The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Coinciding with the release of Disney's film adaptation, the UK's librarians have recommended The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as their top choice for every child's Christmas list this year.

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council's (MLA) survey© of librarians found that the question 'What book should be on every child's Christmas list?' produced some unsurprising results with popular children's authors, such as Roald Dahl, AA Milne and Enid Blyton, receiving many recommendations. But fewer than 1% of librarians recommended the Harry Potter titles by JK Rowling as stocking fillers.

Eric Carle's 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' and titles by Allan and Janet Ahlberg were recommended for younger children.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was written by C.S. Lewis as one of a series about a mythical land called Narnia. Set during World War 2, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tells the tale of four evacuees who find access to the land of Narnia, through the back of a wardrobe. In Narnia they are thwarted by an evil White Witch who has subjected the land to permanent snow - it is always winter but never Christmas. The children join with the lion Aslan to fight the White Witch and free the land of Narnia.

Ruth Sheppard, Library Service Manager at Newent, Gloucestershire was one librarian that nominated the title. She commented: "My son read this when he was young, and he has now bought all of the Chronicles of Narnia and still re-reads them today as a thirty year old!"

Mark Wood, Chairman of MLA commented on the results: "One of the best gifts parents can give their children is a love of reading and it would be great if every child received at least one book in their stocking this Christmas. It is interesting to see that librarians have recommended many titles that were written over ten years ago, showing that many children's classics have timeless appeal. If children aren't lucky enough to get one in their Christmas stocking all the children's classics will be available to borrow from your local library."

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first to appear but Lewis went on to write a further six books, going back to Earth year 1900 in The Magician's Nephew to provide a background for the series. The remaining books: The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle go from 1941 to 1949 in Earth years.

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