Grade: B

The Horse and His Boy is book three in The Chronicles of Narnia, which means the events which transpire in this book occur after The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (book two) and before Prince Caspian (book four). I liked being able to read a book that took place during the original reign of Lucy, Susan, Edward and Peter and learn more about the world surrounding Narnia. I liked that while this book told its own separate story, it also featured a lot of the characters that anyone whose seen the two Narnia movies would recognize.

It was interesting to read the way that the neighboring countries viewed Aslan and Narnia and how different their societies lived. As a child reading this, I think it would be an excellent introduction to the idea that other countries lead very different lives but are made up of essentially similar people and how our view of other places can be skewed by our own upbringing and culture.

These books are small, quick reads but full of a lot of information and a lot of crossing plots. I really liked the story of Shasta, the central character in this story, and thought it was well told. I liked reading about the talking horses compared to non-talking ones and all the drama surrounding the small story. That said, it was certainly not the best book I’ve ever read – but it was an enjoyable story and as ever, I’m looking forward to the next installment in this series.