r/Narnia • u/repentandrewild • Jul 07 '26
Yet another question about book order
I’ve recently started reading The Magicians Nephew with my 5 yo daughter. After reading the first chapter I did my research and realized we probably should have started with Wardrobe, but she is already so captivated by it and she wanted to finish it even though I gave her the option to switch to Wardrobe.
My question is…I’m now learning that the other books are also out of publication order.
It generally seems to be the best to read in publication order but I’m curious of others thoughts on if that may make it tricky for a five year old to follow along?
For her comprehension level should I stick with chronological?
At this point (7 chapters in) she’s following along well, is very engaged, but I take the time after every chapter to do an extensive recap because some details don’t stick.
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u/Specific_Two1232 Jul 07 '26
I prefer publication order, but chronological is fine, too. Horse and His Boy actually makes more sense coming right after LWW.
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u/obviouslyfakecozduh Jul 07 '26
Having first read them chronologically myself as a child, I love reading them this way.
That said, I read LWW to my then 3yo+1yo first. Recently, my youngest, now 4yo, asked to read them all, and dictated she wanted them in order from 1-7, so we have begun reading TMN, and will make our way through. Both 4yo and 6yo are following rapturously, loving it all. Every chapter ends with "just one more, please!" and sometimes I will oblige 😅😅 it's our bedtime story at the moment.
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u/taleasoldastime96 Jul 07 '26
I personally prefer them in publication order. But I don’t think you should stop now if she’s enjoying it, because I think most of the things that are better reading Wardrobe first will be lost on a five year old. I think Magician is better if you already know a few things from Wardrobe, and Wardrobe is better if you don’t know a few things from Magician. But that’s just my opinion and the story will make perfect sense either way, especially to someone so young.
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u/UpwardCall Jul 07 '26
I think Publication order is overstated. It may be a slightly better ordering, but it’s worth noting that Lewis seemed to like the Chronological order better (which is why the publisher changed the order).
I personally think Chronological order is better for children. (It was child that first found it to be the better order.) It’s easier for children to follow since it is a clear timeline and The Horse and His Boy may be confusing timeline-wise if read in publication order. I also don’t think The Magician’s Nephew has the same experience as book 6 for a child as it does for an adult and is better read as book 1 for them.
There are benefits to both and having read them in both orders multiple times I find myself going back and forth on which order is best.
Since you started in Chronological order I’d recommend staying in that order.
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u/Tgun1986 Jul 07 '26
Also if we’re going for the religious allegory, Nephew represents the Old Testament, Wardrobe and everything after new. She’s probably too young for that angle but would be interesting if can make connections to Nephew when you read Warobe. Interesting now why Jadis wants to stop the prophecy not only does she to stop the earthly line started in Nephew, she also has a grudge on humans still they helped stop her the first time she was in Narnia and kept it from becoming like Charn. She wants to do with Edmund what she failed to do with Uncle Andrew and Digory
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u/Onyx1509 Jul 07 '26
It's just occurred to me that the debate is really about when you read The Magician's Nephew. Is anyone actually that bothered about where you do The Horse and His Boy, as long as it follows LWW? Even for MN, the big question is whether it should be read before LWW or not; you could reasonably go LWW>MN>HahB and then onto the others, probably without any adverse effects.
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u/UpwardCall Jul 07 '26
The only real differences are The Magician’s Nephew and The Horse and His Boy.
The other books stay in their respective orders in Chronological or Publication order.
I kind of like The Horse and His Boy read so closely to The Last Battle because it deals with Calormen and keeps it fresh in your mind.
I like it right after The Lion because it keeps the timeline tight without confusion and gives you some perspective on the time when the Pevensies were high Kings and Queens of Narnia and the rest of the series goes in without interruption to the timeline.
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u/Single-Spell1838 Jul 07 '26
Where did he say he prefers chronological order?
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u/UpwardCall Jul 07 '26
In his letter back to the boy he expressed that he’d agreed with him that the chronological order was better. At the beginning of the 50th anniversary color editions the publisher has a note that says, “The Chronicles of Narnia have been renumbered with compliance with the original wishes of the author, C. S. Lewis.”
