Some people are proud to say that they are perfectly normal. They absolutely don’t like nonsense, they drink their tea at teatime, they eat one biscuit instead of three, they wear perfectly normal clothing, and they want their home to look like a perfectly normal home. They never stretch their mind, they never take risks, they never make mistakes, and they definitely don’t want any strange and mysterious things happening inside their wardrobe.   

It’s very much different when you are a dreamer, a wisher, or a magic bean buyer. You see, logic will get you from A to B, but imagination will take you eeeeeeverywhere. Just ask Albert Einstein. He knows everything about play and the universe. Or just ask Frederick and Sophie. They know everything about wardrobes that are not perfectly normal. Like the one that stands in their toy room. 

That wardrobe is the home of a blue monster who likes to play dress up with their clothes and shoes.

He’s best friends with monsters Lila Boubou and Choukette, and together they like to make an absolute mess!

As soon as you open the doors to the toy room’s wardrobe, there’s a whole story with people you don’t know yet and all kinds of adventures and battles and strange cities and storms at sea. Of course you have to walk through it and push through piles of clothes until you find yourself right in the middle of Everywhere. 

One day, Frederick and Sophie walked through the wardrobe together with Wally and Lila Boubou. Lila Boubou is very fluffy and you don’t really see his nose, but he definitely has a nose for adventure. They walked into a snowy forest with one lamppost which isn’t strange at all. Because without one you could never see the snowman you build.

Frederick and Sophie built a snowman who introduced himself as Mr. Phineas Frost. He was very happy to be awake, and he couldn’t wait to taste a hot cocoa again. He did mistake Wally for Aslan. When Frederick and Sophie asked who Aslan was, the jolly snowman told them all about him.

Have you ever heard of Aslan? Mr. C.S. Lewis wrote lots of stories about him. Aslan is a very kind and at the same time quite terribly scary lion. He has the most beautiful mane. His magic created a beautiful place called Narnia. Aslan isn’t always there, but when he is, it feels like spring in winter. At least that’s what it felt like when Frederick and Sophie heard a roar and turned around to see where it came from. “Aslan!” they shouted, clapping their hands.

Aslan invited the friends for a ride, and they immediately shouted, “Yes!” They flew all over Narnia, and it was spectacular! There were hills and small rivers, beavers and unicorns, fauns and foxes, centaurs and phoenixes. They even ran into a gryphon named George who flew with us for a while. 

At bedtime, Frederick and Sophie walked back home. It was sad to say goodbye to Mr. Frost and Aslan, but the good thing is that Narnia is always there. Even you can visit it. Just take a deep breath, close your eyes, and trust in extraordinary stories. Do you see it? Oh, isn’t it magnificent to be the absolutely opposite of perfectly normal?

Illustrations: Maya E Shakur for FREDERICK & SOPHIE / Illustration Styling: Priscilla Obermeier