10.15.07
Britney Reads LWW
There has been a lot of gossip around the web in the last day or so about Britney Spears reading “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis. One such article attempted to slander Ms. Spears for reading at a “5th-Grade” level. The reason that I am bringing this up is because of that comment.
The article goes on to say insult the girl saying “obviously, put on sunglasses at night inside your car and curl up with a good book most of us read in grade school: C.S. Lewis’s classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
It does say that the book is good, but what it also manages to do is place LWW in a bubble that says that it’s only for a certain reading level. My question is: Who decides what reading level a book falls into? Sure, there are books that you can guarantee are for adults or for very young children, but then there are books like Narnia that should have no such label. If anything, it should be a minimum reading level, with the maximum being never. I am pretty sure that is what the reading level is supposed to do, but it also inadvertantly puts a wall around it that says “after 5th grade, the book is no longer suitable.”
I am sure that is not the case, as Narnia fans come in all ages, judging by the members of the forum here.
I’m not here to defend Britney’s actions and her very public state of life, just to state what should be obvious: Narnia is a series of books with reading, and even Britney knows that.