Prince Caspian

I've read this book countless times over the years, and loved it each time.To be fair, the structure is somewhat annoying - there's a wonderful start to the book (magical in more than one way) with our friends, the Pevensie children from [b:The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 100915 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) C.S. Lewis https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353029077l/100915.SY75.jpg 4790821], but then just as things are getting really interesting we are sucked into a story-within-a-story as Trumpkin the Dwarf relates the childhood and education of Prince Caspian leaving us missing our old friends. The secondary story is slow to start, but picks up and finally gets really exciting as Caspian, aided by the awesome Pattertwig the squirrel has gotten the gang together and looks set to face down the evil Miraz...and then we're jarringly back with the Pevensie children who proceed to go on a very long walk while we're desperate to find out what our new friends Caspian, the wonderful Bulgy Bears, the lovable giant, the wise Badger Trufflehunter, and of course the peerless Reepicheep are up to.That said, when all that build up finally pays off and all the threads come together ... it is all so worth it. I have read this to several different groups of children over the years and each time the final few chapters have provoked bouts of spontaneous cheering and dancing around the room.That was my reaction at age 7ish too. All these many moons later I still feel pretty much the same.