The Horse and His Boy

The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia #3) by CS Lewis 

224 pages 

Fiction - Children's Literature

Published in 1954, this novel is set during the golden reign of High King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund and Queen Lucy. It follows Shasta and the Talking Horse, Bree, who runaway together in hopes of reaching Narnia. Lewis takes the reader on a grand adventure in an economic 224 pages!

Shasta and Bree join forces with other runaways, a highborn girl named Aravis and her Talking Horse, Hwin. Together they encounter both danger and glory as they seek freedom and try to assist others along the way. Ultimately, they are pulled into political intrigue of the highest order.

Shasta is a great model of bearing hardships well and serving others. At the end of the book, Bree must deal with personal failure - another valuable life lesson.

Interestingly, in this novel both Aravis and Queen Susan find themselves in difficult situations when bad characters try to force them into undesired marriages. The good characters rally around the them and fight for their freedom.

This book is just a bit darker than The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. In one section, foreigners refer to Aslan as a demon. This might confuse younger readers. Aslan also seems to prescribe participation in the worship of foreign gods, when he tells Rabadash the Ridiculous to appear in the temple of the god Tash for the great Autumn Feast. This was confusing to me, if Aslan is suppose to be allegorical for Jesus. Because of these factors, I would recommend this book for ages 10 and up.

Recommended For: Children ages 10 and up. Adults who want an easy and fun mental escape.