The Magician Nephew Collector Edition The Chronicles of Narnia C S Lewis 9780064409438 Books Reviews
The Complete Chronicles of Narnia (text only) by C. S. Lewis,P. Baynes I bought this copy because for one, I personally did not want a "movie tie-in" version, I wanted to have a hardcover edition that contained all of the books in one that I could keep for years and pass down to my children - in short, good quality, tasteful, with pictures.
It was described as being "Used - Good", but it arrived in excellent condition (no noticeable tears on the book itself with only slight page wear). This version came with a book jacket which is identical to the hard cover itself, so I threw away the jacket which was well worn. Also, the book description says "text only", which is strange, because this copy has tons of the original illustrations in full-color (I'll try to post pictures soon).
I feel like I hit the jackpot with this purchase and I highly encourage everyone to get this copy ASAP, because I've noticed the price of the "all-in-one" books skyrocketing lately (Barnes and Noble used to have a "leather"-bound copy for $20 three years ago which is $100 now). I sure hope these books don't go out of print, but if they do, you'll be glad you purchased this particular version, because it'll be passed down the family.
This is a beautiful paperback box set of the Narnia collection, that so many of us grew up with. The covers are nice, thick and protective of the pages inside, which are of good paper stock. I have no print fading or errors that I've noticed.
The art on the outter box is beautiful on all sides, with a little read up at the top. For paperbacks, I believe this is the way to go! Highly recommended!
This is a really lovely storybook collection based on all seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Those include “The Magician's Nephewâ€, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobeâ€, “The Horse and His Boyâ€, “Prince Caspianâ€, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treaderâ€, “The Silver Chairâ€, and “The Last Battleâ€. As the coloring book is slightly longer than average size and there are seven books covered, each is only touched on lightly. The coloring book can be used as an fun addition while you are reading the stories but it does not replace them.
The designs are based on the original artwork by Pauline Baynes from the books written and published in the 1950's. In some cases, the artwork has been turned into what I call “wallpaper†style designs with repeated patterns.
The designs include considerably more black in shading than usual for coloring books. That is because the original artwork was just that – artwork and not coloring designs. I've found that utilizing the black as shading is what works best for me with this type of design. I've run across it before when original artwork has been presented in this format.
On a personal note, the designs bring back memories from my own life. I was a big fan of these books as a child and I would read them over and over again. Once I had children, I would read books to them before bedtime each night and this was a favorite, especially of my late son. He also would read the books over and over again on his own.
I am now looking forward to reading them to my grandchildren and I will now also have a book of designs that I have colored to go along with them. I will admit that coloring these designs is a bittersweet experience as I spend as much time thinking of my son as I do in coloring.
This is what I found as I colored in this book and tested the paper with my coloring medium. I'll include a list of my coloring medium, which I use for tests and for coloring, in the comments section below.
96 pages of Designs based on original artwork from “The Chronicles of Narniaâ€
Printed on both sides of the page
Paper is heavyweight, white, slightly smooth and non-perforated
Glue Bound
Many Designs merge into the binding area
Some designs spread across two pages with integral parts merging into the binding area
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper
Water-based markers, gel pens, and India ink pens do not bleed through the page.
Colored pencils worked well with the paper. I was able to get good color with multiple layers of the same shade. I was also able to layer multiple colors and blend well using a pencil style blending stick. Both oil and wax based pencils worked well.
Love these books, but the font size is much too small on the Narnia Box Set (with movie pictures on box, linked below). It is advertised as for Grade 3 and up, but likely only Jr. High and older would be comfortable with this small of a Font Size. We are surprised that Harper Collins would publish such a small text Font Size, knowing that many children would be their audience.
***It would be very helpful if would include the Font Size in the product description for books and other literature.*** (Surprised that they don't already include this.)
We are sending this box set back regrettably, and instead ordering this 2000-published box set, which is a couple inches taller, hoping it has an adequate font size for young readers (link below). It costs $8 more, but should hopefully be the solution we need for the too-small font.
A lot of favorites that should be obvious inclusions are just missing, most glaring among them Reepicheep lifting a chalice in toast on the feast table. Instead much of the book is devoted to filler pages of what would be really hideous wallpaper if one was to do one's room up in them. I really expected a comprehensive collection of Pauline Baynes' fantastic renderings of Narnia and her peoples.
My real cut-off standard for a Narnia resource is, "Do I believe the person who created this has a deep love for Jack and Narnia that comes through in the effort." On this I'd have to guess no. I think if you were to give a kid a copy of the boxed set and after they had read them to tatters asked them to organize a book like this, it would be a very different animal... and likely one that would talk.
My fond wish is that someone will finally publish a high-quality coffee table book style exhaustive collection of Pauline Bayne's wonderful works at best quality/colour.
