Leader’s guide · 12 weeks

Leader’s guide: C. S. Lewis (For Children)

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This guide walks a Sunday school class, homeschool group or family through “C. S. Lewis (For Children)” in twelve weeks, one chapter a week. It tells the true story of Jack Lewis, a book-loving boy from Belfast who stopped believing in God, was found by him again, and grew up to write the Chronicles of Narnia. It works for a small family around the table or a class of up to twenty, and suits children aged 6 to 12.

Each session takes about 30 minutes. Welcome everyone and say the memory verse together (3 minutes). Read the chapter aloud (5–7 minutes). Talk together using the chapter’s three questions, which come with answers to help you (5–10 minutes). Do the activity (10 minutes). Close by praying the chapter’s short prayer, or your own (2 minutes).

To prepare, read the chapter yourself beforehand so nothing in it takes you by surprise, and have paper, pencils and crayons ready. Jack’s story includes his mother’s death, the First World War and, at the end, the death of his wife Joy, so read those parts calmly, answer questions simply and truthfully without adding detail, never ask a child to share their own losses in front of the group, and keep coming back to the book’s own point: God never stopped looking for Jack, and he held on to him on happy days and sad ones.

Week 1 — A Boy Called Jack

Clive Staples Lewis is born in Belfast in 1898 and soon insists on being called Jacksie, after a neighbour’s dog, which becomes Jack. He and his brother Warnie are best friends; a tiny moss garden on a biscuit-tin lid gives Jack a strange, sweet longing that returns all his life, and together the boys invent a pretend world called Boxen. At Little Lea, a house full of books, he reads and reads, and his parents take him to church and teach him to pray. The big idea: what we learn about God when we are small is like a seed, and God knows how to make it grow, even many years later.

“Teach children the way they should go, and when they are old they will not turn away from it.” — from Proverbs 22

Memory verse

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Talk together

  1. Why was Clive Staples Lewis called Jack?

    When he was very small he decided to be called Jacksie, after a dog that lived nearby. The name became Jacks and then Jack, and he kept it all his life.

  2. What pretend world did Jack and Warnie make up?

    A world called Boxen. Jack’s part was Animal-Land, with animals in clothes and knights in armour.

  3. What have you learned about God that you hope will grow in you?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that what we learn about God when we are young is like a seed, and God can make it grow, even many years later.

Activity

A Biscuit-Tin Garden

You will need: Paper and crayons

  1. Draw a big circle to be the lid of a biscuit tin.
  2. Fill it with a tiny garden of moss, twigs and flowers, like the one Warnie made.
  3. Draw three little seeds in the soil, and beside each write or draw one thing you have learned about God.
  4. Write “God makes seeds grow” around the edge, and take your garden home.

Pray

Dear God, thank you for my family and for everything I am learning about you. Please make those little seeds grow in me. Amen.

Read chapter 1

Week 2 — The Saddest Summer

When Jack is nine, his mother becomes very ill with cancer; he prays with all his heart for her to get well, but she dies in August 1908. His father is too full of sadness to comfort the boys, so Jack and Warnie hold on to each other, and within a month they are sent to a harsh boarding school in England, where Jack nonetheless begins for a while to pray seriously. Years later, remembering how it felt, Jack wrote kind letters to many sad people. This chapter may touch children who have lost someone, or whose family member is ill: read it gently, do not explain why the prayer was not answered beyond what the chapter says (God did not stop the sad thing, but he was with Jack), and never ask anyone to talk about their own losses aloud. The big idea: when we are sad, God is close to us.

“Even if my father and my mother leave me, the Lord will take me up.” — from Psalm 27

Memory verse

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

Psalm 27:10

Talk together

  1. What did Jack pray for when his mother was ill?

    He prayed that she would get well. When she died, he prayed that she would come back to life.

  2. Where did Jack’s father send the boys after their mother died?

    To a boarding school in England. They crossed the sea on a night boat, and the school was a harsh and unhappy place.

  3. Who could you talk to, or pray to, when you feel sad?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that God is close to us when we are sad, and he can use even sad things for good.

