The Last Battle

The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis, 1956 Geoffrey Bles

     In the final episode of the Chronicles of Narnia things are not as they seem. Peace has reigned since Caspian X in The Silver Chair, and King Tirian rules in peace, but the prophecying centaur Roonwit predicts strange and evil things in the near future.
     Shift, a talking Ape, concocts a plan convincing Puzzle, a simple but well-meaning Donkey, to dress in a lion's skin and pretend to be the Great Lion Aslan. Shift uses Puzzle to convince the Narnians of Aslan's return and coerce them into working for the Calormenes, cutting down the Talking Trees for lumber and paying money into a fund for Shift's own use.
     Tirian believes the rumor of Aslan's return, but becomes suspicious when he overhears Shift proclaiming Aslan and the Calormene god Tash as one and the same. When he challenges the Ape the Calormenes attack and tie the king to a tree. Tirian calls to Aslan for help and is sent a vision of Digory Kirke, Polly Plummer, Lucy, Edmund, and Peter Pevensie, Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole, although he doesn't know who they are. King Tirian appears at a dinner party where the group is gathered to remember Narnia and their adventures and the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve recognize him as a messenger from Narnia.
     Moments later in Narnia, yet a week later on Earth, Jill and Eustace appear and rescue Tirian and the band of loyal Narnians held captive by Shift and the Calormenes. A battle ensues where Tirian, Jill, Eustace and the rescued Narnians attack Shift and the Calormenes, shoving them into the stable where the false Aslan resides. The stable is haunted by Tash who swallows the ape whole, but when the rest of the rescue party is flung inside they discover a vast and beautiful land.
     The group encounters the various people from our land who have traveled to Narnia within the series, with the exception of Susan (she regards Narnia as a game she played while an immature child rather than the real place where she was once a queen). Peter orders Tash to leave and they are joined by Aslan, who proceeds to stand at the portal to Narnia and judge all of the creatures, living and dead, who gather to pass through. Those who have been loyal to Aslan or have upheld his morality are welcomed into Aslan's Country while the rest lose their intelligence and vanish.
     In a spectacular show Narnia ceases to exist and Peter closes the door between Aslan's Country and the shell of what Narnia was. Aslan sends his party further into the "Real Narnia" where they find more companions from previous novels and "Real England". Aslan reveals that the travelers and the Pevensies' parents have died in a train accident from which only Susan survived. He reveals that this is only the beginning of an eternal story in which "every chapter is better than the one before."
     The Last Battle is very much like the biblical Judgement Day. The end of the world and salvation through the Christ-figure Aslan, but it also holds truths about a secular world: the characters who are damned are those who have attempted to take advantage of the honest, hard-working folk and their belief in something greater than themselves; not only do Aslan's followers find eternal joy, but those people of Narnia's world who are morally upright are rewarded; and the memories of their youthful pastimes create camaraderie among the English friends of Narnia--Susan has forgotten the innocence of her past and loses her entire family when they are snatched from England to Real England. Lewis's stories may have a heavy Christian overtone, but they are still stories about self-discovery, honesty, and loyalty to one's own beliefs.
     The intended audience for The Last Battle is later elementary school: between 8 and 13 years old, yet readers of all ages can find something new and interesting in the story.