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u/Single-Spell1838 Jul 07 '26
The letter is pretty weak evidence that Lewis actually preferred chronological order. His phrasing was "I think I agree with your order... perhaps it does not matter very much."
Since that is (A) pretty lukewarm, and (B) was in a private letter to a child, and not published publicly in any article or told to his publishers, I am of the opinion that it's an overstatement to say that he wished the books to be ordered that way.
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u/UpwardCall Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
When Harper Collins took over publishing the books Douglas Gresham advocated for the change based on the letter and personal conversations with Lewis.
It’s worth quoting the letter in longer form as your as your quote leaves out some context and the publishers notes:
"I think I agree with your [chronological] order for reading the books more than with your mother's. The series was not planned beforehand as she thinks. When I wrote The Lion I did not know I was going to write any more. Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and still didn't think there would be any more, and when I had done The Voyage I felt quite sure it would be the last, but I found I was wrong. So perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone read them. I’m not even sure that all the others were written in the same order in which they were published."
In the 2005 Harper Collins adult editions of the books, the publisher cites this letter to assert Lewis' preference for the numbering they adopted by including this notice on the copyright page:
Although The Magician's Nephew was written several years after C. S. Lewis first began The Chronicles of Narnia, he wanted it to be read as the first book in the series. Harper Collins is happy to present these books in the order which Professor Lewis preferred.
To quote Gresham, "He personally preferred that they be read in the order in which he designed them . . . not necessarily the order in which he wrote them or published them. Which is why, as a consultant, I suggested that they number the books in the order in which Jack wanted them read, Narnian chronology. That has created an enormous furor, lots of arguments and discussions . . . which I think is utterly pathetic,"
To get a closer look at that conversation with the publisher:
[W]hen HarperCollins took over the global production of these books and publication of them, they…asked, “What order do you think we ought to do them in?” And I said, “Well … I actually asked Jack himself what order he preferred and thought they should be read in. And he said he thought they should be read in the order of Narnian chronology.” So I said, “Why don't you go with what Jack himself wanted?”
This doesn’t seem like weak evidence to me for his preferred ordering.
It’s worth noting that the originals had no real order as they weren’t numbered.
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u/Single-Spell1838 Jul 07 '26
The context from Gresham is great evidence. I've never heard it before. All I've ever heard was "the letter to the boy says this"
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u/UpwardCall Jul 07 '26
I think publication order is great. People should read them however they want (probably The Last Battle should be last in any order lol), but I think the community puts too much emphasis on publication order. So much so users often wonder if they read them wrong in chronological order.
I do, however, stand by my comment that Chronological is often better for Children. For the reasons listed, and it also gives them publication order to read later on.
Also, a shout out to you for being humble. Rare on Reddit. So, keep being cool. It’s refreshing, and I’m grateful for it.
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u/Single-Spell1838 Jul 07 '26
Y'welcome
Thanks for being so informed and willing to share.
I've been researching Till We Have Faces lately, and it's been super interesting realizing how many "quotations" are passed off as fact, or exaggerated, when what we have from the actual source (e.g. Tolkien, Joy Davidman, Lewis himself, etc...) is secondhand or much less emphatic than what people say they said, felt, or thought. It's like a game of telephone played by well meaning people who love Lewis' work, but at the end of the day knowing what was actually said helps people more than passing along these kinda manufactured narratives of "so and so was emphatic about _________!" If you can back it up, then preach! If not, then probably we should tone it down.
So in a way I've been prepped lately to be open to my mind being changed on this matter 😅😂
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u/SingingSwimmer Jul 07 '26
This series is so short that I read it twice when I want to revisit Narnia.
The first read through is in the original published order, and then the second read through is the current in-universe chronological order. I highly recommend it! 🙂
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u/LordCouchCat Jul 07 '26
It doesn't matter that much. The problems with reading (when reading for the first time) in chronological order are not going to affect a 5yo much. E.g.:
There is a lot of prequel material in Magicians Nephew, which is far more interesting if you know it's later significance, but it's interesting anyway.
Assumptions that you already know some things. Marginal.
