Great Middle Grade Reads discussion

The C. S. Lewis series entitled The Chronicles of Narnia is a great middle grade series read. I have never seen my students so excited over a reading assignment when I first mentioned we were going to read one of them.
There are also recently made movies for four of them as well.

I think I read that series about five times when I was a ten-year-old. I wish we read books like that in school.

I finally got through all of the books when I was in my 30s. I'm not sure when I started getting confused with them, but I read them in publishing order, so that might be why.

I think publishing order is the best order to read them. I think there's also a sound argument for skipping The Last Battle, as Lewis really let his allegory get out of hand there.

I read the whole series annually until my mid-20s, at which point the religious aspects started getting to me. Later, I also had some trouble with the racist/xenophobic elements. Which is too bad, because there was a time when I wanted nothing so much as to attend Cambridge and meet Lewis (NB, I think he may have been dead by then, but the IDEA of him was still there).

I read these books a while back iam not really sure where i stand with them...

I read all of these dozens of times as a kid, though The Last Battle was my least favorite by far. I even list The Silver Chair as an influence in the credits of my debut novel. Wonderful books.

I enjoyed all of the series when I was a kid. I'm thinking about re-looking at the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe with my kids soon. It's funny everyone mentions the overtly religious elements of the book and I can't remember any of that, so it will be interesting on a second read, as an adult, to see what I think.

Benjamin wrote: "I enjoyed all of the series when I was a kid. I'm thinking about re-looking at the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe with my kids soon. It's funny everyone mentions the overtly religious elements of ..."

Mmm. I'm jealous. It was so lovely to be able to revisit these books with my kids when they were younger. I think they loved them less than I did. As a younger kid, I didn't think anything about the allegory, until it got so heavy-handed in The Last Battle. Much more obvious once I was an adult! Didn't bother the kids, though. I think they take the stories at face value!

Virginia, I think you are right about the kids taking the stories at face value. I did as a child, and I’m sorry I ever tumbled to the allegory. I also eventually had to face some of Lewis’s racism, too, which was hard to do.

I can relate: I had loved the poetry of the Just So stories by Kipling, but the racism and misogyny of the makes most of them unreadable now that I see the terrible harm stories like that perpetuate.

Craig wrote: "The C. S. Lewis series entitled The Chronicles of Narnia is a great middle grade series read. I have never seen my students so excited over a reading assignment when I first mentioned we were going..."

I liked them a lot about 25 years ago, but now that I'm in my thirties, I've kind of soured on them. It's obviously a Christian allegory, and I've grown to dislike Christianity.

It is sad that everyone is hypercritical these days and able to condemn others so easily. We are all sinners in need of grace, and that is the main message of Narnia. When you vilify others, you are worse in my mind than the people you are condemning. Giving no mercy means you will get no mercy. It's a principle you can't avoid.

Craig wrote: "It is sad that everyone is hypercritical these days and able to condemn others so easily. We are all sinners in need of grace, and that is the main message of Narnia. When you vilify others, you ar..."

I agree, but this attitude of hyper criticism has been around forever and much of it sadly also happens in the name of God.

Melissa wrote: "Craig wrote: "The C. S. Lewis series entitled The Chronicles of Narnia is a great middle grade series read. I have never seen my students so excited over a reading assignment when I first mentioned..."

You can enjoy Narnia if you are not a Christian, just like you can also enjoy The Lord of the Rings if you are not a Christian. There really is not any overt preachiness present unless you are actively looking for this, but I do agree with The Last Battle being a bit over the top.