The Professor of Narnia

The Book Is In Print!

2008-10-10T05:41:00.000-07:00

The Professor of Narnia arrived last evening at my house under cover of darkness--all 22 boxes! The book is now in print and looks fantastic inside and out. You may order the book from Amazon as well as other online sellers and bookstores. Or, if you want a signed copy just send a $20 check to:

Will Vaus Ministries
P. O. Box 581
Monterey VA 24465

I'll ship the book to you right away!

Professor of Narnia Flash

2008-09-01T15:07:00.001-07:00

There is a cool new flash animation advertising my new book at http://www.believebooks.com/ . Check it out!

More Endorsements

2008-08-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

“Vaus weaves together the wonder Lewis discovers about the world with the biographical details that form him as the beloved author of Narnia. This book will be the spark for many young readers that will light up their imaginations about the professor that wrote for them.”

Zach Kincaid
Editor of the CSLewis.com blog
Director of The Matthew’s House Project (www.matthewshouse.net)

“The Professor of Narnia presents the remarkable and inspiring, true story of C.S. Lewis, the most important and influential Christian writer of modern times. This charming and insightful book guides the reader through Lewis’s life, ideas, and bountiful work and explains how one of the greatest scholars of the 20th Century came to faith and then lived a life of service,humility, insight, wit, and immense impact worldwide. This book will enrich everyone, including the young reader, who has come to love The Chronicles of Narnia, and has wondered about its origin, meaning and author.”

David J. Theroux
President, C.S. Lewis Society of California
President, The Independent Institute

“The Professor of Narnia provides a coherent overview of the life of C.S. Lewis for younger readers, and will also be of use to older enthusiasts who will appreciate this thoughtful and chronological retelling of Jack’s story set against the background of the Narnian tales.”

Dan Hamilton
Author of the “Forgotten God” trilogy
Co-author of In Pursuit of C.S. Lewis

New Cover

2008-08-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

Here is the newly designed cover for The Professor of Narnia:

My sons like it better. What do you think?

Back Cover Text

2008-08-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a preview of the text for the back cover of The Professor of Narnia:

Have you ever wanted to meet the man behind the magical land of Narnia? Now you can meet C. S. Lewis, the Oxford tutor and Cambridge professor who wrote the seven books: The Chronicles of Narnia. Learn what made the creator of the most beloved fairy tales of the 20th century the unique man that he was. Come along for the ride and you may even get to meet the great lion Aslan himself.

“This is the perfect biography of C.S.Lewis for children...The boys and girls who read this biography will not only know how Lewis spent his time, but will know in their bones what it felt like to be the man whose dreams of lions led to the creation of Narnia.”

Walter Hooper, author of "C.S. Lewis: A Complete Guide to His Life & Works"

“Will Vaus has crafted a wise and winsome book sure to delight readers of all ages; Professor Lewis would be pleased indeed.”

Bruce Edwards, Professor of English, Bowling Green University

"Finally there is a definitive biography that will appeal to all the young fans of The Narnia Chronicles. Will Vaus has written Lewis’s story interspersed with incidents from The Chronicles with just the right touch to answer all their youthful curiosity, and that includes the young in heart also."

Dr. Clara Sarrocco, Secretary, The New York C.S. Lewis Society

"A true Narnian and C.S. Lewis scholar, Will Vaus will delight everyone who reads The Professor of Narnia.”

Robert Velarde, author of Conversations with C.S. Lewis and The Heart of Narnia

Will Vaus, the author of Mere Theology: A Guide to the Thought of C. S. Lewis (InterVarsity Press), is the president of Will Vaus Ministries (www.willvaus.com). He specializes in teaching on C.S. Lewis and Narnia and is the founder of three C.S. Lewis Societies. Will holds a B.A. in Drama from UCSD and a M.Div. degree from Princeton Seminary. Will and his wife, Becky, have three sons: James, Jonathan and Joshua.

