Tweetspeak Poetry

  • Home
  • FREE prompts
  • Earth Song
  • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • Teaching Tools
  • Books, Etc.
  • Patron Love

Book Club Announcement: The Silver Chair

By Will Willingham 8 Comments

bridge is sunrise mist

The first step is to remember. 

—Aslan, The Silver Chair

When The Silver Chair opens, the magical world of Narnia has fallen on dark times. It’s not fully apparent. Life is going along as it has been for some time. But the king and his advisors are old. He is, in fact, embarking on what is likely to be his last voyage. He has no heir, his son having disappeared while out seeking to avenge his mother, who was murdered by an evil serpent. And just below the surface, literally, in Underland, the serpent (or rather, the Lady of the Green Kirtle) has enchanted the actually-quite-alive prince, has enslaved the Earthmen and is preparing to take over Narnia for her own.

Depending on who you ask, and whether you follow chronological order or publication order, The Silver Chair is the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia, the beloved children’s stories by C.S. Lewis. I first read the story when I stumbled upon it in my school library and convinced the librarian I really was a decent enough reader to manage it even though it was a few shelves over from where I was supposed to be choosing my books. I didn’t know it was part of a larger story when I took it out. What I knew was that I was enchanted by the story and the discovery of the other books sent me on a journey of periodic reading and rereading the series even many decades later.

When we first meet our protagonists, Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb, they’re escaping schoolyard bullies and wind up in this magical world. Some squabbling takes place, and some posturing (which is usually not recommended over a very high cliff), and before you know it the two are separated in very dramatic fashion so that only one is given the details of their enormous task. Aslan, the lion, gives Jill four signs which she must watch for and cautions her to set them to memory and to revisit them often. He warns her that things are about to get very murky and it will be hard to keep them in mind.

It’s as though William Stafford were sitting right there at the writing desk with C.S. Lewis urging him on, don’t let them miss their star. It’s as though Lewis had been reading what Stafford hadn’t even written yet:

For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give—yes or no, or maybe—
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.

Through the tale of Jill and Eustace, their guide the marsh-wiggle Puddleglum, Prince Rilian and the Green Lady, Lewis reminds us to remember, to be clear, to stay awake. To be wise, one could say.

As part of our Year of Wisdom at Tweetspeak, we invite you to join us for our upcoming book club discussion of this intriguing and delightful tale beginning February 12.

The Silver Chair

Buy The Silver Chair

____

Here’s a schedule for reading and discussing:

Week 1 (February 12): Chapters 1-5

Week 2 (February 19): Chapters 6-10

Week 3 (February 26): Chapter 11-16

Want to Join Our Book Clubs? Become a Patron Today

Our book club discussions are a patron perk. You can become a Tweetspeak patron for as little as $1 a month.

$5 patrons can opt to get each book club edition delivered in full straight to their inboxes, with a photo and link to the discussion!

become a patron

Photo by Val do Ulla, Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by Will Willingham.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Will Willingham
Will Willingham
Director of Many Things; Senior Editor, Designer and Illustrator at Tweetspeak Poetry
I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.
Will Willingham
Latest posts by Will Willingham (see all)
  • Earth Song Poem Featured on The Slowdown!—Birds in Home Depot - February 7, 2023
  • The Rapping in the Attic—Happy Holidays Fun Video! - December 21, 2022
  • Video: Earth Song: A Nature Poems Experience—Enchanting! - December 6, 2022

Filed Under: Blog, book club, The Silver Chair

Try Every Day Poems...

About Will Willingham

I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.

Comments

  1. Megan Willome says

    January 23, 2020 at 12:51 pm

    Will, thank you for this introduction, especially linking The Silver Chair with Stafford’s “A Ritual to Read to Each Other.” I am officially excited, and have grabbed the book off the shelf, where it’s sat unloved for far too long. (I’ve read the book many times but never loved it.)

    Looking forward to February 12!

    Reply
    • Will Willingham says

      January 25, 2020 at 10:36 am

      I hadn’t thought of them as having a connection, but when I was reading the other day and “the first step is to remember” came along and it just seemed to fit so well with what you’ve been doing with By Heart and now where you and Stafford are leading as well.

      Haven’t read this story in a little while, so I’m enjoying this chance to go back. (And remember…)

      Reply
  2. L.L. Barkat says

    January 23, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    Like Megan, I was really pleased about the comparison to Stafford. While wisdom has common threads, I don’t think we always notice them—or know how to keep them threaded through our lives. This story, that poetry, woven together, feels like it makes a vivid tapestry for the mind’s eye (and the heart’s reaches).

