Revisiting Narnia

I was looking at my Netflix queue and saw that I had The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe coming up soon, so I decided to reread the book before seeing the movie version. I had committed to reading the series for a couple of challenges, but I hadn't been in the Narnia mood. Or so I thought... This was one of the first fantasy books that I read as a child. In fact, it's the first fantasy book that I clearly remember reading as a child and I fell in love with it. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time were two of my favorite books growing up and really instilled my love for fantasy. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized that the main reason I discovered these two books was because I went to a Catholic elementary school and they were required reading because of their religious undertones. And I'm thankful that they were given to me back then because as I said, they opened up the whole fantasy genre to me. I'm fairly certain that I've read other books in the Narnia series, but I'm really not sure now. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe was like revisiting an old friend and it swept me back to my childhood...to a place that was at the same time forgotten yet just within reach after a few words. What a magical book, what a feast for a child's imagination. I was instantly swept back to "reading time" while reading this and remembered how much I treasured those moments when we were able to spend some time with our books in school...I think I may have been the minority in that :p Lewis created such a magical universe with this book and created characters that truly live forever in our hearts and minds. Sure I remembered going through the wardrobe, but I forgot the feeling of going through it for the first time and realizing that you've walked into another world...what a neat idea for a child. Sure I remembered Mr. Tumnus, but I forgot having tea with him and his quirks. I had completely forgotten Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and it was delightful to meet them again! And Aslan...what an amazing character, I can't wait to see how he was portrayed in the movie. I'm hoping to remember having read some of the other Narnia books as I continue with the series, but if not, it will be great to experience them for the first time. Like I said, this was one of my most cherished memories of reading as a child and I had lost my set of Narnia books in Katrina. So I bought a new set afterwards and they've just been sitting on my TBR shelf just waiting...I'm glad that they've finally called to me! Looking forward to the rest!