The Chronicles of Narnia series has been sitting on my shelf of books to read for at least a decade. I got all seven books for free by participating in the Barnes and Noble summer reading program when I was younger. For some reason, I could never get through the first book before. I decided that this summer I would get through the series by reading the books before I went to bed. I finally finished The Magician's Nephew, and I really enjoyed it.
The story revolves around two children, Digory and Polly, who are sent from their world of London into another by Digory's uncle. After the children explore the world of Charn, they bring mistakenly back an evil witch to London. In an effort to return the witch to her home, the children, Uncle Andrew, and even a cabbie from London, get transported to the woods between the worlds. Instead of bringing the witch back to Charn, the whole gang ends up in a brand new world that's just beginning-- Narnia.
Although I haven't read the second book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, my first grade teacher had read it to my class so I've always known that general story. It was really cool to read The Magician's Nephew and find out how Narnia came about. In a way the story reminds me of Wicked by Gregory Maguire. Wicked explains the events that took place before Dorothy arrives, and The Magician's Nephew does much the same thing in outlining how the magic wardrobe that leads the children to Narina comes about. I find it interesting that this first book in the series was also published second to last. In fact, the entire series was published completely out of "reading order." Of course, I'm sure one would be confused if he attempted to read the books in the order they were published. If you're like me and haven't read the Chronicles of Narnia, definitely start with The Magician's Nephew!
