0:00:05 > 0:00:09Who were your favourite authors when you were a child?
0:00:09 > 0:00:15Did you like being whisked away in your imagination to the mystical world of Narnia?
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Were you captivated by The Tiger Who Came To Tea,
0:00:18 > 0:00:22enchanted by Peter Rabbit and his friends?
0:00:22 > 0:00:26Enthralled by the adventures of The Famous Five?
0:00:28 > 0:00:30Today on Songs of Praise,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33the wonderful world of children's stories.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Commemorating the great writer, CS Lewis,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39on the 50th anniversary of his death.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Plus author Michael Morpurgo, some favourite hymns
0:00:42 > 0:00:46and a performance from our Senior School Choir of the Year.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56Oh, this is a book I loved when I was a kid.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58Enid Blyton's The Secret Seven.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Actually, I liked all of her books
0:01:00 > 0:01:03but The Secret Seven were particular favourites because one of them
0:01:03 > 0:01:06was a girl called Pam and of course she was just like me.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11But being a bit of an animal lover, I can also remember a poem I especially liked then
0:01:11 > 0:01:15called Cats Sleep Anywhere, written by Eleanor Farjeon,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18who in fact wrote a lot of children's books
0:01:18 > 0:01:22but perhaps is best known for writing the words of our first hymn today.
0:03:13 > 0:03:18Once upon a time, children's literature didn't really exist.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21It's difficult to imagine in a place like this.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25Forget The Gruffalo and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30The first books for children were written to promote religious doctrine,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34good manners and good morals, not simply to entertain.
0:03:34 > 0:03:40Authors like John Bunyan and Isaac Watts wanted to save children's souls,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43rather than to fire their imaginations.
0:03:45 > 0:03:51The publisher John Newbery is often called the father of children's literature.
0:03:51 > 0:03:57Back in 1781, he published a collection of nursery rhymes about Mother Goose.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05Less than a century later, Alice began her Adventures in Wonderland,
0:04:05 > 0:04:09and the golden age of children's literature began.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12From the White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat
0:04:12 > 0:04:17to more modern characters like Fantastic Mr Fox and Babe, the sheep-pig,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20animal characters have always been popular.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26I like animal stories because some make me laugh.
0:04:27 > 0:04:34I like some animal stories because sometimes they help me and my sisters go to sleep.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37My favourite story is The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41I like Aslan because he's quite cool because when he dies,
0:04:41 > 0:04:42he also regenerates again.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Well, this is about a dog who wants to do ballet!
0:04:49 > 0:04:55I like reading animal stories and when I grow up, I want to be a vet.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03Of course, hymns and songs about animals have always been popular with children, too.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Our next hymn is a real favourite.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10The author Clive Staples Lewis, best known as CS Lewis,
0:07:10 > 0:07:14was born in Belfast in 1898.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18His seven Chronicles of Narnia are his most famous books,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21yet they were his only works for children.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26After serving in the First World War, Lewis studied at Oxford University
0:07:26 > 0:07:29and then became a fellow in English literature at Magdalen College.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33He had a suite of rooms here in the so-called New Building,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37which actually dates back to 1735.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40It was here that he first began to believe in God.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48By 1931, CS Lewis was a committed Christian
0:07:48 > 0:07:51and he worshipped here at Holy Trinity Church
0:07:51 > 0:07:56at Headington Quarry on the outskirts of Oxford for more than 30 years.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00This year marks the 50th anniversary of his death.
0:08:00 > 0:08:01He is buried just over there.
0:08:06 > 0:08:12Not far from Holy Trinity Church is The Kilns, where Lewis lived until 1963
0:08:12 > 0:08:17and in its extensive grounds are woodlands and this beautiful lake.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21It's not hard to see where he got his inspiration for the Chronicles of Narnia.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27Lewis saw writing fiction as a way of, in effect, opening up Christianity
0:08:27 > 0:08:31to a generation of people who otherwise might not have access to it at all.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Narnia is both a great story
0:08:34 > 0:08:37but a story that can be read at different levels.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40It is a story about children and a lion at one level
0:08:40 > 0:08:44and at a deeper level, it's about, what's life all about?
