I remember being told once that Treebeard and the Ents are one of Tolkien's most original creations. Well, the corollary unique creation for the world of Narnia has to be the Marshwiggle. You never meet or hear about any of them in any of the other Narnia books (as far as I'm aware), but Puddleglum gets to take center stage here, and he is one of the most delightful and hilarious characters in the entire Narnia series. Jill & Scrub are always calling him a "wet blanket", and he's always glum, and sure the children won't enjoy his cooking-- but at the same time, we're told that he's far too upbeat and adventurous (hmm, rather like Bilbo?) for the rest of the Marshwiggles.
One of the most interesting & encouraging things about The Silver Chair is how many mistakes the heroes make. Because of an argument, Jill & Pole get separated and things start going wrong from the very beginning. They mess up and forget almost all of the signs that Aslan told Jill to memorize, and come quite close to failing in their mission more than once. Yet in spite of all their mistakes and failures, things somehow come through all right. It is encouraging to see people succeed in spite of their own failures and mistakes, and to be reminded that Aslan can use faulty, error-prone, flawed humans in his grand plans.
| Title: | The Silver Chair |
|---|---|
| Author: | C. S. Lewis |
| Date published: | 1953 |
| Genre: | Fantasy / Young Adult |
| Series: | Chronicles of Narnia |
| Number of pages: | 217 |
| Notes: | Read this book aloud over several weeks with G. This is a repeat reading. |
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