Suzanne Poulter Harris is the author of the new children's picture book The Boy Behind the Wardrobe: How C.S. Lewis Grew Up to Create Narnia. She is originally from Northern Ireland, and is now a literacy tutor at an elementary school in the Washington, D.C., area.
Q: Why did you decide to write a children’s picture book biography of the writer C.S. Lewis, creator of the Narnia books (1898-1963)?
A: I was born and raised in County Down, Northern Ireland, and taught geography two miles from C.S. Lewis’s childhood home in Belfast. I grew up immersed in the world of Narnia.
In 2015, I’d moved to West Texas and was feeling very far from home. So, I decided to expand my picture book writing skills by taking a narrative nonfiction writing class.
At that time there were no other picture book biographies on C.S. Lewis. My original idea was to create a beautifully illustrated book highlighting the mountains, castles, and coastlines in the north of Ireland that inspired C.S. Lewis’s magical world of Narnia.
Q: What do you think Mira Miroslavova’s illustrations add to the book?
A: Mira’s art brought my words to life with a beautiful balance of whimsy, magic, and groundedness. Her illustrations throughout are so intricate and gorgeous that readers will want to revisit the book to study all the little details.
I gravitate towards writing picture books because I think visually, but I imagine more realistic scenes in my head. I’d included an art note about a telescope in the spread where C.S. Lewis and his brother spy on ships in the bustling Belfast Lough. Mira surprised me by using that little note to create a whimsical, wonderful illustration that I’d love to hang on my wall.
Mira’s visual storytelling in the wardrobe scene is simply spectacular. In fact, her artwork for The Boy Behind the Wardrobe has been selected for The Original Art at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators in New York City. This annual exhibit showcases illustrations from the year’s best children’s books!
Q: How did you research Lewis’s life, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
A: I spent the first 10 months on research. It was fun mining all the information to discover little gems that lent themselves to beautiful illustrations and to find quirky details that I thought might resonate with children.
I read over a dozen biographies on C.S. Lewis, but the most relevant material for the story I wanted to tell came from C.S. Lewis’ autobiography, Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life and from C.S. Lewis: Letters to Children.
In addition to reading, I took advantage of my annual trips home to Northern Ireland. My on-the-ground research started at Belmont Tower in East Belfast, which housed a small exhibition about C.S. Lewis, including some of his letters and first editions of The Chronicles of Narnia books.
I perused newspaper clippings in the library archives and then retraced C.S. Lewis’s steps around Belfast … from the site where he was born to the solitary lamppost in the wooded driveway of Campbell College, where Lewis attended school for one term.
C.S.
Lewis Square, Belfast
I also took day trips to the Mourne Mountains in County Down and Dunluce Castle in County Antrim to visit the landscapes that inspired Narnia and Cair Paravel.
I was surprised to learn that C.S. Lewis was missing the upper joint in both his thumbs. He struggled using scissors and got frustrated trying to make cardboard models of castles and ships. In Surprised by Joy, he explains, “As a last resource, I was driven to write stories instead; little dreaming to what a world of happiness I was being admitted.”
His inability to do certain things was a blessing because it forced him to try something new — something he loved and later excelled at. What a great message for kids with disabilities or for those who struggle to do something that other people can easily do.
Q: Do you think kids would need to be familiar with the Narnia books before reading your book?
A: If kids are familiar with Narnia, they might enjoy making connections between C.S. Lewis’s childhood and his imaginary world, but The Boy Behind the Wardrobe can be enjoyed by readers who have never picked up a Narnia book.
I recently presented my book to 3rd to 6th grade students at Lynbrook Elementary, where only a few students had heard of C.S. Lewis or Narnia. Yet, they were fully engaged in the story and asked insightful questions.
In fact, the librarian had to order extra copies of The Chronicles of Narnia because students are now requesting those books in the school library. It makes me happy that my book is introducing a new generation of students to C.S. Lewis and Narnia.
At its heart, The Boy Behind the Wardrobe celebrates creativity and imagination and the joy found in drawing, reading, and writing—activities that will resonate with most young readers.
The book encourages children to look around where they live and to try to write their own stories. It also explores universal themes like resilience and making friends.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’ve been working on polishing a couple of quirky, humorous picture books. I also recently completed a six-week course, Panel by Panel: How to Write Comics and Graphic Novels by Marcie Colleen.
I’m eager to start working on an early reader graphic novel using one of my picture book characters … but that will have to wait until after the excitement of my debut book launch has settled down a bit.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: There will be renewed interest in Narnia and C.S. Lewis with Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew coming to movie theaters in February and then onto Netflix.
Before seeing the movie, I would encourage people to read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which was the first Narnia book that C.S. Lewis wrote, followed by The Magician’s Nephew, the story of the creation of Narnia.
I’d love children to know that before the best-selling books and the blockbuster movies, there was a boy with a big imagination. A kid just like them. I think C.S. Lewis’s real-life story is as inspirational as the magical books he created, and I hope parents, teachers, and librarians will introduce children to The Boy Behind the Wardrobe.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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