0:08:44 > 0:08:47It's about Aslan, the great lion, as a figure of Christ.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51It is really about discovering not just the meaning of a story,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53but the meaning of life and of course,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57Lewis wants his readers to know he made that discovery himself.
0:08:57 > 0:09:03"Who is Aslan?" asked Susan. "Aslan?" said Mr Beaver. "Why, don't you know?
0:09:03 > 0:09:08"He's the King. He is the Lord of the whole wood but not often here."
0:09:08 > 0:09:12I think it's a great way to tell people about God through fantasy story
0:09:12 > 0:09:17because it makes people want to read it and then gets people engaged.
0:09:17 > 0:09:23The reason why I love CS Lewis is because a lot of the books I read are about good versus evil
0:09:23 > 0:09:26so it is the Narnians against the White Witch and her army.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31Once you've read it, you understand what his metaphor is.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36Aslan being God and helping the children win the battle.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40"Wrong will be right when Aslan comes in sight.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43"At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46"When he bares his teeth, Winter meet its death,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49"and when he shakes his mane, we shall have Spring again."
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Lewis saw writing fiction as a way of, in effect,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56opening up Christianity to a generation of people who
0:09:56 > 0:09:59otherwise might not have access to it at all.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36CS Lewis was part of The Inklings, an informal writers' group
0:12:36 > 0:12:39who often met up here at The Eagle and Child pub.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44His close friend and fellow Christian JRR Tolkien
0:12:44 > 0:12:47was also in the group.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Tolkien was a man of faith right from the beginning.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52His Catholicism really mattered to him
0:12:52 > 0:12:56and he began to realise that he could express his faith
0:12:56 > 0:12:58through writing.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03- CHILD:- "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05"Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole
0:13:05 > 0:13:09"filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a..."
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Well, the world of The Lord of the Rings is not Christian at all,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15but it is about the battle between good and evil,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17it's about trying to make sense of things
0:13:17 > 0:13:20and it's also how do we become good people
0:13:20 > 0:13:23and live virtuous lives.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26As you read The Lord of the Rings, there are a number of themes
0:13:26 > 0:13:31that leap out. Power corrupts - we have this inbuilt tendency to
0:13:31 > 0:13:34go for things that aren't really all that important
0:13:34 > 0:13:37and sometimes these things take us over and corrupt us
0:13:37 > 0:13:40and, in many ways, one of the questions that Tolkien is asking is,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43"What is it that is good that we should be seeking for that
0:13:43 > 0:13:47"doesn't corrupt us, but makes us into good people?"
0:13:47 > 0:13:51What was the relationship between Lewis and Tolkien?
0:13:51 > 0:13:54I think, for many years, Lewis was Tolkien's closest friend
0:13:54 > 0:13:58and it was a very important relationship for both of them.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02It began in the 1920s when nobody had ever heard of CS Lewis or
0:14:02 > 0:14:07JRR Tolkien. They met, they began to talk about great literary ideas,
0:14:07 > 0:14:12and Tolkien was instrumental in bringing Lewis to a Christian faith.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14Tolkien helped Lewis to see that the Christian
0:14:14 > 0:14:18way of thinking about God really made more sense than anything else
0:14:18 > 0:14:20and, above all, I think, helped him to understand
0:14:20 > 0:14:24the importance of stories in making sense of the world
0:14:24 > 0:14:28and also making sense of individual lives.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30And was it a lifelong friendship?
0:14:30 > 0:14:34Sadly, the relationship between Tolkien and Lewis had its ups and downs
0:14:34 > 0:14:38and towards the ends of Lewis's life, it mostly had its downs.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41I think Tolkien felt that Lewis's Narnia novels weren't all that
0:14:41 > 0:14:45well written, but Tolkien turned up to Lewis's funeral
0:14:45 > 0:14:48and I think that by the end of Lewis's life, Tolkien had,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51in effect, forgiven him for whatever had gone wrong.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53On Lewis's gravestone are the words,
0:14:53 > 0:14:57"Men must endure their going hence." Where does that come from?
