Which C.S. Lewis novel begins the Chronicles of Narnia with four children entering a wardrobe?

The C.S. Lewis novel that begins the Chronicles of Narnia with four children entering a wardrobe is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Published in 1950, the book follows Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie after Lucy discovers that an ordinary wardrobe opens into the snowy land of Narnia. There they meet the faun Mr. Tumnus, the White Witch, and Aslan, the great lion.

Although it is the first Narnia book Lewis published, some editions arrange the series by internal chronology and place The Magician’s Nephew first. That ordering difference can cause confusion, but The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe remains the publication starting point and the best-known entry point for many readers.

The title refers to two central images: the wardrobe that forms the children’s doorway into Narnia and the White Witch whose rule has made it always winter but never Christmas.