Activity

Ways to Help a Sad Friend

You will need: Nothing

  1. Remind the children how Jack and Warnie held on to each other when they were sad.
  2. Sit in a circle and go round, each saying one kind thing you could do for a friend who is sad, such as sitting with them or drawing them a picture. Anyone may pass.
  3. Say the memory verse together slowly.
  4. Be quiet for half a minute, and silently ask God to comfort anyone you know who is sad.

Pray

Dear God, thank you that you are close to children who are sad. Please comfort anyone I know who has lost someone they love. Amen.

Read chapter 2

Week 3 — The Great Knock

Somewhere between twelve and fourteen, worn out by worrying that his prayers did not count unless he felt exactly the right feelings, Jack quietly stops believing in God. He finds a lifelong friend in Arthur Greeves, learns to think clearly and to read many languages with his sharp teacher Mr Kirkpatrick, the Great Knock, and buys Phantastes by George MacDonald at a station, a story that touches his heart with a new kind of goodness. Leaders may want to reassure children that prayer does not depend on getting our feelings exactly right. The big idea: God can use teachers, friends and good books to help us, even before we know he is at work.

“Iron makes iron sharp, and one friend makes another friend sharp.” — from Proverbs 27

Memory verse

Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.

Proverbs 27:17

Talk together

  1. Who was the Great Knock?

    Mr Kirkpatrick, the teacher Jack lived with in Surrey. He taught Jack to think clearly and to read many languages.

  2. What book did Jack buy while he was waiting for a train?

    Phantastes, by George MacDonald. It was a story about a fairy land, and it touched Jack’s heart with a new kind of goodness.

  3. Who helps you to think and to learn?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that God can use teachers, friends and good books to help us, even before we know he is at work.

Activity

What Do You Mean By…?

You will need: Nothing

  1. Tell the children how the Great Knock stopped Jack and asked what he meant by “wild.”
  2. Say a simple sentence, such as “This room is big” or “That was a good day.”
  3. Let the children ask, “What do you mean by big?” and help them give a careful, clear answer.
  4. Take turns letting children say a sentence for the others to question, then thank God for people who help us think.

Pray

Dear God, thank you for my teachers and my friends. Please use good books and good people to bring me closer to you. Amen.

Read chapter 3

Week 4 — A Promise in Wartime

Jack goes to Oxford in 1917 and, though he does not have to, joins the army; he shares a room with Paddy Moore, and the two promise that whoever survives the war will look after the other’s parent. Jack reaches the trenches in France on his nineteenth birthday, is wounded by a shell in April 1918, and the kind sergeant beside him is killed; Paddy is killed too. Keep the war part brief and calm, without adding detail, and steer the talk towards the promise rather than the fighting; children with family in the forces may need a quiet word afterwards. The big idea: even before Jack believed, God was holding his life in his hands, and a promise matters.

“When you make a promise to God, do not be slow to keep it.” — from Ecclesiastes 5

Memory verse

When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.

Ecclesiastes 5:4

Talk together

  1. What promise did Jack and Paddy make to each other?

    That if one of them was killed in the war, the one who lived would look after the other one’s parent.

  2. What happened to Jack on 15 April 1918?

    A shell burst beside him and he was hurt in his hand, his leg and his chest. The kind sergeant next to him, Harry Ayres, was killed.

  3. Why is it important to keep a promise?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that a promise matters, and God helps us keep our promises even when it is hard.

Activity

A Promise I Can Keep

You will need: Paper and crayons or pencils

  1. Fold a sheet of paper in half to make a card.
  2. On the front, draw two hands shaking, the way friends do when they make a promise.
  3. Inside, write or draw one small promise you can really keep this week, such as tidying your room or helping someone at home.
  4. Sign your name under it, and take it home to remind you.

Pray

Dear God, please be with everyone who is in danger because of war today. Help me to keep my promises, even when it is hard. Amen.

Read chapter 4

Week 5 — Keeping His Word

Mrs Moore visits Jack in hospital when his own father does not come, and after the war Jack keeps his promise to Paddy, making his home with Mrs Moore and Maureen and looking after Mrs Moore for more than thirty years: shopping, washing dishes, walking the dog and studying when he can. He also does something wrong, hiding the truth from his father for years, and later he was very sorry for it. He works hard and becomes a teacher at Magdalen College in 1925. If you talk about saying sorry, keep it general and let any personal sorry stay between each child and God. The big idea: God wants us to be faithful and honest, and when we get it wrong, we can tell him we are sorry.

