The Way Into Narnia: A Reader's Guide by Peter J. Schakel. Eerdman (202pgs.) $14.00

Given the renewed interest in C.S. Lewis' Narnia due largely to the release of the film version of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, prospective readers would be wise to also consider Schakel's study of Lewis' work. What I liked about this book is that Schakel goes out of his way to dispel the myth that Lewis wrote Narnia as a Christian allegory -- a myth that Lewis himself poo-pooed in his lifetime, yet persists to this day. Instead, Schakel suggests that readers look to J.R.R. Tolkien's classic essay, "On Fairy-stories" as the creative well from which Narnia sprung. Schakel's survey is fairly comprehensive, taking into acount all seven books in the series. Although Schakel's recycles quite a bit of material from two previous books on Lewis (and he is a bit too scholarly at times), this guide is still rather accessible and proves essential to burgeoning Lewis fans who want to better understand the world of Narnia.