Today at 5 Minutes for Books the carnival revolves around children’s books which have won the prestigious Newbery Medal, given annually to the most distinguished American children’s book since 1922. As I was looking over the list of winners and honor books, I saw several that I had read before, but I since I have a goal of reading forty books in 2008 and am somewhat behind, I decided to read one that was new to me. I chose A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, the 1963 winner, because of the many comparisons to C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series. (It also won the year I was born, which is a silly reason to pick a book, but there were so many to choose from it was as good as reason as any. 
) This is the first in a series of “Time” books that some lists say has four books while others say five. It was very easy to read, but it is filled with wonderful lessons that may be missed the first time through, even by adults. The overall theme of good’s ultimate triumph over evil is the most obvious one and the one that most children will understand without help, but there are many others including messages about the differences between appearances and reality and the strength of unity paired with the importance of individuality versus the dangers of blind conformity.
While I wouldn’t place this book quite on the same level as Lewis’ works, I would most certainly recommend it to readers from upper elementary children through adults. It may be one that would be good for parents and children to read together and talk about the lessons it contains. I plan on reading more of Ms. L’Engle’s books, especially the rest of the ones in this series.
Click here to read reviews of more Newbery Medal winners at 5 Minutes for Books.
Happy reading!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
i have a good friend who likes this book alot.
I will be reading this one, most likely as a read aloud to my girls.
I have not read this book but have seen it reviewed many times.
I wrote about this book in a previous carnival, it was one of my favorites growing up. I re-read it recently and found I enjoyed it as much as I did as a kid. The others in the series aren’t quite as wonderful as this one, just a warning. They’re still great books though.
L’Engle also wrote books for adults but she’s not as well known in that genre as for this series.
I will have to remember this book when I head to the library. It is not one of the Newbery winners that I have read yet. Thanks for the review!
Thank you for the review! There are so many books out there I have yet to tap into – these reviews really help point me in the right direction!
Oooh, I’m going to have to find L’Engle’s adult books. I did a this book too!
A Wrinkle in Time