The Children's Stories of C.S. Lewis

Abstract

in 1950, C.S. Lewis published "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and every year after that, until 1956, put out another book until the seven volume chronicles of the fairy tale land of Narnia were completed. Of course, for various reasons, not everyone liked them, and two complaints especially concern me. The tales were ostensibly children's stories; and since Lewis was well know as "the apostle to the skeptics" and the popular Christian apologist, write of "Mere Christianity", many people think of the tales as sugar-coated Anglican indoctrination for children. Others, like Brigid Brophy who included one of the chronicles, "The Silver Ohatr" in her "Fifty Works of Literature We Could Do Without", think of them artistically defective. Miss Brophy concluded her diatribe with: "Back to Underland with them. (And up, as a children's class, with T.H. White".