Like the first Chronicle of Narnia, Prince Caspian opens quickly. An unknown magical force draws Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie off a train platform and back to the magical land they once ruled as kings and queens. But things never happen the same way twice. Soon the children learn Aslan has not called them to regain their thrones, but to fight another enemy and crown a new king. Pacing starts slow but creature lore grows in C. S. Lewis’s sequel, introducing practical tyrants and talking-beast politics into a Narnian resistance. Some newcomers may struggle with Caspian’s nonlinear plotting. Older or returning readers, however, will find that every year they grow older, they will find this return to Narnia a little bigger.¹

Best for: Fans eight and up for personal reading, slightly younger for reading aloud.

Discern: Wicked king forces boy prince into exile, beasts debate themes of human ancestry, mythical creatures include lowercase-G “gods” and discuss prophecies in the stars, wicked beings attempt black sorcery to call back a dead enemy but are rebuked, several battles include summarized violence and at least one beheading.