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Ever since the series' release in the 1950s, a running debate has raged on the exact order in which The Chronicles of Narnia should be read: the order in which the books appeared in print or the chronological order of the stories themselves.
The traditional order (by publication date) is
1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian (1951)
3. The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician's Nephew (1955)
The updated order (by Narnian chronology) is
1. The Magician's Nephew
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader"
6. The Silver Chair
The updated order originates from Lewis's response to a young reader's letter in 1957. An American boy named Laurence Krieg was having a debate with his mother over the best reading order; he argued for the chronological order while his mother believed in the order of publication. So Laurence wrote to Lewis asking him which order he, the author, recommended. Lewis replied:
I think I agree with your order for reading the books more than your mother's. The series was not planned beforehand as she thinks . . . so perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone reads them. I'm not even sure that all the others were written in the same order in which they were published. I never keep notes of that sort of thing and never remember dates.
In the past, the books were physically numbered according to their publication dates. However, recent editions of The Chronicles of Narnia published by HarperCollins (1994 and later) have switched to the chronological order based on the recommendation of Lewis's stepson, Douglas Gresham.
 | If you're a new reader of The Chronicles of Narnia, many Narnian experts recommend the traditional order — by publication date. Here are three reasons for reading the books in this order: |
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the book that sets the tone and focus for the entire Narnian series. Because Lewis wrote this book first, it's the most natural introduction to Aslan and the world of Narnia.
- The Magician's Nephew, which deals with the origins of Narnia, is far more exciting and interesting when read as a flashback story following The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. By the time you get to The Magician's Nephew, you deeply care about the background information of Narnia and how it came to be.
- Prince Caspian is a more natural follow-up to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe than The Horse and His Boy because it picks up again with the four Pevensie children in England just a year after you leave them at the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Perhaps the most revealing argument for approaching the books in the traditional order is that the makers of the upcoming Narnia film series chose The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when deciding which book to transfer to the screen first.
 | In the end, however, don't get overly concerned about the book order. The truth is that you can read the seven Narnia books in any order and still enjoy each of them for its own sake. |
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