Month: February 2019

Inspiration

The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe was originally inspired by a real event in author C. S. Lewis’s life. During WWII children fled London to the countryside to escape the bombing. Lewis took in a number of these children at his home in Oxford and one of them became fascinated with a wardrobe there, wondering if there was a way out the back of it. This event planted the idea in the author’s mind that would grow and become Narnia. There were many other influences in Narnia, including Christian themes and creatures from Greek Mythology. Lewis was inspired by the writer George MacDonald and also had help from his friend Tolkien. They were both part of a writer’s group called The Inklings.

In Film

In 2005 The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was rebooted as a film, and this group of actors went on to make two other films inspired by books in the series. Critics agreed that these were faithful and well executed recreations of the story.

 

Illustration

One of the beautiful things about the books is that they are illustrated. The person responsible, was Pauline Baynes who as well as being an artist worked as a map maker for the Ministry of Defence which may explain why her maps of Narnia were so wonderful. Pauline also worked with Tolkien who is well known for creating his own beautiful drawings for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Ideas for what to read next

If you really loved Narnia and you want to experience more magical fantasy worlds, here are the books in our library we think you would like:

Title/Series	Author	Call Number
The Wizard of OZ	L Frank Baum	F BAU
The looking glass wars	Frank Beddor	F BED
The House with a clock in its walls	John Bellairs	F BEL
Alice in Wonderland	Lewis Carroll	F CAR
The Neverending Story	Michael Ende	F END
Inkspell	Cornelia Funke	F FUN
A Wizard of Earthsea	Ursula K Le Guin	F GUI
The Trylle Trilogy	Amanda Hocking	F HOC
The Dalemark Quartet	Dianna Wynn Jones	F JON
Wildwood Dancing	Juliet Marillier	F MAR
The old kingdom chronicles	Garth Nix	F NIX
The silver door	Emily Rodda	F ROD
Septimus Heap	Angie Sage	F SAG
The Raven boys	Maggie Stiefvater	F STI
The Hobbit	J. R. R. Tolkien	F TOL

This week is Library Lovers’ Week and as well as offering competitions and art activities, we are also holding our first MSM READS for the year.  Every week the Library releases a list called the Library Lover’s List because we love reading all year round! Unfortunately, there are no romance books on this week’s list but there are two titles that include the word heart.

If you were a fan of “The Dragon with the chocolate heart” then you will be overjoyed to read  “The Girl with the dragon heart.” Silke has the gift of the gab and has always been able to spin stories. We follow her adventures filled with dragons, fairies and chocolate creators. Silke is determined to save her lost parents and tell her own story.

 

Our second highlighted book, “Every heart a doorway” by Seanan McGuire is another fantasy romp. We have all at one time or another followed the adventures of ordinary children into fantasy lands like Narnia and OZ, but have you ever wondered what it is like for those children when they return? This story is about this exact conundrum. We follow the adventures of Nancy and her friends who all live in a madcap orphanage for the recently returned. To spice up this tale further there is a murderer among them!

Title	Author	Theme	Call No.
Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow	Curham, Siobhan	Friendship	F CUR
Torn	Massey, David	War	F MAS
Lenny’s book of everything	Foxlee, Karen	Family	F FOX
Every heart a doorway	McGuire, Seanan	Fantasy	F MCG
The girl with the dragon heart	Burgis, Stephanie	Fantasy	F BUR
Washington Black : a novel	Edugyan, Esi	Fantasy	F EDU

If you are still hungry for more Library Lovers’ Week activities then perhaps you would like to enter ALIA’s flash fiction writing competition.

The story can be about anything. It just has to start with the writing prompt ‘there was love to be found in the library.’ The word limit is 200 words.

Submissions should be sent through in a word or basic text document in a standard font and size and are open to everyone. They are due by 5:00 pm on February 21.

Please email entries to media@alia.org.au