Believing in Narnia: A Kid's Guide to Unlocking the Secret Symbols of Faith in C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia

By Natalie Gillespie

Shows the Christian message within The Chronicles of Narnia®

To coincide with the release of Prince Caspian, this book helps kids ages 7-11, understand the symbolism of the Christian faith written by C.S. Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Christian concepts are simply explained, along with excerpts from the Narnia books. Each section of the book explains the characters, events, places, and themes and gives insight in the spiritual parallels.

Kids, parents, teachers and ministers will all find this to be a great tool for use in preparing to see the movie.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: May 4, 2008
• ISBN: 9781418573119

Book preview

Title page with Thomas Nelson logo

BELIEVING IN NARNIA: A KID’S GUIDE TO UNLOCKING SECRET SYMBOLS OF FAITH IN C. S. LEWIS’S THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

© 2008 by Natalie Nichols Gillespie

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [e-mail].

This book is the author’s interpretation of and commentary on The Chronicles of Narnia. It was not written by, in consultation with, or endorsed by the author, the estate of C. S. Lewis, or the publisher of The Chronicles of Narnia, nor is it a part of the series The Chronicles of Narnia.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA by C. S. Lewis copyright © C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956. Extracts reprinted by permission.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S BIBLE®. © 1986, 1988, 1999 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

Page design by: Mandi Cofer

Illustrations by: Kay Meadows

Doodles by: Casey Hooper, Lori Lynch, and Walter Petrie

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gillespie, Natalie Nichols.

    Believing in Narnia : a kid’s guide to unlocking the secret symbols of faith in C. S. Lewis’s The chronicles of Narnia / Natalie Nichols Gillespie.

     p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4003-1282-5 (softcover)

  1. Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963. Chronicles of Narnia—Juvenile literature. 2. Children—Books and reading—Great Britain—History—20th century—Juvenile literature. 3. Children’s stories, English—History and criticism—Juvenile literature. 4. Christian fiction, English—History and criticism—Juvenile literature. 5. Fantasy fiction, English—History and criticism—Juvenile literature. 6. Narnia (Imaginary place)—Juvenile literature. I. Title.

PR6023.E926C5334 2008

823’.912—dc22

2007052530

08 09 10 11 12 RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The interior paper is made from 100% recycled fiber.

Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

To my brave Narnia fans,

Joshua and Justin

May you always seek to get closer

to the real Aslan, Jesus Christ,

and continue to grow further up, further in.

CONTENTS

This Book Is for Brave Kids Only!

THE FIRST KEY

Unlocking the Secrets for Reading This Book

THE SECOND KEY

Unlocking the Stories of The Chronicles of Narnia

THE THIRD KEY

Unlocking the Secrets of Characters and Creatures

THE GOOD GUYS—SECRET SIGNS IN THE GOOD CHARACTERS

Aslan the Lion

Peter Pevensie

Susan Pevensie

Edmund Pevensie

Lucy Pevensie

Prince Caspian

Digory Kirke

Eustace Scrubb

Jill Pole

Shasta/Prince Cor

Aravis

Prince Rilian

King Tirian

Doctor Cornelius and Caspian’s Nurse

Father Christmas

Frank the Cabby and His Wife, Helen

THE BAD GUYS—SECRET SIGNS IN THE EVIL CHARACTERS

Queen Jadis, the White Witch

Uncle Andrew

Queen of Underland

The Tisroc

Uncle Miraz

Tash

THE FOURTH KEY

Unlocking the Secrets of Swords, Stones, and Other Objects

The Wardrobe

The Lamp-Post

Turkish Delight

Father Christmas’s Gifts

The Magician’s Book

The Stone Table

The Tree of Life and the Tree of Protection

The Pool in the Desert

Dragon Skin

The Albatross

Lion Skin

The Door

THE FIFTH KEY

Unlocking the Secrets of Narnia, Aslan’s Country, and Other Magical Places

Map of Narnia and Other Worlds

Narnia

London, England

The Professor’s House

Goldwater Island

The Dark Island

Aslan’s Country

THE SIXTH KEY

Unlocking the Secrets to Believing in Jesus

THE SEVENTH KEY

Unlocking the Secrets of the Author, C. S. Lewis

Doorways to Other Adventures

Acknowledgments

THIS BOOK

IS FOR

BRAVE KIDS

ONLY!

If you are holding this book in your hands, you’re holding a key that will unlock some of the secrets to another world—the world of Narnia.

The Chronicles of Narnia are fantasy books written by the famous author C. S. Lewis. They are some of the best-selling and most-loved books of all time, with about one hundred million copies sold. While these stories aren’t true, the secrets you will uncover in them are real, and—psst, I’ll let you in on a secret right now—they can help you learn more about Jesus and see Him more clearly. Isn’t that cool?

