Chronicles of Narnia

by C.S. Lewis
This series is my favorite of all time.  It starts with the children being brought into the magical world of Narnia via wardrobe.  It is beautiful and enchanted.  The children soon find out it is not enchanted for the better.  An evil White Witch makes it always winter, but never Christmas.  Now these children are being put forward as the ones to end the Witches reign, under the direction of the King, Aslan.  Aslan is the Lion, the Son of the Emperor across the sea.  He is not tame, but He is good.  This is the hook for the 1st book (as far as I'm concerned) but the whole series is beautiful.  My favorite is the book Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  I want to say that I thought the movie was fairly accurate, but entirely missed the spirit of the book.

Audience

I'd say 3rd grade on up.  It will appeal more to girls than boys but I think both will like it.  It is written so that I could love it as a child and yet I still understand it a little more every time I read it.

What I Love About These Books

Whenever I can't sleep I pull up one of these books.  I've read them so many times that when I listen to abridged versions, I can tell what they left out.  And yet, I still find new wisdom in them every time I read.  I love the allegory of Aslan being Christ and I have come to know my Savior better through spending time with Aslan.  The writing is so poetic, but it also strikes close because I can feel the truth of what he's saying.  C.S. Lewis also has a tongue in cheek narration style that keeps me chuckling.  The first line of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader may be one of the most brilliant in history-"There was a boy named Eustace Clarance Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."

Cautions

The 7th book seemed strange and creepy to me.  There are a lot of very good things in it, but I needed to see the allegory to appreciate it.  The book deals with the signs of the last days and the second coming.  Maybe it was just me though.

Series (2 orders)
Publication order (my preference)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magicians Nephew
The Last Battle

Chronological Order
The Magicians Nephew
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle