Genre: Children’s fantasy
Overall rating: 5/5
Literary value: 5/5 Lewis is probably my gold standard as a writer. Certainly some writers are more eloquent or complex than he is, but for sheer readability combined with beautiful prose, Lewis wins every time. Occasionally his use of British slang (or just British vocabulary in general) can make for confusing reading—at least for my 3rd graders! But I love the flavor they add to his writing (or should I say flavour…?).
Worldview: 5/5 Lewis tends to downplay the importance of the Means of Grace, especially in The Last Battle. But there’s nothing in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader that I disagree with, even if I as a Lutheran would prefer a slightly different emphasis. In addition to Lewis’s theology, I agreed with his stance on every philosophical and political question that arose during the story.
Enjoyability: 5/5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a great comfort read—simply but beautifully written, and short enough to read in a few hours. I will say, the vocabulary makes the story less engaging for young children, but anyone over 10 should find it approachable. (And my English students are displaying admirable perseverance in sightreading words like precipices, not to mention Reepicheep!)
Caveats: I honestly can’t think of any. Perhaps one scene near the end would be frightening to young children, but I think anyone over 10 would be fine (depending, of course, on the individual).
As a child, The Dawn Treader was my favorite of the Narnia series! I think that has changed now… Silver Chair is my current love. Do you have a favorite book, and why?
Hmm… that’s a really hard question! I think “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” is probably still my favorite, mostly because of the childhood nostalgia connected with it. I also really love “The Silver Chair,” and now that I’m rereading “The Dawn Treader” as an adult, I’m discovering so much in it that I didn’t see before (hoping to write a blog post on this before long!).