“Who may live close to God? The one who keeps his promise even when it costs him.” — from Psalm 15

Memory verse

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

Talk together

  1. Who came to see Jack in hospital?

    Mrs Moore, Paddy’s mother. Jack’s father did not come.

  2. What did Jack do that he was sorry for later?

    He hid the truth from his father about where he was living and about how his father’s money was being used.

  3. Is there something you need to say sorry for?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that God wants us to be faithful and honest, and he always listens when we tell him we are sorry.

Activity

Helping Hands Mime

You will need: Nothing

  1. Remind the children of the jobs Jack did at home: shopping, washing dishes, running errands, walking the dog and helping Maureen with her Latin.
  2. Let one child at a time mime one of those jobs, or another helpful job, while the others guess what it is.
  3. Give everyone a turn, or let children mime in pairs if the group is large.
  4. Finish by each choosing, silently, one job to do at home this week without being asked.

Pray

Dear God, help me to keep my promises and to tell the truth. When I get things wrong, help me to say sorry. Amen.

Read chapter 5

Week 6 — Found by God

At Oxford Jack makes friends, among them J. R. R. Tolkien, and is bothered that so many of the people and books he loves best are Christian; it feels as if God is hunting him. In 1929 his father dies before Jack can reach him, and Jack is sorry for how he often treated him. Then, alone in his room, he kneels and admits that God is God, calling himself “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England,” though he does not yet believe in Jesus. Mention the father’s death simply, as the chapter does. The big idea: nobody can run so far that God cannot find them.

“Where could I go to get away from your Spirit? Where could I run from you?” — from Psalm 139

Memory verse

Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?

Psalm 139:7

Talk together

  1. Which friend of Jack’s loved the old northern stories too?

    J. R. R. Tolkien, a professor at Oxford who was a Christian.

  2. What did Jack do when he stopped running from God?

    He knelt down in his room at Magdalen and admitted that God was God, though he did not feel happy about it.

  3. Have you ever felt that God was looking for you?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that God never stops looking for us, and no one can run too far from his love.

Activity

Warmer, Colder

You will need: One small object, such as a crayon

  1. Send one child out of the room or ask them to close their eyes while you hide a crayon somewhere safe.
  2. Bring them back and let the group guide them with “warmer” when they get closer and “colder” when they move away.
  3. Play a few rounds so different children get a turn to search.
  4. Talk about how the crayon could not stay hidden for ever, and how God kept looking for Jack until he found him.

Pray

Dear God, thank you that you never stop looking for us. Thank you that I can never run too far from your love. Amen.

Read chapter 6

Week 7 — A Walk by the River

Jack believes in God but cannot understand Jesus. On a long night walk by the river in 1931, Tolkien and Hugo Dyson help him see that the story of Jesus is like the old stories he loves of a god who dies and comes back to life, with one great difference: it really happened. Nine days later, riding in the sidecar of Warnie’s motorcycle to Whipsnade Zoo, Jack comes to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that Christmas he takes Communion, now sharing his faith with Warnie too. The big idea: the story of Jesus is not just beautiful; it is true, because God really came into our world.

“The Word became a man and lived among us, and we saw his glory.” — from John 1

Memory verse

The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Talk together

  1. What did Jack’s friends tell him about the story of Jesus?

    That it was like the old stories he loved about a god who dies and comes back, but with one great difference: it really happened.

  2. Where was Jack going when he came to believe that Jesus is the Son of God?

    To Whipsnade Zoo, riding in the sidecar of Warnie’s motorcycle.

  3. What do you love most about the story of Jesus?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that the story of Jesus is not just beautiful but true, because God really came into our world.

Activity

From the River to the Zoo

You will need: Paper and crayons

  1. Draw a winding path along a river, with three friends walking and talking under the night sky.
  2. Carry the path on to a road, and draw a motorcycle with a sidecar and Jack riding in it.
  3. At the end of the road, draw the zoo gate, and write next to it “It really happened!”
  4. Share your maps in pairs and tell each other one true thing about Jesus.

Pray

Dear Jesus, thank you for coming into our world. Thank you that your story is true. Help me to know you and love you. Amen.