When Lucy falls through the wardrobe in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and enters the land of Narnia, it is like she discovers a land of treasure, filled with secrets and symbols and things she’d never seen. She has to be brave to face the strange, new world she finds there.

In the book Prince Caspian, the prince has to run for his life from his mean uncle. Dear Prince, you must leave this castle at once and go to seek your fortune in the wide world. Your life is in danger here, his teacher tells him.

Many characters in the Chronicles have to be brave, and now it’s your turn. You get to be brave like Lucy and Caspian as you read this book. You’ll need the courage to dig deeper, explore, and go beyond the surface to uncover the secrets that lie underneath the stories of Narnia.

Narnia is a world of talking animals, magical potions, and bloody battles. It’s a fantastical place filled with Fauns and Centaurs, an all-powerful lion, an evil queen, a mighty mouse, and children who become kings and queens. Check this out: Narnia is also full of secrets, symbols, and hidden clues that tell stories inside the stories.

There are a lot of books about Narnia, but this is one written just for you.

It isn’t a picture book for little kids, and it wasn’t written for your parents. It was written for you, with Narnia facts and questions from kids like you. (Look for places that say Justin Time and Joshua’s Journey to see what real kids learned and asked about Narnia’s secrets.)

So if you’re prepared to travel to other worlds, bravely face the unexpected, and dive deeply into the mysteries under the surface of the stories, let’s go to Narnia to unlock the secret symbols of faith in the Chronicles.

THE FIRST KEY

Unlocking the Secrets

for Reading

This Book

The first thing you need to know about this book is that it is full of twists, turns, and surprises—a lot like the adventures in Narnia. C. S. Lewis actually talks about Jesus a lot in these seven books. You just have to know where to look to find Him. Hopefully, by the end of this book you will know that believing in Narnia means believing in Jesus, the Savior of the whole world. The hope and joy He will bring to your life is like the hope and joy He brought to the characters in these seven books.

The Chronicles of Narnia are full of secrets that point to Jesus and the Bible. Sometimes the secret is in a name; sometimes it is in what a character says or how he or she acts. Sometimes it is in the way C. S. Lewis describes Aslan. After you read this book, you will be able to experience The Chronicles of Narnia again (or for the very first time) and see some of these hidden symbols. It’s kind of like putting on the special glasses that help you see a 3-D movie. Before you put on the glasses, the movie screen looks flat and the images are fuzzy. After you put on the glasses, the action on the screen jumps out at you.

Before you get started, you’ll need to recognize some symbols for the journey.

When you see one of these symbols, it means that this is a quote from one of The Chronicles of Narnia. Sometimes a quote is followed by the abbreviation of the book so you can hunt for it yourself. The abbreviations and symbols used in this book look like this:

The Magician’s Nephew (MN)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (LWW)

The Horse and His Boy (HHB)

Prince Caspian (PC)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (VDT)

The Silver Chair (SC)

The Last Battle (LB)

When you see this symbol, it’s like discovering treasure, because you have found one of the secret places where C. S. Lewis hints at something you can find in the Bible. The Bible verse will be marked with this symbol.

When you see this page, you are entering a secret door where you will learn one of Narnia’s Greatest Secrets, just like the characters in the Chronicles did. These are real-life lessons that Aslan taught and that God wants you to learn too.

Each section of this book is a key to unlocking some of the most important secrets in the Chronicles. The first one will help you if you have never read The Chronicles of Narnia or need to refresh your memory. The first key includes a short summary of each of the seven books so you’ll know what’s going on. The next keys will help you discover how some of the people, places, and things in Narnia hold secrets about real-life faith, and you can uncover the secrets of your own faith by answering the questions you find at the end of each part.

Finally, you can also unlock secrets in the life of the author, C. S. Lewis, and find other books and Web sites to learn more about Narnia in the last keys at the end of this book. So, brave seekers, now that you know how to unlock the doors to the mysteries of Narnia, go to the next section and get ready to turn the second key . . .