The Silver Chair

The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis, 1953 Geoffrey Bles

     Eustace Scrubb has returned to school after his first trip to Narnia. When he and his friend Jill Pole are running from bullies they suddenly find themselves in Narnia, but in a place Eustace has never seen: Aslan's land near a cliff. Jill tries to show off, but Eustace falls off the cliff. Aslan appears and tells Jill they have been summoned to find the heir Prince Rilian. He tells her the task was made the more difficult when Eustace fell, now she'll have to remember the Four Signs on her own. Aslan then blows her to meet Eustace in Narnia proper with a gust of breath.
     Eustace is taken to the Owl Council who decide that if the children are going to go on such a dangerous journey someone needs to go with them. Puddleglum, a marsh-wiggle, is chosen to join them. They leave from the Narnian marshes North to Ettinsmoor where the giants live.
     They encountered a woman in a fluttering green dress accompanied by a knight in dark armor who remained silent. The woman introduced herself as the Lady of the Green Kirtle and sent the children to a castle where friendly giants supposedly lived. The group rushed there, heedless of the Signs Aslan had given them, in their desire for a warm bath and comfortable bed. When they were trying to escape Jill found a cookbook open to the page for "Man" and a section on Marsh-wiggle, the trio hurried to make plans to escape. They managed to get free, but were trapped in the Underland.
     Lost, Jill, Puddleglum, and Eustace run into Earthmen, natives of Underland. The Earthmen take them across a sunless sea and to a dark castle where they find the Lady of the Green Kirtle again: the queen of Underland. The dark knight sits with them while they wait for the Lady, but Earthmen come into the room and tie him to a Silver Chair warning the travelers to leave him there regardless of what he says. When the knight speaks the words of the last sign the children release him, for fear of messing up the fourth sign like the first three. The knight rises and destroys the chair, then introduces himself as Prince Rilian of Narnia.
     When the Lady does arrive she tries to enchant the group with sweet-smelling smoke and a stringed instrument. They do not give in, angering the witch. She turns into a green serpent and attacks Rilian; he fights her off and though she was coiled around Rilian, the group manages to kill her. A chasm opens to the land of Bism and the disenchanted Earthmen go home through it.
     The four hurry through the tunnel the Lady commanded the Earthmen to dig, a passage of conquest leading to Narnia. Rilian is able to arrive at the castle at Cair Paravel in time to see his father, Caspian X whom Eustace and his cousins had traveled with. Caspian recognizes his son and Rilian is able to take his proper place as king. The children return home and, with the help of Aslan and Caspian, frighten off the bullies chasing them.

     This is one of the less busy of Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, with much of the novel taken with travel. However, the story has important themes of identity, persistence, and faithfulness to purpose. The story is written to middle elementary, but some of the themes are better geared toward older readers--eleven to thirteen years.

Prince Caspian

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis, 1951 Geoffrey Bles

     After their first trip into Narnia, Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter Pevensie find themselves back in the magical land when they are jerked away from their railway station as they travel to school for the year. In their absence, Telemarines have invaded Narnia and driven the Old Narnians into hiding.
     The Pevensies find themselves at the ruins of Cair Paravel, their former home. It has been centuries since they were last in Narnia and the castle has fallen beyond repair.
     Prince Caspian, the rightful king of Telmarine, has escaped from his Uncle Miraz's home at the birth of his new cousin. The king no longer has need for Caspian with an heir of his own, realizing this, Caspian flees into Narnia, is discovered and taken to the Old Narnians, the talking Animals and mythical creatures of Classic Narnia.
     When Miraz and his army appear nearby, Caspian and his companions flee to Aslan's How where they stage their defense, but are nearly defeated. At a pause in the battle the Narnians debate whether to use Queen Susan's horn to call for help, but are unsure where help will arrive. They send Pattertwig, a Squirrel, to Lantern Waste where the Pevensies first appeared in Narnia, and Trumpkin the dwarf to Cair Paravel where he is captured by the Telmarines and rescued by the Pevensies.
     The group travels to meet Caspian at Alsan's How, but lose their way. Lucy sees Aslan, but is ignored until He comes to her in a dream telling her to wake the others and follow him. Eventually she convinces her sister and brothers and they see first Aslan's shadow, then Aslan himself. Aslan sends Trumpkin, Peter, and Edmund ahead to deal with treachery afoot while He, Susan, and Lucy watch the woods come alive at Aslan's return.
     Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin arrive at the How as a black dwarf, hag, and wer-wolf try to convince Caspian to resurrect the White Witch to save Narnia and in the resulting struggle the three are killed. Peter then challenges Miraz to single combat. Goaded by his advisers, Miraz agrees and falls during the battle. His advisers shout that the Narnians cheated and order the army to attack, then stab Miraz in the back. The army is thrown back when the Living Wood comes alive and are blocked from retreat by the Great River where their bridge has been destroyed by the Narnian forces.
     At their surrender, Aslan offers the Telmarines the option of staying in Narnia under Caspian, or returning to Earth, where they came from. After some of the Telmarines travel through Aslan's magic door, the Pevensies return to Earth where their story began, just in time to catch their train to school.
     The Pevensie children are growing older; Peter and Susan discover they are too old to return to Narnia, and their faith is Aslan is challenged through the journey. The childlike joy with which they began their ventures into Narnia has faded into a more confident and more adult assurance allowing the children to take on the new roles facing them. Aslan still acts as a god-like figure appearing when times are at their worst and lifting the spirits of his followers, inspiring them to greater deeds. This story has some graphic violence, but was written for a third grade or older audience. Each new reading brings a different take on an old and familiar story.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis, 1952 Geoffrey Bles

