What was C.S. Lewis’s first published work of fiction for children?

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was C.S. Lewis’s first published work of fiction for children. It was published in 1950 by Geoffrey Bles and became the opening publication in The Chronicles of Narnia.

The novel follows Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie after Lucy discovers a passage into Narnia. Its mixture of adventure, talking animals, mythology, and Christian symbolism helped make it one of the most widely read works of children’s fantasy.

Lewis later wrote six more Narnia books. The Magician’s Nephew explains the origins of Narnia but was published later, in 1955. That later publication date is why it is not the first published children’s fiction by Lewis, even though its story takes place earlier in the fictional chronology.