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Those were the words on Lewis's family calendar.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04When his mother died back in 1908 and
0:15:04 > 0:15:07his brother, who designed the gravestone, wanted to connect
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Lewis's death with that of his mother,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12but Lewis himself had a vibrant hope.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14He believed passionately in the resurrection,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18he likened the resurrection to being like a flower
0:15:18 > 0:15:22bursting into bloom above a dark Earth, and, you know, I think Lewis
0:15:22 > 0:15:27reminds us of the great themes of faith that beyond this visible world,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31there's something even better and, one day, we're going to be there.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51- CHILD:- My favourite stories are a tie between Murder on the Orient Express
0:17:51 > 0:17:55or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Born To Run is my favourite book
0:17:57 > 0:17:59because it helped me with my dyslexia.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01My favourite book is Life Of Pi.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05I like it because it talks about God in different ways
0:18:05 > 0:18:09and it also talks about animals and family and adventure as well.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12This is my favourite book cos I like horses.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17And I like princess horses.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19I like Harry Potter because...
0:18:19 > 0:18:22..JK Rowling makes it exciting.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Children do love stories, don't they?
0:18:27 > 0:18:30And it's that that inspired our next hymn.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32William Parker was a Sunday school teacher in Nottinghamshire
0:18:32 > 0:18:36and when his students kept beginning him to "tell us another story,"
0:18:36 > 0:18:40he wrote the poem, Tell Me The Stories of Jesus.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42We're going to hear that sung now by
0:18:42 > 0:18:45our Senior School Choir Of The Year from the High School of Glasgow.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51# Tell me the stories of Jesus
0:18:51 > 0:18:55# I love to hear
0:18:55 > 0:18:59# Things I would ask Him to tell me
0:18:59 > 0:19:03# If He were here
0:19:03 > 0:19:08# Scenes by the wayside
0:19:08 > 0:19:12# Tales of the sea
0:19:12 > 0:19:16# Stories of Jesus
0:19:16 > 0:19:20# Tell them to me
0:19:22 > 0:19:26# First let me hear how the children
0:19:26 > 0:19:30# Stood round His knee
0:19:30 > 0:19:38# And I shall fancy His blessing resting on me
0:19:39 > 0:19:43# Words full of kindness
0:19:43 > 0:19:48# Deeds full of grace
0:19:48 > 0:19:55# All in the love light of Jesus' face
0:19:57 > 0:20:05# Show me that scene in the garden, of bitter pain
0:20:05 > 0:20:13# Show me the cross where my Saviour for me was slain
0:20:15 > 0:20:20# Sad ones or bright ones
0:20:20 > 0:20:24# So that they be
0:20:24 > 0:20:28# Stories of Jesus
0:20:28 > 0:20:36# Tell them to me. #
0:20:40 > 0:20:44Michael Morpurgo has written over 100 books,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47including the bestseller War Horse, which is
0:20:47 > 0:20:49now a film and a West End play.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53He started telling stories at a very early age.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57As a little kid, I have to say, I was a bit of a fibber.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02And I found very early on I could tell a story
0:21:02 > 0:21:04and people would believe it...
0:21:04 > 0:21:07which is rather essential for a story-maker, a fiction writer.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10What makes a good story then, do you think?
0:21:10 > 0:21:13One that resonates with the audience.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16There is usually a young person at the centre of the story.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21Very often that person is under threat or is alone
0:21:21 > 0:21:24and the listener empathises with that.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26But a really great story, a really great novel,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29a really great play, a really great movie
0:21:29 > 0:21:32moves you. It touches your heart.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35Um, it makes you think and that, I think, is the most important
0:21:35 > 0:21:41thing that a child comes away from a story...wondering about it.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44Where do you get your inspiration from?
0:21:44 > 0:21:47Always from moments from things I've seen,
0:21:47 > 0:21:51people I've met and, in the case of On Angel Wings,
0:21:51 > 0:21:53from sitting in a carol service
0:21:53 > 0:21:57and not paying proper attention whilst the story of the shepherds
0:21:57 > 0:22:00and the angel coming down and telling them to leave their hillside
0:22:00 > 0:22:03and go off to see this wonderful baby being born.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09It takes the story a different way, but leaving it all
0:22:09 > 0:22:13the respect that it's due because of what it means to many of us.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16By adding to it just a bit...
0:22:16 > 0:22:19it'll enable a child to think, "Well, here, that's...
0:22:19 > 0:22:22"I can see that. I can really hear those voices now."
0:22:22 > 0:22:24So, are you writing something at the moment?
