Am I finished with the Summer of Narnia 2026 yet? No, far from it. Kobunsha not only published the Chronicles of Narnia in their Classics line, they produced these audiobooks, narrated in Japanese and available from Audible. They all have simple yet attractive covers in bright, pastel shades. I’ve noticed that about Japan and also …
I came across these very unusual — to say the least — and minimalistic covers of the Chronicles on a deep internet search. I don’t recall having seen them anywhere before in all the years I’ve been doing the Summer of Narnia. It’s sophisticated design, yet simple, in keeping with the Japanese aesthetic. I think …
A year ago I speculated on how the Netflix version of The Magician’s Nephew would handle Aslan’s creation of the world through his song. When I came upon this illustration, I realized there was another way to handle it. I call it the “Hakuna Matata” method. It’s used in animated musicals a lot, like The …
Let’s return to Asian publishing for some more unusual editions of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The left one is from 1969 and published in Hong Kong through a Christian publication company. Clearly the cover artist did not read the book and created a Halloween scenario — with Halloween colors — based on …
A Tibetan translation of LWW. Note how the illustration resembles a Buddhist thangka in style if not subject matter. The illustrator must have read the book too, because we have leopard courtiers holding a banner and throne, an oddly cowlike satyr’s head, a unicorn and flying horse (even though they weren’t mentioned in the text, …
Though the blurb for this is … mistranslated … the cover is pretty good! Caspian is the correct age, he holds Susan’s Horn, and Trufflehunter and Trumpkin are there by his side, though there’s no Reepicheep. Caspian’s wearing decent fantasy-medieval clothing as well, plus it’s white, showing he’s a good guy! He looks appropriately …
This is it. It’s AWFUL. Why is there a lion’s pawprint on a window? It only has three toes making it zoologically suspect. Or is that supposed to be a minimalistic version of the back of the White Witch’s head facing three of the Pevensie kids?
Since it’s the end of another Summer of Narnia, here’s a visual essay about endings … the ending (death) of Jadis! It’s a scene you don’t find depicted too often. I can guess that it’s too grim. It’s not an iconic event in the book like Lucy meeting Mr. Tumnus under the lamppost is. It …
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