This book is identified as number 1 in the 7-volume Chronicles of Narnia because it tells of the founding of Narnia, and the means by which evil entered the new world. In earlier editions it was numbered in the order in which it was written, which was sixth, I believe. The Chronicles are most commonly known by The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was written first, but follows this book in narrative sequence.

Lewis was a close friend and literary associate of J. R. R. Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of the Rings trilogy that was recently made into a Major Motion Picture Box Office Smash with lots of assorted marketing activity. Actually, the BBC has made four of the seven Narnia books, but not including this one, into movies which are available on video.

Other valid classifications for these books are: children's literature, religious literature, and fantasy or science fiction.

Lest a person be put off by the notion of reading a book that was written to propagandize children with religious notions, it is interesting to note that the original illustrator of the series, Pauline Baynes, illustrated the whole lot without recognizing the allegorical and symbolic devices that Lewis was using. This is to say that the doctrinal or apologetic aspects of these books are far, far in the background of stories that hold their own for children and adults.

The Chronicles of Narnia are dear to my heart. I am cleaning out duplicates from my collection, now that I have a BookCrossing location in a neighborhood coffee shop where I can leave books in the hope that others will enjoy and value them as I have.

My father ordered the Chronicles from Great Britain in the 1950's, before they became available here in the USA, and we read them aloud as we rode in our car on weekend visits to our relatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
I have read and re-read to myself, aloud to our son, and I have given several sets away.