In his literary essay “On Three Ways of Writing for Children”, Lewis specifies that of these three ways, he himself could only write a children’s story because it was “the best art-form” (Lewis 32) for what he, as the author, had to say. In his essay “On Juvenile Tastes”, he discusses how many erroneously assume that children are a “distinct literary species” (49), but he counters this by emphasizing that in writing for children, an author must meet the child reader as an equal (42). In his essays, Lewis also speaks of the genre of stories that he views as most appropriate for a child reader. He declares that realistic tales are more likely to raise “false expectations” (37) than fairy stories. In further support of fantasy, he writes that because children will likely encounter cruelty and foes, it is important that they also have heard of heroism, knights, and courage (39).

Having established Lewis’ theories of writing and reading, one can more astutely explore who exactly comprised, and indeed continues to comprise, the market of readers for one of Lewis’ most well known works, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Lewis firmly believed that only bad children’s stories are enjoyed solely by children (Lewis 33). Indeed, to many scholars “the core of children’s literature rests on those books that are primarily for children, but which [also] satisfy adults” (Hunt 14), and the best children books are “hybrid constructs” (Grenby and Immel 159) combining both child and adult perspectives. Following such literary tenets, Lewis himself evaluated a text “in terms of the reading experience it allowed to the adult as well as the child reader” (Martin 321), suggesting that although the experience would differ for adult and child, a good text should allow a good reading for both readers. Perhaps due to such views, Lewis’ own writing clearly embodies this principle. The readers of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are essentially of all ages, many critics deeming the story as “eminently readable by [both] children and adults” (Glover 135). Since they were first published, the entire Chronicles of Narnia series has actually remained “continuously in print” (Ryken and Mead 153), which speaks of the broad success of their reception, and broad market of readers.

As it is classified as a children’s book, the most obvious readers of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are, of course, children. According to a survey by Parenting magazine, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the book that parents want to share with their children most (Falconer 155). Furthermore, with its diverse array of characters from Norse-inspired witches to ancient Roman fauns, “every child can find something to his own taste, and pleasure” (Eyre 132) within the book. The English literary critic Francis Spufford “retains a sense of what so captivated him as a child” (Ryken and Mead 153), recalling his childhood reading experience of the Narnian books with the sentiment that he “read other books because [he] could not always be reading the Narnia books…But in other books, [he] was always seeking for…reminders of Narnia…” (154).

In addition, the novel has a substantial market of adult readers. Adults are increasingly reading children’s literature, an occurrence that has earned such readers the designation of “cross readers” (Falconer 3). Evidence of such a phenomenon is marked in the reissue of children’s classics, such as The Chronicles of Narnia, in new editions, some of which are “tailor-made for adult readers” (2) having more mature covers, or dual editions to “entice a double readership of adults and children” (3). One of the primary concepts concerning this burgeoning adult readership is the process of rereading. Adults are rereading books they read in childhood (153), and therefore, “reliving the experience one had as a child reader” (155), an activity often viewed as escapist. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is no exception to this, and Lewis was a “great defender” (169) of rereading.

The portrayal of readers within The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is directly connected to Lewis’ narrative art, and, more specifically, in the narrative tone, the quality of description, and the inclusion of maps and illustrations. All such elements are a means of directing the experience of the reader of the story, and of portraying different kinds of reading throughout the story. The tone of the narrative gives a sense of a child reader. Even if the reader is an adult, the authorial tone is a call to enter back into the frame of mind of childhood. The narrator’s use of I’s and you’s referring to “his friend, the reader” (Gibson 134) establish a kindly rapport with the reader, though some view this technique as “condescending to children” (Egoff 155). The narrative at the level of description privileges a sense of sound, giving the reader a “soundscape” (Bassham and Walls 13), and gesturing towards the oral reading of the past. Indeed “many people first encounter the Narnia stories by hearing them read aloud” (14) as bedtime stories. Finally, the inclusion of maps and illustrations reflects an iconographic reading experience of features, directions, and symbols.

Works Cited

Bassham, Gregory, and Jerry L. Walls, eds. The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The    Lion, The Witch, and The Worldview. Chicago: Open Court Publishing Company, 2005. Print.

Egoff, Sheila A. Worlds Within: Children’s Fantasy From the Middle Ages to Today. Chicago: American Library Association, 1988. Print.

Eyre, Frank. British Children’s Books in the Twentieth Century. London: LongmanGroup Limited, 1971. Print.

Falconer, Rachel. The Crossover Novel: Contemporary Children’s Fiction and Its Adult Readership. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.

Gibson, Evan K. C.S. Lewis Spinner of Tales: A Guide To His Fiction. Washington: Christian University Press, 1980. Print.

Glover, Donald E. C.S. Lewis: The Art of Enchantment. Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1981. Print.

Grenby, M.O., and Andrea Immel, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Children’s Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Print.

Hunt, Peter. An Introduction to Children’s Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Print.

Lewis, C.S. On Stories And Other Essays On Literature. Orlando: Harcourt Inc., 1982. Print.

Martin, Thomas L., ed. Reading The Classics With C.S. Lewis. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2000. Print.

Ryken, Leland, and Marjorie Lamp Mead. A Reader’s Guide Through the Wardrobe: Exploring C.S. Lewis’ Classic Story. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2005. Print.