RAR #261: Why the Modern Myths of Tolkien & Lewis Feel So True

Read-Aloud Revival ®

Sarah Mackenzie

Books, Homeschool, How To, Read-aloud, Kids & Family, Teaching From Rest, Reading, Education, Parenting

4.9 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of my favorite reads of 2024 was The Myth Makers by John Hendrix.

This gorgeous graphic novel tells the story of the remarkable friendship of C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. I thought I already knew quite a bit about these Inklings, but there was even more to uncover.

Today, I’m delighted to share my conversation with the author and illustrator of The Myth Makers, John Hendrix. We dive into his research and writing process, exploring how the threads of the story came together.

In this episode, Jon shares a better definition of myth, and illustrates the differences between a myth, a fairytale, and a story. I even make him choose which series he’d rather bring to a desert island, The Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

John’s creative process for creating graphic novels
How choose-your-own adventure stories inspired the The Myth Makers
Why John chose the Lion and the Wizard as his main characters

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/john-hendrix

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm using the biography of Tolkien and Lewis to tell the story that I really want to tell,
0:05.8	which is about myth and where do myths come from? Why do fairy tales and stories matter to us?
0:12.3	Why do they matter to the universe? These were things that were really important to these men.
0:18.1	And you can't understand their writings without understanding or at least asking that
0:23.1	question of the world and of stories. So that's the foundation. One of my favorite reads all last year was The Myth Makers by John Hendricks.
0:46.4	This graphic novel tells the story of the remarkable fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R.
0:53.3	Tolkien.
0:58.0	It's marketed to kids, but I loved it a ton.
1:04.3	And I really think any Lewis or Tolkien fans ages, I don't know, 12 and up are going to eat it up.
1:10.4	I learned so much about what makes a myth a myth and what's different between a fairy tale and a myth and a story, and learned a lot,
1:12.5	in fact, about Lewis and Tolkien's friendship, which I thought I already knew quite a bit about.
1:16.9	Today, I invited John Hendricks, the author and illustrator of this book onto the show.
1:21.7	By the way, this episode is both an audio podcast and a video.
1:26.2	If you'd like to watch it, go to read aloud revival.com
1:28.8	slash video. I'm Sarah McKenzie. This is the read aloud revival. Let's get started.
1:38.7	So, John, you've been on the show before. You've been to read a lot of revival before.
1:43.7	I have sung the praises of so many of your books. I think The Faithful Spy, your graphic novel about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is just brilliant. And I thought you couldn't really outdo it. So I was so delighted by The Myth Makers, which is, of course, your graphic novel about the remarkable friendship
2:01.7	of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Tell me, where did this story spring from? Like, why did you need
2:08.1	to tell this story? Well, I did this just for you. I knew you had challenged me to do a better book
2:14.5	than Faithful Spy. No, this book came because I am a fan of these two writers and their work,
2:23.8	and honestly, I just owe them so much.
2:27.5	My imaginative landscape as a child was really transformed and dominated by the Hobbit and the Narnia books.
	...

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