     Edmund and Lucy have traveled to Narnia twice before, but when they and their cruel cousin Eustace Scrubb are drawn through a photograph at their aunt's home it is Eustace's first trip into the fantastical world. They find themselves on a ship, the Dawn Treader, with King Caspian X, whom they had helped regain his throne. Caspian has left Narnia in the capable hands of the dwarf Trumpkin and is sailing to the Eastern edge of the world searching for the Noble Lords. Lords Revilian, Bern, Argoz, Mavramorn, Octesian, Restimar, and Rhoop were sent away by Caspian's Uncle Miraz after his father's death.
     Reepicheep, however, joined the voyage in search of Aslan's land beyond the end of the world. Reepicheep is a Mouse, a talking mouse with a vindictive edge and the sword to back it up.
     Caspian, Reepicheep, and the children decide to explore one of the smaller Lone Islands (some of Narnia's tribute states), but before they get very far they are captured by slave dealers. Before they can be loaded onto the slave-ship a well dressed man buys Caspian. He reveals himself to be Lord Bern and Caspian reveals his own identity--together they work to get Edmund, Lucy, Eustance, and Reepicheep back. Caspian goes to the governor and finds him lacking; he requires the previous 150 years' unpaid tribute and abolishes slavery. When the governor cannot fulfill his obligations, Caspian replaces him with Lord Bern.
     The Dawn Treader and her passengers move beyond the Lone Islands. When a two-week storm empties their stores, tempers become short. The crew spots an island and go ashore to replenish their supplies. Eustace goes into the mountains to avoid work and becomes lost, he falls into a valley where he discovers a dragon. The dragon keels over and dies, to Eustace's relief, and a rainstorm drives Eustace into his treasure-filled cave. Eustace fills his pockets with gold and slips an arm-ring up his arm, then falls alseep. When he wakes he is a dragon. Eustace discovers he can fly and goes to the ship for help, startling the Dawn Treader's crew. Caspian recognizes the arm-ring as Lord Octesian's and the group accepts Eustance-the-dragon rather than fighting him. Aslan himself comes to help change the repentant Eustace back into a boy and the Dawn Treader departs Dragon Island.
     Eustace begins to become a more friendly as his changed attitude is noticed and praised. They encounter another Lord turned to gold in a pool, Reepicheep names the island Deathwater Island and they move on. The next landing is the island of the Dufflepods. Caspian, Lucy, Eustace, Reepicheep, and Edmund go ashore and Lucy discovers a race of creatures turned invisible when they refused to do work for a magician. They need Lucy to read the spell to make them visible again because it was one of their young girls who made them invisible. Lucy makes them visible, and Aslan brings her to meet the magician: a star fallen from the sky, who shows her the creatures she made visible again--one legged creatures bouncing around the yard. Coriakin, the star, repairs damage done to the Dawn Treader and makes a magical map of the lands Caspian has already explored. Coriakin also shares that seven years before a ship with the Lords Revilian, Argoz, Mavramorn, and Rhoop had continued beyond his island, naming the golden lord as Restimar.
     After some time, the Dawn Treader encounters a misty shape of an island. As the ship drew closer the skies became dark as if by magic. A mysterious man appears and reveals the island is a land where dreams come true, even the nightmares. He identifies himself as Lord Rhoop, and when the crew looks back to where the island was, it has vanished.
     The Narnians continue beyond the site of the vanished island and find another land, when Caspian, Reepicheep, Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace go ashore they find a table laden with foods of all sorts. At the table are three men in an enchanted sleep, the group assumes it was a result of eating the food, but a young woman appears and says it was a quarrel in which one of them touched the knife Aslan used at the Stone Table that caused their deep sleep. When Caspian asked how to remove the enchantment the young woman's father appeared. The woman and her father sang the dawn, and the old man introduced himself as Ramandu, another former star. He explained the group must sail to the end of the world and leave a member of their party there: Reepicheep is delighted.
     The Dawn Treader and her passengers continue on toward the much-larger sun. When Reepicheep dives overboard to battle a mer-king he discovers the sea is sweet rather than salty. He takes it to mean they are near to Aslan's land: Reepicheep's ultimate goal. They sail through miles and miles of lilies, and Aslan appears to Caspian telling him to send Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, and Reepicheep on, but to return home to Narnia. The children and Rat continue on and run aground before a giant wave, and Reepicheep continues over the ever moving wave never to be seen again.
     The children encounter Aslan and learn Lucy and Edmund are growing too old to return. When Lucy asks if Eustace will return, Aslan says it is not hers to know. They are transported back to the room in England, and Caspian returns to Narnia with Ramandu's daughter where they marry and have many sons who become kings.
     The journey shows how Narnia changes Eustace. Lucy and Edmund have already been changed by the land, becoming more confident and assured. Caspian has grown and changed since their last journey to Narnia. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was aimed toward eight-year-olds, but the reach stretches to readers of all ages. 

