Which 1950 novel begins The Chronicles of Narnia?

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the 1950 novel that begins The Chronicles of Narnia. C.S. Lewis introduces readers to Narnia through the Pevensie children, who discover a passage from a wardrobe into a magical world.

The story features Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie, together with Aslan, the White Witch, and the faun Mr. Tumnus. Its wartime setting begins when the children are evacuated from London to the countryside. The wardrobe functions as the entry point to Narnia, making the title especially memorable.

Publication order and fictional chronology can cause confusion. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first Narnia book published, while later editions have sometimes numbered The Magician's Nephew first because it tells an earlier story in the internal timeline.

The novel appeared in 1950 with illustrations by Pauline Baynes. Lewis eventually wrote seven Narnia books, but this was the first one readers encountered and remains the series's best-known starting point.