Read chapter 7

Week 8 — Friends at the Kilns

Jack, Warnie and Mrs Moore buy the Kilns, a brick house with woods and a pond, where Jack lives for the rest of his life; Warnie leaves the army and joins them, and every Sunday Jack walks to the early service at Holy Trinity, where he is simply Mr Lewis from the Kilns. On Thursday evenings his friends the Inklings meet in his rooms to read their writing aloud and say honestly what they think, and Tolkien says he would never have finished The Lord of the Rings without Jack’s encouragement. The big idea: good friends help each other grow, church is where we belong to God’s family, and God listens when his friends talk together.

“Those who loved the Lord talked together, and the Lord listened and heard them.” — from Malachi 3

Memory verse

A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 17:17

Talk together

  1. What was Jack’s house called, and why?

    The Kilns, because two old brick ovens, called kilns, stood beside it.

  2. Who were the Inklings?

    A group of Jack’s friends who met on Thursday evenings to read their writing aloud and talk. Tolkien read The Lord of the Rings to them.

  3. How could you encourage a friend this week?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that good friends help each other to grow, and God listens when his friends talk together.

Activity

Our Own Inklings Story

You will need: Nothing

  1. Sit in a circle like the Inklings round the fire.
  2. Start a story with one sentence, such as “One morning a hedgehog found a key in the garden.”
  3. Go round the circle, each child adding one sentence to the story, until it comes to an end.
  4. Go round once more, each person saying one kind, encouraging thing about someone else’s part of the story.

Pray

Dear God, thank you for my friends and for my church family. Help me to be a good friend who encourages others. Amen.

Read chapter 8

Week 9 — A Voice in Wartime

When war comes again in 1939, schoolgirls from London come to live at the Kilns, and Jack finds he enjoys them. He writes The Screwtape Letters and gives the money to widows, and his BBC radio talks, explaining plainly what Christians believe, become Mere Christianity; he also learns to use simple words with young airmen. Knowing fame could make him proud, he confesses his sins weekly to a wise priest and gives most of his book money away. The idea of letters from a devil may intrigue or worry children; you only need to say it was a back-to-front way of showing how to follow God. The big idea: you do not need to be clever or famous to share your hope in Jesus, simply and kindly.

“Always be ready to tell anyone who asks about the hope you have, and do it gently.” — from 1 Peter 3

Memory verse

Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear.

1 Peter 3:15

Talk together

  1. Who came to live at the Kilns when the war began?

    Schoolgirls from London, who were sent to the countryside to be safe from the bombs.

  2. What did Jack do with the money he was paid for The Screwtape Letters?

    He gave it away to help widows. Later he gave away most of the money from his books to people in need.

  3. Who could you tell about Jesus, and what would you say?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that we do not need to be clever or famous to share our hope in Jesus, kindly and simply.

Activity

On the Radio

You will need: Nothing (a rolled-up sheet of paper as a pretend microphone, if you like)

  1. Remind the children how Jack talked on the radio in plain, friendly words, like someone at a kitchen table.
  2. In pairs, take turns being the radio speaker and the listener.
  3. As the speaker, say in two or three simple sentences one thing you know or love about Jesus. Anyone who would rather not may say the memory verse instead.
  4. As the listener, say “Thank you for telling me,” then swap.

Pray

Dear Jesus, help me to be ready to tell others about you, gently and kindly. Keep me from being proud. Amen.

Read chapter 9

Week 10 — Through the Wardrobe

Since he was about sixteen Jack had pictured a faun with an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood; he began a story about four children from London after the evacuees came, and nearly ten years later finished it, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was published in 1950, followed by six more Narnia books. Jack said Aslan was how he imagined the Son of God might be in another world, and he answered children’s letters by hand, telling one worried child that the things he loved about Aslan were the very things Jesus said and did. Meanwhile he kept visiting Mrs Moore until she died in 1951, keeping his promise to the end. The big idea: Jesus loves children and wants everyone to come to him with a simple, trusting heart.

“Unless you turn and become like little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” — from Matthew 18

Memory verse

And said, Most assuredly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 18:3

Talk together

  1. What picture had Jack carried in his head since he was about sixteen?

    A faun carrying an umbrella and parcels through a snowy wood.

  2. What did Jack tell the child who worried about loving Aslan more than Jesus?

    That the things the child loved about Aslan were the very things Jesus said and did.