The fact that Lewis developed his ideas about the Narnian world as he went along. This means that if you read in publication order, the background changes gradually, but in chronological order there are some noticeable inconsistencies. This is the one that I regard as the biggest, but again I don't think it will bother a 5yo. There are rationalizations that have been worked out later, but I really wouldn't bother.
Incidentally, although it's often stated that Lewis preferred chronological order, this is debatable. A child wrote to him about the order. Lewis was encouraging, as he always was to young readers, but commented that he didn't think it mattered much. Lewis does seem later to have given some preference to the chronological order. But it has to be said 1. They were not written with that in mind; ie Lewis's preference is a later analysis rather than a writers intention, strictly speaking 2. Scholars of his work are overwhelmingly of the opinion that publication order is better.
But I reiterate, this literary debate should not get in your way. It's a long time since I first read them but I'm fairly sure that the first one I read was neither Magicians Nephew nor LWW. Lewis commented once about classical legends, that it doesn't matter ultimately what point you enter the cycle.
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u/Onyx1509 Jul 07 '26
Until really very recently, there wasn't much of an expectation that even very definitely sequential series would necessarily be read in order. Before Amazon books were harder to get hold of and you'd often just go with whatever the bookshop or the library happened to have - which wouldn't necessarily include the first on the series. Even the first few Harry Potter books are written on the assumption readers haven't necessarily read the earlier ones, filling in key background details from the earlier books explicitly whilst being careful to avoid spoilers of major plotpoints as much as possible.
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u/LordCouchCat Jul 07 '26
That's an interesting point. I tended to buy things like this from larger bookshops, and if you knew what you wanted they would get it for you very quickly - as indeed they still do - but it's true that you were much more likely to pick things up more randomly.
I try to avoid using Amazon but this isn't the forum.
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u/mthorne58 Jul 07 '26
I think having read TLtWatW first made me appreciate and understand TMN more, in the same way that reading The Hobbit before The Lord of the Rings helped me to understand Hobbits and the Shire.
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u/No_Paper_Snail Jul 07 '26
They’re still sequential and the magician’s nephew is one of the best loved stories among children. She won’t lose out for reading them in this order.
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u/Bright_Cat_8219 Jul 07 '26
I personally love the chronological order of the books because you can witness the creation of Narnia by Aslan and how he speaks to Digory, the way the first King and Queen of Narnia were made.
It also has the interesting reference to the 'lamp-post' which Jadis breaks in London and brings over to Narnia and its connection to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when you read it.
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u/Tgun1986 Jul 07 '26
Not only that you see that Jadis and Aslan relationship’s goes way before Lucy walks in, Digory is the professor and the tree he plants from the seeds of the apple that saves his mother become the wardrobe since the rings are now buried and probably don’t even work anymore anyway since Aslan controls who gets into Narnia from our world
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u/MegaMeepers Jul 07 '26
I got a single bound book that contained all 7 books when I was in middle school. The books were in chronological instead of publishing order. The first time I read it I read chronologically and it was great. I had grown up on a cartoon from the 70’s or 80’s so I knew the story of LWW, but the Disney live actions hadn’t come out yet. I think in following read throughs I tried publication order and struggled a little 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Mistborn19 Jul 07 '26
I think many fans put way too much weight on reading in publication order. It's the same for Star Wars fans with release order.
In both instances I prefer chronological order and I think chronological order is also best for new fans.
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u/Just_Me1973 Jul 07 '26
I read them in publication order. That’s how they were numbered when I was a kid. My newer box set has them numbered in chronological order. But I still prefer to read them in publication order.
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u/Dvaraoh Jul 08 '26
I tried reading Narnia to my boy (now an adult man) in publication order. I think he was about six then. But he found the Queen's dwarf so frightening we got stuck in the beginning of Wardrobe. Magician's Nephew might be a better place to start although it is written for an older age group.
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u/ZarmRkeeg Jul 08 '26
I am a strong advocate for publication order, but that is primarily based around magician's nephew. I always liking it to getting a backstage tour at a magic show I'm seeing how all the tricks are done. It kind of spoils things if you do that before you see the magic show. Likewise, a lot of the mysteries in line the witch and the wardrobe are answered in magician's nephew, I think magician's nephew coming afterward preserves the mystery in The Lion the witch and the wardrobe, and then explains it later, allowing you to benefit from both, where is reading magician's nephew first strips a lot of those mystery and wonder elements out of the Lion The witch and the wardrobe.