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Yes, I've just recently been...and I've never done this before,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30I've been trying to write a Christmas carol.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33In a way, I suppose it's a bit of a family tradition.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37My family has a rather extraordinary family tree going back to the
0:22:37 > 0:22:42Wesley family, Charles and John and Sebastian.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47And, for me, one of my very private moments, which, I suppose,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51no longer will be private, is to, at the end of each carol service,
0:22:51 > 0:22:55there I am singing Hark The Herald Angels Sing, and I think...
0:22:55 > 0:22:57you know, "We done that!"
0:22:57 > 0:22:59It makes me feel rather good!
0:23:02 > 0:23:04- CHILD:- "That's where he'd been on that first Christmas night
0:23:04 > 0:23:07"all those years before, the night it happened -
0:23:07 > 0:23:09"or that's what he told us.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12"We'd be wrapped in our cloaks and huddled round the fire.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14"The sheep shifting around us in the darkness,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17"and we'd be ready and waiting for the story to begin."
0:25:48 > 0:25:52Stories don't always need to be told in words.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56Manga is a hugely popular style of art usually seen in Japanese
0:25:56 > 0:26:01comics, but now also to be found in an illustrated Bible.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Manga basically means whimsical drawings
0:26:03 > 0:26:06or cursory drawings for the Japanese, but, from our point of view,
0:26:06 > 0:26:11when we say Manga we mean Japanese comic books.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14Siku worked as an artist on video games and comics,
0:26:14 > 0:26:19but then he got the chance to combine his art with his faith.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21I remember my friends saying to me,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23"You know, why don't we do a Manga Bible?"
0:26:25 > 0:26:29Regarding doing action stuff like video games like Evil Genius,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32which was a great game, and then going back to doing the Bible,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36isn't that a step down in terms of excitement levels?
0:26:36 > 0:26:40No! I find the Bible grittier.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43That God could humble himself and become a man.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46I mean, no-one can expect that.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48And that, for me, is the most exciting story.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52This style of drawing comes from Japan, but Siku's work has
0:26:52 > 0:26:55also been influenced by none other than CS Lewis.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00What CS Lewis does
0:27:00 > 0:27:03and which very few Bible teachers actually are able to do
0:27:03 > 0:27:08is to make the language of the Bible contemporary.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10For me, he's an inspiration.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14And, for me, if I can do what he's done in his generation
0:27:14 > 0:27:16in my own time, then I think I've probably done my job.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20The difference between Western graphic Bibles
0:27:20 > 0:27:24and the Manga graphic Bible is that...
0:27:24 > 0:27:27where previously they've approached story in terms of...
0:27:27 > 0:27:29they've taken a Sunday school approach,
0:27:29 > 0:27:31so there's the story of Moses...
0:27:32 > 0:27:34..the story of Abraham,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36the story of Ruth,
0:27:36 > 0:27:37the story of Jonah...
0:27:38 > 0:27:41and they're treated as separate modules...
0:27:43 > 0:27:45we have taken a look at the story arc of the Bible
0:27:45 > 0:27:48and we've treated it as though it were one story.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52There's a story of God...
0:27:52 > 0:27:54when He meets humanity.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57When God meets humanity, something happens.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58It's explosive.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00The story is about that explosive event.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18Dear God, thank you for the gift of reading.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22For the books that bring stories to life.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27For adventure books and poetry books.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32Scary stories and funny stories.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34VOICES MUTED
0:30:34 > 0:30:36And books that help us go to sleep.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38VOICES MUTED
0:30:38 > 0:30:43For authors who are brave enough to share their imaginations with us.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45And for the world that inspires them to write.
0:30:45 > 0:30:46Amen.
0:30:51 > 0:30:56However old we are, stories do so much more than just entertain.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00They teach us, inspire us and encourage us
0:31:00 > 0:31:04and no story does that better than the Gospel story itself.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25Next week, David joins in the preparations for Christmas
0:33:25 > 0:33:27on the Isle of Man
0:33:27 > 0:33:30where he meets a Russian Orthodox concert pianist,
0:33:30 > 0:33:34an astronomer and a choir who sing carols in Manx.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38And there's some rousing advent hymns from
0:33:38 > 0:33:41the Cathedral of St German in Peel.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd