Narnia a big hit in Christian shops

WITH yesterday’s release of the film version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the marketing push to promote the sale of Narnia books and other related merchandise is reaching a crescendo in the US — and nowhere more so than in Christian retail stores.

Christian references can be found throughout the best-selling fantasy novel, which follows the adventures of four young siblings during World War II who discover a world of fauns, centaurs, unicorns and talking animals inside an armoire. The heroic lion Aslan, a symbol of Jesus Christ, battles the White Witch, who is seen by some to represent a servant of Satan if not the devil himself. The residents of Narnia refer to a human boy as “a Son of Adam” and to a girl as “a Daughter of Eve.”

The seven-title Narnia series is published by HarperCollins.