Chronicles of Narnia

[Ohio12]

Do you read this in chronological order or in order of publication? My parents read them to me in order of publication, but I am considering starting dd on them (as books on tape) and might give them to her in chronological order. WDYT? For those who are just curious..here is what wiki says about it..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_Of_Narnia

[Kristafish]

He started with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe~I think.. now I have to go look at our book :001_smile:
Ok, our book starts with The Magician's Nephew, so I know he read that first, them moved on to the next.. So he is reading them in Chronological order :001_smile:

[neesek]

The big debate goes on..... :D
I have heard very passionate arguments on both sides. (Really, some people feel very strongly about this!) I personally prefer them in the order in which they were written. For me, it is neat to go back and read The Magician's Nephew after you are familiar with Narnia. Then you are saying, "Oh yes, so THAT is where the lampstand came from!"

In reality, you could probably do it either way and still enjoy it.

[Jenny in Florida]

For my money, there simply is no better introduction to Narnia than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And I love how that book sets up all the mysteries that are later solved in the following books.

As far as I'm concerned, reading them in the order now recommended by the publisher is like starting a murder mystery with a blow-by-blow account of the crime.

LWW also introduces the Pevensies, who will be so important to the rest of the series.

Oh gosh, I just feel so strongly about this. Can you tell?

[Ali in OR]

Absolutely by publication date here! Luckily I have my old set and that is the order they are in. Fall in love with Lucy and the wardrobe first, read the story of redemption, ponder who Aslan is. The four Pevensie kids are really at the heart of the Chronicles. Start there, as they were written, in my opinion!

[Carol in Cal.]

For my money, there simply is no better introduction to Narnia than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And I love how that book sets up all the mysteries that are later solved in the following books.

As far as I'm concerned, reading them in the order now recommended by the publisher is like starting a murder mystery with a blow-by-blow account of the crime.

LWW also introduces the Pevensies, who will be so important to the rest of the series.

Oh gosh, I just feel so strongly about this. Can you tell?

I feel very strongly about this as well.

LWW is the foundational book. MN is just a prequel, and I don't think that it is nearly as well-written. Plus, this series is so important to me that I want my children to have the best likelihood of actually enjoying it--so it's LWW first for sure.

[Leta]

The first time you or your child, or anyone for that matter, reads TCON, it MUST be done in publication order. This is a direct command from, uh, me. :tongue_smilie:

After that, if you want to re-read in the alternative order, be my guest.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

For my money, there simply is no better introduction to Narnia than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And I love how that book sets up all the mysteries that are later solved in the following books.

As far as I'm concerned, reading them in the order now recommended by the publisher is like starting a murder mystery with a blow-by-blow account of the crime.

LWW also introduces the Pevensies, who will be so important to the rest of the series.

Oh gosh, I just feel so strongly about this. Can you tell?

I feel just as strongly. Every child should enter Narnia through the wardrobe. The Magician's Nephew is nowhere near my favorite of the stories, the best part about it being the 'aha!' moments. And I'm usually a very chronological person.

[Lisa at Home]

That takes care of everything. But, the first time through, start with The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, just like Lewis intended.

~Lisa

[jail warden]

I'm with all the others. Order of publication is a MUST for the first time through. #1 Magicians Nephew, doesn't grab and hold most kids, I've heard of people who started there and could never go farther because they just didn't like that book very well. #2 When you go through in publication order there are neat things revealed along the way that would be completely spoiled by reading it in order. We've read them twice and ds has the cd's and listens to them a lot. Also they've both started to pick up the books and read bits from them. So as you can tell, we LOVE Narnia around here!!!

[clwcain]

Add another voice to the chorus for reading, at least the first time, in order of publication.

I did try reading them, a few years ago, in the revised "chronological order". I did not enjoy the experience.

It was rather like trying to read the Silmarillion before having read The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings.

The chronology is of secondary importance to the tale Lewis is telling.

