The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was first published in 1950, and it has gone through a variety of cover art since. Below are five of the many versions. Which one do you like best?
For me it’s the one of Mr. Tumnus, hands down. That’s the cover I have (though the one I had as a child was older), and I love the clear design and balanced colors. It’s the most artful, I think. The third and fourth are too much a scattering of images that don’t actually build a scene, and I generally don’t like covers with photographs. However my nephews like the last two the best, because Peter with a sword is cool and Aslan is a cool lion.
I really like the one with Mr. Tumnus, as well. Besides its being the one I first saw, I think it’s a really great introduction to the book. Mr. Tumnus, in the midst of winter, is basically the first image Lucy gets, and I like that it’s ours.
I like some of the hodge podge versions, but I’m not particularly fond of this one. I agree there’s a bit too much going on .
I generally have prejudices against movie covers.
Aslan is very cool! However, this cover confuses me because my Chronicles of Narnia in one book has Aslan on the cover, and this just looks too similar. I do like some of the others in this series of covers, though, and I love that they’re doing all of Lewis’s books with his name in that font, including the apologetics ones, for example.
I like the cover with Mr. Tumnus, too. It’s simple and clean-cut, so I think it does a better job of drawing the reader into the magic (after all, it is an iconic moment). As David already said, three and four are just a jumble of images. Also, that style of cover is (or was) rather overused. And I don’t like movie covers, either. The movie ones seem more commercial and not like an artistic interpretations of a story.
Hahah, joining in the chorus around Tumnus – not only because he is simple and balanced, but because everything I’ve read of Lewis giving the ‘story behind the story’ (“It All Began with a Picture” is the essay or heading, I believe) says that he took certain images – a lamppost in a wood, a faun with an umbrella and parcels walking through the snow, lions he’d dreamt of – and The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe is what they became.
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For me it’s the one of Mr. Tumnus, hands down. That’s the cover I have (though the one I had as a child was older), and I love the clear design and balanced colors. It’s the most artful, I think. The third and fourth are too much a scattering of images that don’t actually build a scene, and I generally don’t like covers with photographs. However my nephews like the last two the best, because Peter with a sword is cool and Aslan is a cool lion.
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I really like the one with Mr. Tumnus, as well. Besides its being the one I first saw, I think it’s a really great introduction to the book. Mr. Tumnus, in the midst of winter, is basically the first image Lucy gets, and I like that it’s ours.
I like some of the hodge podge versions, but I’m not particularly fond of this one. I agree there’s a bit too much going on .
I generally have prejudices against movie covers.
Aslan is very cool! However, this cover confuses me because my Chronicles of Narnia in one book has Aslan on the cover, and this just looks too similar. I do like some of the others in this series of covers, though, and I love that they’re doing all of Lewis’s books with his name in that font, including the apologetics ones, for example.
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I like the cover with Mr. Tumnus, too. It’s simple and clean-cut, so I think it does a better job of drawing the reader into the magic (after all, it is an iconic moment). As David already said, three and four are just a jumble of images. Also, that style of cover is (or was) rather overused. And I don’t like movie covers, either. The movie ones seem more commercial and not like an artistic interpretations of a story.
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Hahah, joining in the chorus around Tumnus – not only because he is simple and balanced, but because everything I’ve read of Lewis giving the ‘story behind the story’ (“It All Began with a Picture” is the essay or heading, I believe) says that he took certain images – a lamppost in a wood, a faun with an umbrella and parcels walking through the snow, lions he’d dreamt of – and The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe is what they became.
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That is so interesting! I never knew that! I will have to look this up sometime. Thanks for sharing!
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