The Horse and His Boy

The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis, 1954 Geoffrey Bles

     During their initial visit to Narnia, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy defeated the White Witch and at Aslan's behest took the thrones at Cair Paravel. The Horse and His Boy takes place during the years the Pevensie children lived in and ruled Narnia.
     Shasta is a young boy who lives in the country south of Narnia, Calormen. He doesn't look like the other Calormenes, and lives with a strange old fisherman who punishes his curiosity for what lies beyond the hills to the north with grueling labor. One day the Tarkaan, Anradin, comes to the fisherman's hut and the fisherman takes the opportunity to try and sell Shasta. The boy learns he isn't the fisherman's son, but that he was found in a boat with a soldier who had later died.
     Relieved, he wonders aloud how Anradin will treat him. The man's Horse speaks out, startling Shasta, and tells him death would be a better fate. Shasta and Bree, the Horse, make plans to escape north to Narnia.
     Bree had been taken from Narnia as a colt, stolen from his mother and sold into the Calormene army. He directs Shasta toward Tashbaan, a large city where they may cross the river, and along the way tells the story of his life. After a couple weeks of riding, the pair encounter another rider and horse. Bree is cautious at first of the mare and her rider, but when it appears a lion is chasing them, the two horses run alongside each other. When they are safe, the other rider speaks, but before Shasta can answer, the other Horse responds. Bree identifies the Horse as Narnia also, and despite her rider's objections the two decide to continue to Narnia together. The rider reveals himself to be a Tarkheena, a girl named Aravis. She tells her tale: how she is the descendant of the god Tash, how her mother promised her to a man she cannot love, and how the amazing talking Mare saved her from taking her own life. The Mare, Hwin, convinced Aravis to escape to Narnia; the two were free.
     Shasta, Bree, Aravis, and Hwin continue together to Tashbaan, but once in the city Shasta is recognized by a visiting Narnian delegate. The delegate insists that Shasta is Corin, Prince of Archenland a mountain country between Narnia and Calormen. He learns that Queen Susan is being courted by the son of Calormen's ruler, Rabadash, but she has chosen not to marry and they must escape quickly and secretly. After they have gone Shasta discovers the real Corin climbing through the window, the two chat before Shasta must go to meet his companions.
     When he gets to the meeting place, Shasta's friends are nowhere to be found. He waits overnight, and is protected by a large, noble cat who appears to become a lion when some jackals hover too close. The next morning a servant brings Bree and Hwin, but Aravis isn't with them. She had been recognized by her close friend, Lasaraleen Tarkheena. Las took Aravis and the Horses to her home, and after listening to Aravis's story agreed to help them escape the city.
     When the girls try to leave through a watergate, they run into the Tisroc, Rabadash, and the Grand Vizier. The girls hide behind a couch in a side-room, but the three men go into the same room. Rabadash is angry at Susan's escape and proposes a plan to invade Narnia, taking Archenland as part of the Calormene empire, and taking Cair Paravel, then retreating with Queen Susan when she disembarks. They would return later to finish conquering Narnia. When the men leave, Las tries to convince Aravis to remain and marry the Vizier, but Aravis denounces him and meets Shasta and the Horses.
     When she arrives, Aravis shares what she's learned with her companions. Shasta shares the route he'd overheard while with the Narnians and the quartet rush across the dessert as quickly as possible. They finally find the fissure through to the mountains. As they near Archenland Bree becomes arrogant and refuses to put in the effort, but suddenly a lion appears changing his attitude. Shasta sees the lion catch Aravis and yells, surprisingly scaring it away. He leaves Aravis and the Horses with a Hermit and hurries forward to warn the king. Shasta is again mistaken for Corin when he encounters the king in a glen; he reveals Rabadash's plans and the king's group rushes to prepare.

