The Boy Behind the Wardrobe by Suzanne Poulter Harris, Mira Miroslavova (illustrator) | Review
This biographical book about C.S. Lewis centers on what children are likely to know best about him: Narnia, the world he imagined into being. There’s so much that can be and has been said about the life of literary scholar, Anglican lay theologian, and author Clive Stapleton Lewis, but here we have the treat of seeing the elements of his boyhood and early adulthood that enriched generations of readers with images like a wardrobe threshold, a guiding lamppost and umbrella-toting faun, and an awe-inducing lion.
Readers will appreciate that Lewis’ setbacks and losses became for him opportunities to create. When his brother Warnie, with whom he had always daydreamed, gets sent to boarding school, a lonely Jack (Lewis’ name among family and close friends) invents elaborate tales about countries inhabited by animals. He tries to make cardboard models of castles and ships, but he’s missing a joint in his thumb and can’t control scissors, so he writes instead. When the boys’ mother dies and Jack gets sent to a boarding school with a cruel headmaster, his writing brings him solace.
Children who have already read the Chronicles of Narnia will find in these pages intriguing resonances with Jack’s life: for instance, in his grandfather’s hand-carved wardrobe and in his tutor William Kirkpatrick, who became the model for Professor Digory Kirke. Those who have not yet read the Narnia books will be drawn in not only by the story line but also by Mira Miroslavova’s illustrations, which bring together the atmosphere of industrial England with the magic of Jack’s created worlds. In her Illustrator’s Note, she writes that she felt a responsibility to convey the color and light that he offered in a dark time, while remaining honest about the moments when he felt the absence of light. These, too, shaped his Narnia books.
Avid readers ages six to twelve who have explored other fantasy worlds will be happily surprised to come upon Lewis’ friend J.R.R. Tolkien — “Tollers” — in these pages. They may even take a leap forward in self-assurance when they learn that “Tollers didn’t like how Jack mixed ancient myths with the make-believe of his childhood. But Jack couldn’t stop writing.”
Author Suzanne Poulter Harris was born and raised in Northern Ireland, like C.S. Lewis, and taught geography two miles from his childhood home in Belfast. This is her first children’s book, and it shows her intimate connection with the landscapes of his life. She convincingly encourages children to “Look around where you live. Let your imagination run wild. You never know where your story might take you.”
