Narnia Fun

I was pretty stoked to discover that OSMI (the "local" science center) was going to be hosting a Narnia exhibit over the course of this summer. If you are local, you can check out the OMSI website for exhibit information.

It coincided perfectly with the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge so OF COURSE we had to go! (Of course we had to go, regardless!)

We traveled to Portland on a weekend and made a little OMSI trip out of it. The exhibit is heavily based on the movies, rather than the books, but was it worth it? Well, I thought it was fun. But then, I really, really love Narnia. ;)


All of the displays are interactive so kids can play around with stuff a bit. We were a bit perturbed to tie-in conservation efforts with the White Witch's magic wherein she made it "always winter in Narnia and never Christmas." Totally ridiculous mumbo jumbo having absolutely nothing to do with the whole point and purpose of Narnia, trying to encourage green living. (That was over the top and a stretch beyond Lewis's imagination!) Otherwise though, we enjoyed flittering about.


The statue of Queen Susan and various other legendary treasures...



The exhibit ends by including some of Lewis's personal effects. The wardrobe you see below was owned by Lewis. There are also first edition Tolkien works in the display case.



In preparation for our visit, we re-read several of our Narnia picture books, some of which I've talked about previously. (You can click on that last link to see some of our latest additions to our home library.)

This was a fun way to enter the world of Narnia with my kids and for that reason alone I recommend a trip to visit the exhibit if it is possible for you to do so. It provides visuals for you to better picture things with in your head. (For example, I discovered that my favorite character, Reepicheep, is 22" high. That's the length of Bookworm3 when she was born which helps me to get a better picture of his height!)

Fun times as a family. We enjoyed it.

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I couldn't resist them. I couldn't resist them at all! This summer I adorned my bookshelves with these Chronicles of Narnia bookends:



The side with the White Witch is particularly cool. (No pun intended.) We were very impressed upon their arrival and they make great conversation starters as well. If you are, uh, desperate for conversation or something. ;) At any rate, they are AWESOME and I love them. Very heavy, sturdy things with characters from one of my favorite series! Happy early birthday to me!

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Given the price on the The Narnia Cookbook: Foods from C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia it seems unlikely that I will be in possession of a copy of it anytime soon. (Come on Goodwill or a used book store find!!!)

However, I do happen to have a copy of Turkish Delight which is credited as coming out of this cookbook. Not sure how I came into such a possession, but here 'tis, all the same:

Recipe for Turkish Delight

3 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup hot water
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
about 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted

1. Soften the gelatin in the cold water. Set aside.

2. In a saucepan, bring the hot water and granulated sugar to a boil, stirring all the while. Lower heat. Add the salt, and stir in the softened gelatin until completely dissolved. Cook at a simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon extract.

4. Rinse a 6" square pan with cold water. The pan should be wet but not have standing water. Pour the mixture into the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to stand in a cool place overnight.

5. Sift some of the confectioner's sugar on a plate. Moisten a knife in very hot water and run it around the edges of the pan to loosen the candy. Invert the pan over the plate. It may be necessary to work on the edges a little to loosen them enough to turn the candy out on top of the sugar. Cut the square into equal-width strips. Roll each strip in sugar; then cut into cubes. Roll each cube in additional sugar to coat well.

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Bookworm1 and I tried making this last year but I don't think we did it right. It didn't come out the way it was described and it tasted terrible. If someone else tries this recipe, let me know. (I'm quite positive I did something wrong with the recipe and am happy to try it again, but not this year!)

Enjoy -- if you can!