Ritt nach Narnia)

6. The magician’s nephew (Das Wunder von Narnia)

7. The last battle (Der letzte Kampf)


The seven books in chronological order:

1. The magician’s nephew

2. The lion, the witch and the wardrobe

3. The horse and his boy

4. Prince Caspian: The return to Narnia

5. The voyage of the Dawn Treader

6. The silver chair

7. The last battle


The reading order is not altogether clear. C. S. Lewis himself wasn’t sure which reading order would be best or whether it even mattered. He wrote to a young reader:

"So perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone read them."

Scholars, however, say different:

"Scholars and readers who appreciate the original order believe that Lewis was simply being gracious to his youthful correspondent and that he could have changed the books’ order in his lifetime had he so desired. They maintain that much of the magic of Narnia comes from the way the world is gradually presented in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. These academics believe that the mysterious wardrobe, as a narrative device, is a much better introduction to Narnia than The Magician’s Nephew — where the word "Narnia" appears in the first paragraph as something already familiar to the reader. Moreover, they say, it is clear from the texts themselves that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was intended to be read first."

Source: Wikipedia
More info

C.S. Lewis page at HarperCollinsPublishers

We will be reading the books in chronological order, which means we will be starting with The Magician's Nephew first.

If you would like to join me in the challenge, click on the challenge badge at the beginning of this post.

I am going to keep track of my progress below and link up my reviews as I go:

1. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia, Book 1) 
2. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia, Book #2)
3. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia, Book #3)
4. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia, Book #4)
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia, Book #5)
6. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia, Book #6)
7. The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia, Book #7)