I have been writing some short notes for our church newsletter this summer to encourage our parishioners to use our church library. Building it up has been a labor of love, and I have loved sharing some specific books that I think should be at the top of any “must read” list. Along those lines, I thought I’d share my September suggestion with all of you!

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“I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be your affectionate Godfather, C. S. Lewis.”

I recently reread The Chronicles of Narnia to my children. I, of course, did so because wanted to introduce them to the incredible world of our foremost author, but also because I wanted to delight in these stories again. Lewis captures the imagination in a way that has enchanted readers for ages because he rooted himself in the true, good, and beautiful; he rooted himself in Christ and crafted a true fairytale that is as timeless as it is timely.

Perhaps you haven’t picked up these books in a while; perhaps you’ve never read them at all. But I hope this month you will start to read them, either with an audience or by yourself, and delight in the real, good, and redemptive world of Narnia. You’re never too old for a truly good story.

Blessings to you and yours,

~Madelyn Rose Craig