The Chronicles of Narnia of the individual stories" and "obscures the literary structures as a whole". Peter Schakel devotes an entire chapter to this topic in his book "Imagination and the Arts in C. S. Lewis: Journeying to Narnia and Other Worlds", and in "Reading with the Heart: The Way into Narnia" he writes: Aslan, the Great Lion, is the eponymous lion of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books. He is also the only character to appear in all seven books. Aslan is a talking lion, the King of Beasts, son of
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Witch and the Wardrobe" was complete by the end of March 1949. Lucy Barfield received it by the end of May. When on 16 October 1950 Geoffrey Bles in London published the first edition, three new "chronicles", "Prince Caspian", "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and "The Horse and His Boy", had also been completed. Lewis's publisher, Geoffrey Bles, allowed him to choose the illustrator for the novel and the "Narnia" series. Lewis chose Pauline Baynes, possibly based on J. R. R. Tolkien's recommendation. Baynes had greatly impressed Tolkien with her illustrations for his "Farmer Giles of Ham" (1949). However,