[mysterious_jedi]

These books are amazing in any order, IMO. My older brother read them to me when I was in first grade (he was a really nice brother, plus we were both homeschooled at the time and had nothing better to do!). He read the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe to me first, and went mostly in order (I think he might have switched the last two). I kind of like it because it makes the Magician's Nephew a fun explanation for why Professor Kirke doesn't think the kids are crazy. I agree with jail warden on that, and that The Magician's Nephew is not as good of a book (still good, but not as good).

[Chris in VA]

Not one to break the chain--I also feel strongly about reading LWW first. Love those books--particularly that one.
Have you seen the Prince Caspian trailer? Dd and Daddy just finished that one last week. Can't wait!
Btw, he actually read Magician's Nephew before PC--could've shot 'im! :D

[Kalah]

Another vote for LWW first. We just finished reading the entire series and didn't start with Magician's Nephew. Although we really did enjoy it.

[unsinkable]

You let your kids read YOUR copies of the books (a boxed set from the 70s). LWW is first.

THEN, you expose them to people who are all things C.S. Lewis (and Tolkien, but I digress...) who mock your kids and tell your kids they did it all wrong.

Wait, that's what I did.

[Jennifer in NH]

The big debate goes on..... :D
I have heard very passionate arguments on both sides. (Really, some people feel very strongly about this!) I personally prefer them in the order in which they were written. For me, it is neat to go back and read The Magician's Nephew after you are familiar with Narnia. Then you are saying, "Oh yes, so THAT is where the lampstand came from!"

In reality, you could probably do it either way and still enjoy it.
I agree! :iagree: I don't think the magician's nephew is the best book (voyage of the dawn treader has always been my favorite) so I just don't see a child as interested in reading on, if that was the first one. reading them in the order he wrote them one gets attached to Lucy, peter Susan and Edmund. They are in the next book and then Lucy and Edmund are in the follwing etc....

[Mama Lynx]

I feel just as strongly. Every child should enter Narnia through the wardrobe. The Magician's Nephew is nowhere near my favorite of the stories, the best part about it being the 'aha!' moments. And I'm usually a very chronological person.

Yes, exactly. Every child should enter Narnia through the wardrobe. Anything else is fightin' words.

Actually, I love The Magician's Nephew - it might be my favorite of the series. But I think it's so much better after you are thoroughly acquainted with Narnia. It's so much fun to figure out who that imperious woman is, and who the Professor in LWW is.

[Oak Knoll Mom]

Besides, as mentioned earlier it's fun to read the later books and realize where the lampstand in the forest and the wood to make the wardrobe came from. I wouldn't read them any other way! :D

[dalynnrmc]

We saw the movie Narnia first, which captured my ds9's interest in the series, and are reading them in chronological order.

I agree that you must enter Narnia through the wardrobe. We like things in good order, though. ;) AND, I did read a response by the author to a letter written by a child asking which order to read them in, and Lewis responded by suggesting that they be read in chronological order. He pointed out that the order of publication is NOT even the order in which they were written. ;)

But, maybe it's my OCD (and my son's) that causes us to NEED to read them 1 through 7.

[Diana in OR]

Shhh...Don't tell my 12yos! He read LWW a couple of years ago. This year, he started with The Magician's Nephew and I'm having him read them in chronological order.

My ds dislikes reading anything (except the comics). I'm thrilled that he seems to *like* this series, and he seems to *like* reading them in chronological order. We're doing it for school, but I'm not having him do any activities to go with them. I just want him to read the series just for the fun of it. :001_smile:

[Beth in SW WA]

Do you read this in chronological order or in order of publication?

You must read The Magician's Nephew first!! You won't see the Professor in the proper light if you don't. Just my humble opinion :)

[Ellie]

Order of publication. Of course.

Millions of people read and enjoyed them in the order they were published, long before someone decided they needed to be chronological. I say go with tradition.

FTR, no one in my family was the least bit disturbed or confused or anything else because we read The Magician's Nephew after The Horse and His Boy.

[momto3]

It is for reasons just like this that I enjoy surfing this site! We plan to read the series this summer but I never considered one way over the other. I can now make an informed decision. Thank you!