Which C.S. Lewis novel begins with four children discovering a magical land through a wardrobe?

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the C.S. Lewis novel in which four children discover a magical land through a wardrobe.

Published in 1950, the book introduces Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie. Lucy enters a wardrobe while playing in an old country house and finds herself in Narnia, a world trapped in winter by the White Witch. Her siblings initially doubt her story, but they eventually enter Narnia themselves and become involved in its struggle against the Witch.

The novel was the first Narnia book Lewis wrote and remains the most widely read entry in the series. Its central plot includes Edmund’s betrayal, the Pevensies’ alliance with Aslan, and the battle that ends the Witch’s rule. Although the book is often printed first, Lewis later arranged the series’ internal chronology differently, with The Magician’s Nephew preceding it in Narnian history.

The title’s lion is Aslan, while the wardrobe is the portal connecting the children’s ordinary world with Narnia. The story is therefore distinct from Prince Caspian and the other six books.