imaginary world, and Warnie
joined him. They called it Boxen.
Jack drew a map of Boxen's teeming capital city. He sketched the parliament house, the stock exchange, shipyards, a train station, and a music hall.
Warnie designed a steamship to travel from Boxen to India and back."
Here is yet another excellent picture book biography that offers a window into the lives of two brothers whose imaginative and adventurous childhood led to the creation of a series of books long loved by generations of children.
Jack and Warnie Lewis were each other's best friend. While Warnie saw the world around him through a nearby window, Jack saw a completely world in his imagination as he read book after book after book. They pretended to live other lives than their own, spending countless hours drawing; Warnie envisioned reality while Jack sketched imaginary adventure.
The family's new house in Ireland provided opportunity for Jack to create his own new world ... called Boxen. Warnie helped design it. Their mother ill, and their father consumed with worry, allowed the two boys much leeway for their own respective talents. Jack drew the map, while Warnie designed a ship. Together, they made themselves 'kings' of this new land. It would have been wonderful to live there. It was not to be.
Too much time at boarding school was followed by military service during WWI. They were not in the same regiment, and worried endlessly about each other. Upon their return home, Jack chose teaching at Oxford, while Warnie continued with his army work. Upon retirement, they lived together in a house similar to their old home in Ireland. During WWII, they chose to help young children displaced by the war. When the two girls found a wardrobe with creaky hinges and asked a pertinent question about it, Jack knew just what to do ...
Boxen is gone, Narnia is born!
Beautifully written, and brilliantly illustrated to show readers both the world the boys grew up in, their many worthy works, and the magical world named Narnia make for a fascinating read. Notes from both author and illustrator add wonder to the evolution of this picture book biography through discoveries made while doing their research.
Fans of the series will love it; those who have never read the seven books may just feel the pull to find out more about them.
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