Foreword by Walter Hooper

2008-08-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

Walter Hooper, former secretary to C. S. Lewis and Literary Advisor to the C. S. Lewis Estate, has written the following Foreword to The Professor of Narnia:

This is the perfect biography of C.S.Lewis for children. I like it so much that I’m going to go out on a limb and say something daring. If Lewis were alive I wonder what would happen if Will Vaus asked his opinion of it? First of all, Lewis would scold Will for not having chosen a more worthy subject. Secondly, after the scolding, I think Lewis would thank the author for giving him his rightful place in history – not as a writer of the early 21st Century, but an Irishman living in England during the first part of the 20th Century.
That is a very important difference. One of the key principles of Lewis’s years of teaching literary history was that it is essential that an author be placed in the actual historical context in which he lived. If you treat an author who lived a long time ago as if he were almost exactly like yourself – as if writing with a dip pen was much the same as using a computer and an Oxford College 550 years old almost the same as an American university 20 years old - the subject of your biography will be mainly imaginary.
And if the subject of the biography is imaginary, you learn nothing from the book. No. The right way, the honest way, is the one Lewis followed in his literary studies.
First of all, he believed that if a writer smudges over the differences between various periods he is causing us to be ‘disinherited’ of what we need, and want, to know.
Secondly, Lewis believed that to enjoy ‘full humanity’ we ought, so far as possible, to ‘become an Achaean chief while reading Homer, a medieval knight while reading Malory, and an Eighteenth-Century Londoner while reading Johnson. Only thus will you be able to judge the work “in the same spirit that its author writ” and to avoid chimerical criticism.’[1]
I’m not sure I’ve read a biography of Lewis in which this ideal has been realised as well as it is here. Dare I confess it? When I first picked it up I was afraid that if Will Vaus mentioned Lewis’s method of writing he would bewail the fact that Lewis did not have computers, E-mail, laser printers and the rest. I need not have feared. This author has more than done his ‘homework’ and there is a fine passage on page 12 explaining how Lewis wrote. Indeed, on almost every page there are descriptions of how things appeared to Lewis. I give Will Vaus as many stars as you like because the boys and girls who read this biography will not only know how Lewis spent his time, but will know in their bones what it felt like to be the man whose dreams of lions led to the creation of Narnia.

[1] C.S.Lewis, A Preface to Paradise Lost (London: Oxford University Press, 1942), ch. IX, p. 63.

Book Tour

2008-07-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

The Professor of Narnia Book Tour is in the works for this fall. If you have a group that would like to host a book signing and lecture e-mail me and let me know of your interest: will@willvaus.com.

The Manuscript is Finished!

2008-04-30T05:11:00.000-07:00

The manuscript of The Professor of Narnia is finished and is now with my publisher for editing. I am beginning to choose photos to be included in the book. Here is one of Dunluce Castle on the Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland. This is the castle which inspired C. S. Lewis's creation of the ruins of Cair Paravel in Prince Caspian. . . .

New Book About Man Behind Narnia

2008-03-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

I am in the midst of writing The Professor of Narnia: The C. S. Lewis Story which will be published by Believe Books in September 2008. This will be a biography of C. S. Lewis targeted for older children and youth. Here is a description of the book. . . .

Have you ever wanted to meet the man behind the magical land of Narnia? Now you can meet C. S. Lewis, the Oxford tutor and Cambridge professor who wrote the seven books: The Chronicles of Narnia. Learn what made the creator of the most beloved fairy tales of the 20th century the man who he was. Along the way you will visit all the important places of Lewis’s life: from Belfast, Northern Ireland to the steps of the Parthenon in Greece and you will also meet some of Lewis’s best friends, like J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Your tour guide for this fabulous journey is Will Vaus, author of Mere Theology: A Guide to the Thought of C. S. Lewis, founder of three C. S. Lewis Societies, leader of a C. S. Lewis tour to England, and one of the few people in the world who actually lived in The Narnia Cottage in Ireland. Will stepped through the wardrobe door for the first time when he was 9 years old, and now that he has three sons of his own he knows how much every young person who reads the Narnia books or has seen the blockbuster Disney/Walden Media Narnia movies wants to know more about the author of these delightful stories, C. S. Lewis. So come along for the ride and you may even get to meet the great lion Aslan himself.