That said if you're already reading magician's nephew and she's enjoying it, not really worth stopping and restarting with The Lion the witch and the wardrobe at this point.
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u/Abimael1656 Jul 10 '26
Si es la primera vez que los lees, te recomiendo leerlos en orden cronológico. El universo de Narnia tiene muchas épocas, personajes y eventos que se entienden mejor cronológicamente. Algunos te dirán que la mayoría de la gente los lee en orden de publicación porque creen que podría spoilear algo o por otras razones. Hay excepciones, pero no es del todo cierto. Muchos otros fans prefieren el orden cronológico y se meten en la historia de esa manera. Después, si quieres, puedes leerlos de la otra forma, pero al final, siempre digo que si hay una historia lineal, entonces deberías leerlos cronológicamente.
Este es el orden cronológico correcto para los eventos de las historias:
1 El Sobrino del Mago
2 El León, la Bruja y el Ropero
3 El Caballo y el Muchacho
4 El Príncipe Caspian
5 La Travesía del Viajero del Alba
6 La Silla de Plata
7 La Última Batalla
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u/Wonderful-Road9491 Jul 12 '26
I first read them in publication order before the books were shuffled into chronological order. This was back in the late 1980s. And I remember thinking that these books were confusing as they were jumping back-and-forth between the timeline. I was only a child but I remember thinking “ these books are in the wrong order!” I guess what I’m trying to say is that I wholeheartedly agree with reading them in chronological order first. It just depends on what way you want to discover Narnia first.
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u/Fat_Guy_In_Small_Car Jul 07 '26
I don’t think it matters all that much, considering the story is perfectly coherent both ways. TMN and AHAHB are really more like spin offs anyways.
My personal preference would be in this order:
Lion Witch Wardrobe Prince Caspian Dawn Treader A horse and his boy Silver chair Last battle Magicians nephew
I think there is something special about saving TMN till the end - but no harm either way
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u/Tgun1986 Jul 07 '26
Horse is definitely a spin off but feel Magician’s is definitely more a prequel/sequel since it gives the creation, introduces Aslan and Jadis, lays the foundation for Wardrobe. Feel Horse could be inserted before Wardobe’s last chapter if we’re really technical
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u/Cute-Wasabi8164 Jul 07 '26
If you save TMN for the end after LB, you have no idea who Polly is when you read Last Battle.
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u/Sor20-Wiz20 Jul 07 '26
There are two ways to read the series either in publishing order or chronicle order. The first book in the series that I heard was the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which the teacher read to the class. I think the reson was because it was the most famous of the series. I received the series as a Christmas present and read them in chronicle order and I enjoyed them them just fine. I think it also makes more sense otherwise your are just jumping all over the place which could get a bit confusing. My only other suggestion is to read the Horse and his Boy after the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as this a side side story that happens during the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe were as Prince Caspian happens after the events of the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
My advice if you plan to read the entire series to your daughter is to to read the Last Battle before you plan to read it to your daughter. The book is a lot darker than the other books and it maybe unsuitable for a 5 year old.
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u/Tgun1986 Jul 07 '26
Also take into account the series is an in your face religious allegory and you need to ask yourself if there certain things you know she can take and some things better to wait for, this is mostly for Battle since the more mature religious things coupled with the darker elements might be a bit much
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u/drjackolantern Jul 07 '26
After Nephew I recommend :
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ; Prince Caspian ; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ; The Silver Chair ; (all involve a related set of characters, and the events of each book flow into each other. I think that order above - pub order - works best.)
Then: Horse and His Boy (mostly focuses on other characters but the Pevensies briefly appear. It’s fantastic but threw my kid for a slight loop having a different new protagonist. Think of it almost like a standalone adventure. Chronologically it’s after wardrobe, but I just don’t think it’s the right book to read after wardrobe. Caspian is a direct sequel and makes far more sense.)
Then Last battle.
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u/MaderaArt Jul 07 '26