THE SECOND KEY

Unlocking the Stories

of The Chronicles

of Narnia

The Chronicles of Narnia can be read in any order, but if you want to read them in the order

Reviews for Believing in Narnia

[wisewoman_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Beware... Believing in Narnia is a book of spoilers! In this book, author Natalie Gillespie and her children have put together their findings on the spiritual symbols and parallels in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. It is a fairly thorough summary, with plot briefs, character studies, interesting tidbits, and relevant Scriptures interspersed throughout the text. With graphics, illustrations, callouts, and various font treatments, I can see how it might be an appealing read for a young Narnia fan. However, I was not overly impressed.Personally, I found myself a bit older than the book's target audience and have long since discovered the many wonderful spiritual parallels discussed here. Though this book was enthusiastically recommended to me by a young friend, I am glad I didn't read it as a child when I was still discovering Narnia, or even as a teen when I began to mature spiritually and see the deeper truths Lewis was pointing at. It is much more fun to let these things dawn naturally on the mind and discover them for yourself. I also disagree with several of Gillespie's interpretations and lessons. For example, on page 70 she interprets Aslan's statement that he had swallowed up people and whole cities as meaning they "have gotten so close to Jesus that they give everything to Him." I have always understood that statement to declare Aslan's judgment on evil people and cities (such as Charn). There was another interpretation that was very off: oh yes, on pages 146–48, Gillespie misses the whole point of Shift and Puzzle and the lion skin. Her main thrust is "God created you to be the unique person you are, and He doesn't want you to hide your personality, your talents, and your gifts under an old lion skin" (147). This is almost laughably off base. The whole point of the lion skin is apostasy and deception and the danger of false doctrine, not hiding your wonderful personal uniqueness! But this is symptomatic of the entire book: it is extremely moralistic and everything has to have an application. But some truths don't have an immediate "what can you do now" application. Some truths just need to be true and pondered, without any instant moral of the story. I believe truths that may initially seem inapplicable to us actually do filter into our thinking and thus behavior if we will just let them be and think about them instead of rushing to see how they can make us better people. There were a couple interesting tidbits I wasn't aware of previously (Lewis wrote all seven Chronicles using an old-fashioned pen dipped in ink, not a ballpoint pen; some people think Father Christmas represents the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit; and "Jadis," means "long ago" in French). So those were fun to learn.Overall, I'm not sure I would give this book to my children; I am so fond of how I explored Narnia, discovering its secrets for myself, that I want them to have that same experience. In many ways a book like this goes against Lewis's philosophy in writing the Chronicles in the first place, embedding truth in fiction so winsomely that it slips past watchful dragons. This book, well intentioned as it is, diminishes Narnia's mystery and charm by making everything explicit and obvious.

[atimco-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Beware... Believing in Narnia is a book of spoilers! In this book, author Natalie Gillespie and her children have put together their findings on the spiritual symbols and parallels in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. It is a fairly thorough summary, with plot briefs, character studies, interesting tidbits, and relevant Scriptures interspersed throughout the text. With graphics, illustrations, callouts, and various font treatments, I can see how it might be an appealing read for a young Narnia fan. However, I was not overly impressed.Personally, I found myself a bit older than the book's target audience and have long since discovered the many wonderful spiritual parallels discussed here. Though this book was enthusiastically recommended to me by a young friend, I am glad I didn't read it as a child when I was still discovering Narnia, or even as a teen when I began to mature spiritually and see the deeper truths Lewis was pointing at. It is much more fun to let these things dawn naturally on the mind and discover them for yourself. I also disagree with several of Gillespie's interpretations and lessons. For example, on page 70 she interprets Aslan's statement that he had swallowed up people and whole cities as meaning they "have gotten so close to Jesus that they give everything to Him." I have always understood that statement to declare Aslan's judgment on evil people and cities (such as Charn). There was another interpretation that was very off: oh yes, on pages 146–48, Gillespie misses the whole point of Shift and Puzzle and the lion skin. Her main thrust is "God created you to be the unique person you are, and He doesn't want you to hide your personality, your talents, and your gifts under an old lion skin" (147). This is almost laughably off base. The whole point of the lion skin is apostasy and deception and the danger of false doctrine, not hiding your wonderful personal uniqueness! But this is symptomatic of the entire book: it is extremely moralistic and everything has to have an application. But some truths don't have an immediate "what can you do now" application. Some truths just need to be true and pondered, without any instant moral of the story. I believe truths that may initially seem inapplicable to us actually do filter into our thinking and thus behavior if we will just let them be and think about them instead of rushing to see how they can make us better people. There were a couple interesting tidbits I wasn't aware of previously (Lewis wrote all seven Chronicles using an old-fashioned pen dipped in ink, not a ballpoint pen; some people think Father Christmas represents the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit; and "Jadis," means "long ago" in French). So those were fun to learn.Overall, I'm not sure I would give this book to my children; I am so fond of how I explored Narnia, discovering its secrets for myself, that I want them to have that same experience. In many ways a book like this goes against Lewis's philosophy in writing the Chronicles in the first place, embedding truth in fiction so winsomely that it slips past watchful dragons. This book, well intentioned as it is, diminishes Narnia's mystery and charm by making everything explicit and obvious.

[Richard Esteven Mena Suàrez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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