     Shasta has never learned to ride a normal horse and falls behind. The king's party continues forward and the oncoming army and Rabadash gain on Shasta and his meandering horse, but a wrong turn in the growing fog keeps Shasta safe. However, the boy becomes more and more downtrodden as he is lost in the mist. Suddenly he feels a presence, in his fear Shasta asks who it is and is answered with the request for Shasta's sorrows. He answers the boy's fears with a story of His own journey, of the lions that chased Bree and Shasta, of the Lion that protected him from the jackals, of the Lion that scarred Aravis's back. The Lion reveals himself to be Aslan, appearing through the mist. When Aslan disappears Shasta thinks it was just a dream, but continues down the mountain, finding himself in Narnia.
     The news of the attack on Archenland spreads and a Stag is sent to Cair Paravel with the news. King Edmund arrives with an army and Shasta is reunited with Corin--who convinces him to join the battle despite Edmund's directive against it. The battle is viewed from the point of view of the hermit and Aravis, but switches back to Shasta at the Calormene surrender.
     Those at the hermit's hut discover Shasta has survived and a visit from Aslan himself precedes a visit from a surprise visitor: Prince Cor of Archenland. Prince Cor invites Aravis to join him at the castle, where the king decides the fate of Rabadash. When he refuses the king's mercy, Aslan appears and gives Rabadash an ultimatum that sends him home to Calormen. After Rabadash's departure, the Narnians and Archenlanders celebrated. Cor was revealed Crown Prince, relieving Corin of the job and they continued to fight as brothers do, Aravis and Cor married when they'd grown to adulthood, and they lived happily.
     Like the other Narnian chronicles The Horse and His Boy is intended for middle elementary students, but appeals to readers of all ages. While the fifth installment of the series, The Horse and His Boy is the third book in the chronology of Narnia.

