Which book begins C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series in its original publication order?

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe begins C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia in its original publication order.

The novel was published in 1950 and introduces the Pevensie children, who enter Narnia through a wardrobe. There they encounter the White Witch, Mr. Tumnus, the beavers, and Aslan. Its mixture of wartime displacement, portal fantasy, talking animals, and Christian themes helped make it a classic of children’s literature.

The Magician’s Nephew is often listed first in modern chronological reading orders because its story takes place earlier in Narnia’s fictional history. Lewis, however, wrote and published it later, in 1955. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was therefore the first Narnia book readers encountered when the series began, and it remains the most widely read entry.