The Magician's Nephew, although chronologically first in the series, should probably be read after The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.. (Even as children should probably be introduced to the story of Christ and his life before going back to the important stories of the Old Testament).

At first glance, this is a story of magic, drama and journeying to other worlds. Digory and his friend Polly, who live in London in the early part of the 20th century, accidentally discover some weird experiments being performed by Digory's Uncle. Too cowardly to test out his own experiments, he sends them off unwillingly to an adventure in an unknown world.

They find themselves in an enchanted place – a "wood between the worlds" – a quiet, peaceful place filled with trees and pools of water. They soon discover that each pool will take them into a different "world." When they decide to explore one of these worlds, their real adventure begins – and they're in for a wild ride.

The story is, primarily, about the founding of a new world – Narnia. The two children witness its creation and its initial struggles with evil – not unlike those of our own world. Naturally, it presents some of the history that leads up to the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as well.

Like the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, children need not be fully aware of the story's allegorical significance in order to enjoy and benefit from the story. On a simpler level, the story highlights truths about character and consequences that will remain with them for a lifetime.

The Horse and His Boy takes place in a neighboring country, but in the same "world" as Narnia, and during the later parts of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. A runaway slave, Shasta, and a runaway princess, Aravis, team up with two talking horses to escape from their own land of Calormen into the free land of Narnia. The story is rich in its portrayal of other cultures in this "other world" with an interesting focus on the interaction between the two children. Here is a small sample:

Both the children unsaddled their horses and the horses had a little grass and Aravis produced rather nice things to eat from her saddle-bag. But Shasta sulked and said No thanks, and that he wasn't hungry. And he tried to put on what he thought very grand and stiff manners, but as a fisherman's hut is not usually a good place for learning grand manners, the result was dreadful. And he half knew that it wasn't a success and then became sulkier and more awkward than ever. Meanwhile the two horses were getting on splendidly. They remembered the very same places in Narnia – "the grasslands up above Beaversdam" and found that they were some sort of second cousins once removed. This made things more and more uncomfortable for the humans until at last Bree said, "And now, Tarkheena, tell us your story. And don't hurry it – I'm feeling comfortable now."

Aravis immediately began, sitting quite still and using a rather different tone and style from her usual one. For in Calormen, story-telling (whether the stories are true or made up) is a thing you're taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay writing. The differences is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays. (pgs 34-35)

It is reminiscent of classic stories set in the Middle East (such as the Arabian Nights) and might be best enjoyed by mid-to-upper grade school children.

The two youngest of the four children – Edmund and Lucy – are staying with a nasty young relative, Eustace Scrubb over the holidays. The three of them are drawn into Narnia together through a painting of a ship at sea and find themselves on a real ship in Narnia with their old friend Caspian from the previous story. He is in the midst of a great sea voyage through many lands beyond Narnia, searching for great men of Narnia the previous king had sent into exile.

The book is strongly reminiscent of the great Greek epic, Homer's Odyssey while Christian themes abound, such as: repentance, our need for supernatural help in fighting our vices, the horrors of slavery, the dangers of magic, etc.

Here is a small sampling (the first few paragraphs of the book):

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. His parents called him Eustace Clarence and masters called him Scrubb. I can't tell you how his friends spoke to him, for he had none. He didn't call his Father and Mother "Father" and "Mother," but Harold and Alberta. They were very up-to-date and advanced people. They were vegetarians, non-smokers and teetotalers and wore a special kind of underclothes. In their house there was very little furniture and very few clothes on beds and the windows were always open.

Eustace Clarence liked animals, especially bettles, if they were dead and pinned on a card. He liked books if they were books of information and had pictures of grain elevators or of fat foreign children doing exercises in model schools.

Eustace Clarence disliked his cousins the four Pevensies, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. But he was quite glad when he heard that Edmund and Lucy were coming to stay. For deep down inside him he liked bossing and bullying; and, though he was a puny little person who couldn't have stood up even to Lucy, let alone Edmund, in a fight, he knew that there are dozens of ways to give people a bad time if you are in your own home and they are only visitors.

This final book really presents a grand finale as the signs of Narnia's own "end times" begin to appear and the good side makes its preparations for a last stand against all the corruption and evil around. Even as a child, I remember enjoying how the author wove in so many "historical" details from the past books. Salvation and the reality of what life is really about are just over the horizon.

Clearly the series, in addition to being an entertaining story to read (and probably a lot of fun for the author to put together) are a way of looking at many of the big issues in the history of our own world in miniature, and in a way that children can grasp. On a much simpler level, the stories help children in forming their ideas of right and wrong, the meaning of character and in wanting the good people to choose good and the bad people to be punished. This series comes very highly recommended by both Catholic and Protestant educators, clergy, parents and theologians.