    I, too, am looking forward to more of the story, in community. 🙂

    Reply
    • Will Willingham says

      January 25, 2020 at 10:37 am

      This will be a fun read together, and also one with a certain depth. I have some favorite parts (and some parts that make me feel unwell), and I’m looking forward to what others have to say. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Bethany R. says

    January 27, 2020 at 6:44 pm

    I enjoyed reading that book with my son a while back (I mentioned it in my Reading Nook post here on TSP, I believe). Would be fun to crack it open again and join the club here. 🙂

    Reply
    • Will Willingham says

      February 8, 2020 at 10:15 am

      Looking forward to having you join in. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Rebecca D Martin says

    February 8, 2020 at 9:48 am

    Just yesterday, I finished reading Dawn Treader to my daughters (9 and 5), and then we jumped straight into Silver Chair, the first two chapters. This book discussion is so perfectly timed! I’m looking forward to it.

    Reply
    • Will Willingham says

      February 8, 2020 at 10:15 am

      I’m looking forward to talking about this book as well. Glad you’ll be joining us, Rebecca. 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Take How to Read a Poem

Get the Introduction, the Billy Collins poem, and Chapter 1

get the sample now

Welcome to Tweetspeak

New to Tweetspeak Poetry? Start here, in The Mischief Café. You're a regular? Check out our May Menu

Patron Love

❤️

Welcome a little patron love, when you help keep the world poetic.

The Graphic Novel

"Stunning, heartbreaking, and relevant illustrations"

Callie Feyen, teacher

read a summary of The Yellow Wallpaper

meet The Yellow Wallpaper characters

How to Write Poetry

Your Comments

  • Donna Hilbert on Poets and Poems: L.L. Barkat and “Beyond the Glass”
  • L.L. Barkat on Poets and Poems: L.L. Barkat and “Beyond the Glass”
  • Poets and Poems: L.L. Barkat and “Beyond the Glass” - Tweetspeak Poetry on Love, Etc.: Poems of Love, Laughter, Longing & Loss
  • Glynn on World War II Had Its Poets, Too

Featured In

We're happy to have been featured in...

The Huffington Post

The Paris Review

The New York Observer

Tumblr Book News

Stay in Touch With Us

Categories

Learn to Write Form Poems

How to Write an Acrostic

How to Write a Ballad

How to Write a Catalog Poem

How to Write a Ghazal

How to Write a Haiku

How to Write an Ode

How to Write a Pantoum

How to Write a Rondeau

How to Write a Sestina

How to Write a Sonnet

How to Write a Villanelle

5 FREE POETRY PROMPTS

Get 5 FREE inbox poetry prompts from the popular book How to Write a Poem

Shakespeare Resources

Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18

Common Core Picture Poems: Sonnet 73

Sonnet 104 Annotated

Sonnet 116 Annotated

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Character Analysis: Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Why Does Hamlet Wait to Kill the King?

10 Fun Shakespeare Resources

About Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright

Top 10 Shakespeare Sonnets

See all 154 Shakespeare sonnets in our Shakespeare Library!

Explore Work From Black Poets

About Us

  • • A Blessing for Writers
  • • Our Story
  • • Meet Our Team
  • • Literary Citizenship
  • • Poet Laura
  • • Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches
  • • T. S. Poetry Press – All Books
  • • Contact Us

Write With Us

  • • 5 FREE Poetry Prompts-Inbox Delivery
  • • 30 Days to Richer Writing Workshop
  • • Poetry Prompts
  • • Submissions
  • • The Write to Poetry

Read With Us

  • • All Our Books
  • • Book Club
  • • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • • Literacy Extras
  • • Poems to Listen By: Audio Series
  • • Poet-a-Day
  • • Poets and Poems
  • • 50 States Projects
  • • Charlotte Perkins Gilman Poems Library
  • • Edgar Allan Poe Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Blake Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Shakespeare Sonnet Library

Celebrate With Us

  • • Poem on Your Pillow Day
  • • Poetic Earth Month
  • • Poet in a Cupcake Day
  • • Poetry at Work Day
  • • Random Acts of Poetry Day
  • • Take Your Poet to School Week
  • • Take Your Poet to Work Day

Gift Ideas

  • • Every Day Poems
  • • Our Shop
  • • Everybody Loves a Book!

Connect

  • • Donate
  • • Blog Buttons
  • • By Heart
  • • Shop for Tweetspeak Fun Stuff

Copyright © 2025 Tweetspeak Poetry · FAQ, Disclosure & Privacy Policy