The Magician's Nephew

The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis, 1955 Geoffrey Bles

     Before the Pevensie children traveled through the magic wardrobe into Narnia, Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer found their way to the dawn of Narnia's creation.
     When a boy looks over the wall into Polly's yard, she is curious: the boy looks like he's been crying, and there have never been children there before. She asks him his name and comments on his appearance. To which Digory snaps at her: his father is in India and his mother is ill so they are staying with his crazy uncle in the grubby city. Polly is curious about Digory's strange uncle next door and begins asking him questions. The uncle, Andrew Ketterley, is a strange man who makes weird noises and talks about going to strange places in the attic.
     One rainy day, Polly and Digory are exploring a tunnel that connects the attic spaces of the row-houses they live in when they decide to find a door into the vacant house beyond Digory's. They count out where the house should be and climb to it. When they open the door they find a furnished sitting room, with what looks like tools for a laboratory spread about the room. On a tray Polly finds several green and yellow rings that seem to fill the room with humming. Digory wants to go back: they've obviously invaded someone's home. Before he can insist though, Uncle Andrew appears and bolts both the door into the house and the tunnel, trapping the children.
     Polly and Digory ask to be released for dinner, and at first Uncle Andrew doesn't bend, but eventually he relents and offers Polly one of the rings. When she touches it she vanishes, startling Digory. Uncle Andrew explains where the rings come from; they are made with a powder from another world that tries to return. The yellow ring Andrew gave Polly took her to that other world and Digory would have to go with a green ring to bring her back.
     When Digory touches the ring, he is taken to a world full of trees and pools of water. Polly is waiting, but the place has a muffling affect on them: the children feel as if they have always been there, but remember a time before the world of pools and trees. When they wake from the soporific effects of the world, they try jumping into the pool they rose from to get home. After splashing in the pool they came from, Digory remembers to put on the green ring, but before they jump into the pool that goes home he stops. What if the pools all go to different worlds? Polly and Digory decide to try out one of the other pools.
     When they jump through the new pool the children find themselves in a world much older than Earth. Something about the world frightens Polly, but Digory teases her about being afraid to explore and she decides to go where he goes. There doesn't seem to be anything living in this new world; the castle around the children is falling into ruins, nothing moves. Digory leads the way through the castle and the two find a room with rows upon rows of statues of people, each person more mean-looking and frightening than the last. The final statue is the most beautiful, but also the most cruel-looking.
     Digory finds a pillar with a bell and hammer on it. An inscription suggests danger, but he is curious. Polly doesn't want to ring the bell, but before she can escape back to the Wood Between Worlds, Digory grabs her hand and rings the bell. The sound grows, then silences. Then the final figure rises from her throne. The woman challenges how the children came to be in her world, insisting it wasn't their own magic. Digory tells her about Uncle Andrew, and she tells them about her world.
     Jadis is the last queen of Charn, when her sister refused to hand over the throne a battle ensued. As her soldiers died, Jadis uttered the "Deplorable Word" and all life but her own ceased to exist. Her world is old and dying, so when Digory reveals that Earth's sun in much younger than Charn's Jadis insists on being brought to England. They don't want to bring the strange woman home, but Jadis grabs Polly's hair just as she touches the yellow ring, transporting the three of them to the Wood Between Worlds. Jadis's strength leaves her in the Wood, but just before Digory and Polly leap into Earth's pool she manages to grab Digory and come with them.
     When they arrive in Uncle Andrew's attic he is in awe of Jadis. The children fear her, but when she storms out to "conquer" the world they make plans to send her home. Jadis discovers that though she is the size of a giant, her magic has no power on Earth. Instead she uses her strength to create mayhem. Digory waits for her to return and calls to Polly to bring her ring. The children manage to get the witch away from Earth, but with them comes Uncle Andrew, a cabbie, his horse, and the cab. In the wood between worlds Digory leads them into a random pool and they land on something solid in the complete dark of nothingness.
     Suddenly they begin to hear a beautiful singing; the stars appear and the sun rises to reveal a giant lion, singing the world into creation. He sings the plants into being, the animals to life and gifting some with speech, and the waters from the earth. The lion continues to create, but Digory approaches him hoping to find a way to help his ailing mother. The Lion, Aslan, tasks Digory with finding an apple from a particular garden in the West of Narnia and bringing it back. He makes the cabbie and his wife the first king and queen of Narnia.
     Polly, Digory and the cabbie's horse (now a talking Pegasus, thanks to Aslan) go to the garden where Digory is tempted by the witch. He returned to Aslan, they ended up planting the apple and an apple from the tree brings Digory's mother back to health. Aslan sends the children and Uncle Andrew back to the Wood Between Worlds, showing them the pool that lead to Charn--it has dried up--a warning to the people of Earth.
     When they return home, Digory and Polly find that time appears to have stopped. Digory feeds the apple to his mother, and buries the core in the yard. Polly takes the remainder of Uncle Andrew's rings and buries them around the apple. The tree grows and produces delicious fruit, until it is blown over in a storm, by then Digory Kirke was a professor and owner of Ketterlely house. Rather than use the tree as firewood, Digory made a wardrobe out it, but it was someone else who discovered its magical properties.
     This prequel to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe describes the beginning of Narnia and the Wardrobe, and tells the Witch's backstory. The story has darker elements than some of the other chronicles, but Polly and Digory are relate-able characters that draw the reader in. The target audience is third grade and older.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The Lion the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis, 1950 Harper Collins

