The Magician’s Nephew, by C.S. Lewis, is a fun story about two kids (Digory and Polly) that find magical rings in Digory’s uncle’s study (Uncle Andrew). The rings allow the two kids to teleport between worlds.
They first end up in a wood area with pools where they can choose which worlds they decide to teleport to. The rings have an order to them as well (yellow to enter, green to leave).
They decide to take a chance and explore a random world. Upon entering, they discover the ruins of a kingdom. They run into the witch Jadis, after Digory rings a bell which awakens her. They learn of a war that had transpired in her world, and her plans to escape to rule another world using her magic.
The kids must stop her, and in the process, they bring people from their world along to Narnia incidentally. There, we’re introduced to Aslan, the lion, and he awakens other animals that can speak. There is a biblical reference to the forbidden fruit. Digory must make a choice whether to bring the apple back to save his mother despite Aslan’s warning.
The story is easy to read and has funny humor in it as well. The end of the book is a precursor to the next book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It also establishes a quality about the wardrobe in the next book.
I also enjoyed the illustrations in the book by Pauline Baynes. They’re colorful and complement the book’s magical storyline.
Fallton Havenstonne 