The lion, witch and the wardrobe

[coventgarden]

DD is nagging to read my copy of the afore mentioned book and I have said no so far as I have had it since I was a kid and I don't trust her not to spoil it. I am also unsure of the right age for it. She can read anything but I want her to understand and enjoy it as well.

[OgreRebel]

If she's old enough to read anything then I assume she's old enough to understand how to look after a book. Otherwise, get it out of the library.

I had the Chronicles of Narnia bought for me for my 7th birthday and I devoured them.

[coventgarden]

You would think.

[cazzybabs]

We read it to dd1 aged 6 - she loved it

[llareggub]

Has she read The Magician's Nephew? That's the place to start. I seem to remember it being a little more gentle that the later books.

[ponceydog]

Read it to her. Or buy a cheap copy or go to library

[3littlefrogs]

7 is the right age - I got them for Christmas and read the whole series in a few weeks.

The Magician's Nephew is the first in the series, so it makes sense to start with that one.

[coventgarden]

I have never heard of the Magician's Nephew. I will have a look for it, who wrote it please?

[InvaderZim]

She won't have any trouble understanding it, unless you mean the subtext...?

[coventgarden]

I am just conscious that while she can read any word she is only 6 and I want her to be able to understand and enjoy the book. She is very bright but even so.

[3littlefrogs]

They are all written by C S Lewis. I think there are 6 or 7 books in the series - will have to think and count!

[3littlefrogs]

The subtext isn't really apparant to a 7 year old, I don't think. They are good stories, but very much of their time.

[ponceydog]

she might not understand the christian analogies

[OgreRebel]

The Magician's Nephew is/was my favourite. It's the first in terms of chronology but wasn't written first and you don't have to read it first. Most people start with TLTW&TW.

[secunda]

I would go for TLTW&TW first, because it's the best known and because Lewis did actually write it first, then went back and did TMN even though chronologically it is earlier. If she is 6 and bright I think she will like it.

[coventgarden]

Why did I not know any of this?

I have a big, fat green book called The Chronicles of C S Lewis, I think. It has Alice in Wonderland in it and I can't remember what else. Last month I bought her Dr Dolittle.

[OgreRebel]

The Chronicles are iirc...

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician's Nephew
The Last Battle

The orders in which they were written/published/anthologised are different and none are chronological to the story. You can read them several ways. Above order is the way I think they're presented usually but as is already mentioned TMN is the start of the story.

[megapixels]

I didn't know about The Magician's Nephew. My dd started reading it aged 7, she was completely gripped by the story, but also completely freaked out. Had to tell her to stop reading then.

[coventgarden]

What freaked her out?

[megapixels]

Anything fantasy freaks her out covent, she is quite sensitive about things she's read or watched on TV and has gone through a few phases of daily nightmares. It's been almost a year now though, might ask if she wants to try it again. She watched the movie and seemed ok with it, maybe when she read the book she imagined things to be scarier than they are.

I don't think you need to worry about your DD unless she's had a history of getting scared of these things. I don't think many children do.

[coventgarden]

I may have a look for it when I go out later and keep it for a bit. She has actually told me before that she isn't old enough to read a book I gave her, an Enid Blyton one , so I think she will decide for herself and be sensible. I bought her the lady bird version of Black Beauty but I don't think she has read it yet. MIL felt she was too young for it.

[gherkinwithapurplemerkin]

Oh not Black Beauty...Ginger going past in the knacker's cart...

[megapixels]

What was the Enid Blyton she felt she wasn't old enough for? DD found some of the younger ones quite silly (she just couldn't get into the Faraway Tree stuff no matter how many times she/we tried, but she did enjoy the Wishing Chair ones) but she's in love with EB now that she's on Famous Five.

[Meglet]

I loved the magicians nephew, it has a guinea pig in it IIRC.

[coventgarden]

It is the complete chronicles of C S Lewis that I have.

The EB book was something about being on Holly Lane. This one

[megapixels]

Oh right, the Five Find Outers. I introduced the EB's series one at a time, because there seems like there's a definite order you should read them. For example once you read Famous Five the Secret Seven seem a bit boring and for younger kids. Five Find Outers should come after FF IMO, they seem one step higher somehow. Of course your dd might be a book snob and choose to bypass EB completely .