     During the chaos of World War II and the bombardment of London, the Pevensie children--Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy--are sent away, like many children of the time, to a house in the country. While there, they children live with the strange old Professor Kirke who owns the house and his housekeeper. One rainy day while Lucy Pevensie, the youngest, plays Hide and Seek with her siblings she discovers an old wardrobe in one of the many rooms. It is the ideal place to hide, but as she moves further and further toward the back, she fails to find the back of the wardrobe. Instead she discovers a winter forest behind the many thick coats.
     Lucy goes into the forest, expecting it to be imaginary, and discovers Mr. Tumnus, a faun. After several hours at tea with this intriguing creature, Lucy worries her family will miss her and rushes home through the wardrobe to find that only a few moments have passed and her siblings haven't even noticed her journey. Peter, Susan, and Edmund can't believe the fantastic story Lucy tells them of her adventure, and write it off as her imaginings--she begins to believe them, but drops the subject to keep the peace.
     On a second indoor day, the children are entertaining themselves when Lucy decides to venture back into the magical wardrobe. This time, Edmund follows her. Lucy hurries to visit Mr. Tumnus for a second afternoon of tea. Edmund falls behind and encounters the White Witch. She plies him with candies, magic, and sweet talk encouraging him to return with his siblings. She speaks of a prophecy that would make Edmund king, and tells him of her power over the land, over Narnia. Meanwhile Lucy discovers that Narnia is ruled by a cruel White Witch who makes it "always winter and never Christmas" through her magic. Mr. Tumnus tells her of a prophecy telling of the Witch's overthrow, but warns her that the White Witch will use any means she sees fit to maintain power. Lucy and Edmund both return through the wardrobe, and Edmund refuses to support her story to Peter and Susan.
     After a late-night chat with the Professor, Peter begins to question the validity of Lucy's story--if one who is known to lie is challenging one who is know to tell the truth, who should he believe?
     The day comes when the housekeeper is searching for the four children and to avoid her, they find the only hiding place is the old wardrobe. Peter, Susan, and Edmund follow Lucy through and her story is proven true. Thus begins their adventure into Narnia.
     Lucy leads her sister and brothers to Mr. Tumnus' home, hoping to find him, but the faun has been taken by the witch for harboring Lucy rather than turning her in. The children are found by Mr. Beaver and taken to his dam. It is at the dam that the children learn the contents of the prophecy and why the White Witch wants them taken to her: when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve sit on the thrones at Cair Paravel the White Witch's reign will be done and Aslan will return to the land. At some point during the evening, Edmund sneaks out into the night to join the White Witch--leading her to his siblings and threatening the safety of the Beavers' home.
     When his deception is discovered, Peter, Susan and Lucy leave with the Beavers in hopes of finding Aslan, the Great Lion who watches over Narnia, and restoring prosperity to the land. Their journey takes them across Narnia, and they encounter talking animals, forest spirits, other mythological creatures, and Father Christmas himself as the Witch's hold over the land weakens. Their encounter with Father Christmas results in gifts that later tip the scales in the children's favor: a sword and shield for Peter, a bow, quiver, and magical hunting horn for Susan, and a cordial of healing solution for Lucy.
     They meet Aslan and an assembly of Narnians willing to fight for their freedom. When Lucy and Susan are attacked in the woods by two of the White Witch's wolves, Susan uses her horn to call help: Peter and Aslan arrive, kill the Witch's lieutenant and follow the other wolf to Edmund, whom they rescue.
     The White Witch calls an audience with Aslan, claiming Edmund's blood as traitor, but Aslan lays down his life in accordance with the Deep Magic to save him. The Great Lion is sacrificed by the White Witch on the Stone Table, Susan and Lucy follow him and witness the death, but are surprised when he is resurrected the next morn, in accordance with an even deeper magic. Aslan takes the Pevensie girls to the White Witch's castle and the trio rescues the array of Narnians the Witch had turned to stone.
     Lucy, Susan, Aslan, and the revived Narnians return to the battle with the Witch. Aslan defeats the Witch, killing her, and the siblings are reunited. They set up a kingdom at Cair Paravel and the four become well-known as Kings and Queens of Narnia. After years of successful rule, known as the Golden Age of Narnia, the adult Pevensies return to the Wardrobe between worlds and return home to England at the precise moment they left from.
     While the Pevensies grow both developmentally and physically in Narnia, the story is about the struggles between siblings, good and evil, and learning to trust one's own values. It has been criticized for a resemblance to the Christian story, but also has elements of Norse, Greek, and other mythologies. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe highlights the dangers of jealousy and spite in Edmund's journey, and the joys of unconditional love in Lucy's innocent faith. Peter and Susan's skepticism belies a realistic outlook, and their more mature vantage as older siblings. The Professor, while not a key character, becomes a 'devil's advocate' and challenges Peter to look beyond his first impression of the world, and Susan's independence--though rooted in a desire to be 'grown-up'--leads her to become both a warrior and gentle queen.
     The suggested audience for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is third grade or eight-years-old, but it speaks to readers of all ages.