Tag Archives: children’s literature

The Land Where Oz is North of Middle-earth: Reflections of a Speculative Cosmographer (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

Over the next year, I am introducing an occasional feature I call “Throwback Thursday.” This is where I find a blog post from the past–raiding either my own vault or someone else’s–and throw it back out into the digital world. … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fictional Worlds | Tagged C.S. Lewis, children's literature, fantasy, Fictional Universes, Harry Potter, Holly Black, imagination, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, madeleine l engle, Madeleine L'Engle, maps, Middle Earth, Narnia, The Hobbit, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Winnie the Pooh | 19 Comments

Good Political Leadership According to Narnia

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I made the statement almost by accident to some of my grad students: Narnia has a pretty sophisticated political philosophy, especially when you consider it is written for children. As soon as I said it, I knew it to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Reflections | Tagged American politics, books, C.S. Lewis, children's literature, fantasy, Narnia, Political Theology, Politics, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, Trudeau, Trump, UK Politics, war, WWI, WWII | 78 Comments

Little Rooms of Imagination with Madeleine L’Engle and C.S. Lewis (Friday Feature)

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I tell my students often enough to read the fore-matter in their textbooks. “That’s where the good stuff is,” I argue. “That’s where the author shares his or her vision for writing.” Now, I suspect that students rarely heed my … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday, Memorable Quotes, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged A Swiftly Tilting Planet, A Wrinkle in Time, books, C.S. Lewis, children's literature, fairy tales, fantasy, imagination, lion the witch and the wardrobe, literature, Madeleine L'Engle, wardrobe, writing | 21 Comments

Is Narnia an Allegory? (A Friday Feature from the Vault)

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

No. It’s not. While tempted to leave it at that and produce the shortest blog of history, I think it is important to let the Narnian himself address the question. C.S. Lewis was, after all, a literary scholar who … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday, Fictional Worlds, On Writing | Tagged allegory, books, C.S. Lewis, children's literature, Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, fantasy, Fictional Universes, J.R.R. Tolkien, Narnia, Ransom Trilogy, Reading, Science Fiction, The Fellowship of the Ring, writing | 21 Comments

Christmas With J.R.R. Tolkien: The Father Christmas Letters

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

What a find! At a yard sale a good friend scored a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Father Christmas Letters and she was good enough to give it to me. Published by his daughter-in-law in 1976 on the 3rd anniversary of Tolkien’s … Continue reading →