Children’s Literature
I am continually frustrated by people who put down a book because it is classified as “Children’s Literature”. I love children’s literature. For my money, children’s lit will give you some of the best bang for the buck; as an adult, you can read it quickly, it is often free from the pretentiousness of “Adult” fiction, and unless you’ve completely lost your ability to view the world with wonder, the stories are great.
Now, I’m talking about good children’s literature, mind you, not the drivel that is often passed for children’s lit because it’s a dumbed-down version of adult fiction. Good children’s lit will challenge the young reader — CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, Tolkein’s The Hobbit, Lowry’s The Giver are all great examples — and frequently this fiction will have levels far beyond what is attainable for a child; good children’s literature can be enjoyed by adults as well as children.
I re-read the Chonicles about once a year or so. As many times as I have read them, I always find something new. My favorite is The Horse and His Boy, which contains a beautiful representation of God’s providence. Throughout the story, even when Shasta and Aravis don’t know that they’re being guided, Aslan is directing their journey. This realization doesn’t come until the end of the book, however: most of the time they are convinced they are on their own. It is though hindsight that they realize how reliant they had been on Aslan’s help.
When I get home, I’ll get out my copy and quote from a later chapter; there’s a brilliant allusion to the trinity in one of Aslan and Shasta’s dialogs.