  3. What does it mean to come to Jesus like a child?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that Jesus loves children and wants everyone to come to him with simple, trusting hearts.

Activity

A Door into Another World

You will need: Paper and crayons

  1. Draw a tall wardrobe with its door standing a little open.
  2. Through the gap, draw a snowy wood with a lamp-post glowing among the trees.
  3. On the wardrobe door, write or draw one thing Jesus said or did that you love.
  4. Share your pictures, and thank Jesus together for loving children.

Pray

Dear Jesus, thank you that you love children. Help me to come to you with a trusting heart, like a child. Amen.

Read chapter 10

Week 11 — A Wedding in a Hospital

Joy Davidman, a writer in New York who had come to know God one frightening night, writes to Jack, and later moves to England with her sons, David and Douglas. In 1956, so that she can stay in England, Jack marries her in a short ceremony at an office; when she is found to have cancer, he realises he loves her, and in 1957 they are married before God in her hospital room by Peter Bide, who prays for her healing, and to the doctors’ surprise she begins to get better. If children ask about Joy’s first marriage or the two weddings, answer only as simply as the chapter does. The chapter itself says God does not always heal people in the way we ask; hold on to that, as some children will be praying for someone who is ill. The big idea: God always hears our prayers, and we can always bring the people we love to him.

“The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up.” — from James 5

Memory verse

I love the LORD, because he listens to my voice, and my cries for mercy.

Psalm 116:1

Talk together

  1. How did Joy Davidman come to know God?

    One night, when she was alone and frightened, she felt that God was there with her, and she knelt down and prayed.

  2. What happened after Peter Bide prayed for Joy?

    To the doctors’ great surprise, she began to get better. Her bones began to heal, and she was able to walk again with a stick.

  3. Who would you like to pray for today?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that God always hears our prayers, and we can always bring the people we love to him.

Activity

A Praying Hand

You will need: Paper and pencils or crayons

  1. Lay one hand flat on a sheet of paper and draw round it with a pencil.
  2. On each finger, write or draw someone to pray for: someone in your family, a friend, someone who is ill, someone who helps you, and yourself.
  3. Hold your paper and pray quietly for each person, one finger at a time.
  4. Take it home and use it to pray during the week.

Pray

Dear God, thank you that you hear our prayers. Please be with everyone who is ill, and help me to pray for them. Amen.

Read chapter 11

Week 12 — Going Home

Jack and Joy have three happy years together before her cancer returns, and she dies in July 1960 with Jack beside her; he writes his grief honestly in notebooks, later published as A Grief Observed, and gives her sons a home. In 1963 Jack grows ill, unafraid of dying, spends quiet weeks with Warnie, and dies at the Kilns on 22 November 1963; the brothers who made up Boxen are later buried in the same grave. This chapter has two deaths: let it be sad, notice any child who goes quiet, and keep the focus where the chapter does, on God holding on to Jack through happy days and sad ones. The big idea: God holds on to everyone who trusts him, and we can keep the faith all our lives.

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” — from 2 Timothy 4

Memory verse

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.

2 Timothy 4:7

Talk together

  1. What did Jack do with his sad feelings after Joy died?

    He wrote them down honestly in notebooks. Later they became a little book, A Grief Observed, that has helped many sad people.

  2. What did Jack ask for when he woke up after being very ill in 1963?

    A cup of tea!

  3. What helps you to trust God on sad days?

    Any honest answer is good here. The chapter’s point is that God holds on to everyone who trusts him, on happy days and sad ones.

Activity

Jack’s Journey

You will need: Several sheets of paper laid end to end, and crayons

  1. Lay several sheets of paper in a long line on the floor or a table to make one long path.
  2. Share out the moments of Jack’s life: Boxen in Belfast, the Great Knock, the sidecar ride, the Kilns, the radio talks, the wardrobe, and Jack and Warnie together at the end.
  3. Have each child or pair draw their moment on the path, in order.
  4. Walk along the path together, and at the end write “He kept the faith” and say the memory verse.

Pray

Dear God, thank you for C. S. Lewis and the stories you gave him to tell. Help me to trust you on happy days and sad days, and to keep the faith all my life. Amen.

Read chapter 12