Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that there is some violence here, with battles and beheadings with swords.
Families can talk about the symbolism of the story. What is the author trying to say about humans and government? About animals and nature? About the environment?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
Once again Lucy is the heroine of heart and spirit, while Peter is the hero of the sword. Edmund has learned his lessons well, and is stalwart and kind, while Susan -- well, Susan mostly grumbles, and one can see Lewis already setting up her fall from grace, which occurs in the last book. The novel is structured as two parallel, and eventually intersecting, stories: one of Caspian escaping from, and rebelling against, his evil uncle; the other of the Pevensies rediscovering a Narnia that has changed a great deal in the centuries since their last visit.
Second in the series, though fourth chronologically, PRINCE CASPIAN is an altogether simpler and more straightforward adventure tale than its predecessor, and far simpler than most modern fantasies. Gone, for the most part, is the heavy dose of Christian symbolism, replaced by a hodgepodge of mythological elements, including Bacchus and his Maenads, nature spirits, and a river god. The plain but very literary writing and simplicity of storytelling, combined exciting adventures and a moderate length make this book well-suited to middle-grade readers.
From The Book
Next moment the luggage, the seat, the platform, and the station had completely vanished. The four children, holding hands and panting, found themselves standing in a woody place -- such a woody place that branches were sticking into them and there was hardly any room to move. They all rubbed their eyes and took a deep breath.
"Oh, Peter!" exclaimed Lucy. "Do you think we can possibly have got back to Narnia?"
Plot Summary:
The four Pevensie children from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe are called back to Narnia when Caspian, the nephew of the evil usurping ruler, sides with the true Narnians to oppose him. There they find that centuries have passed since their last visit, and that, once again, they face a battle against overwhelming odds.
Related Books:
Other Books by C.S. Lewis:
The Horse and His Boy
The Last Battle
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
The Magician's Nephew
The Silver Chair
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
More Old-Fashioned Fantasy:
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key
A Wizard of Earthsea: The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1 by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
Bed-Knob and Broomstick by Mary Norton
Related Web Sites:
Movie Site
Official Series Site
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ViolenceMurder, beheading, battles with swords. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoPipe smoking, a reference to drinking and drunkenness. |
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