*tries to remember* - Hey, it was a long time ago!

I voted "nice stories." My first exposure was to LWW; a friend at university recommended the stories to me but in the next breath 'decoded' all the spiritual-type elements in the book, along with a plot summary, so any real magic from reading the book the first time was spoiled for me. (I've come to appreciate it more since then).

I read them in original publication order, so I enjoyed the adventures of VDT and SC. But it was probably upon reading HHB that I finally caught a sense of the magic again - it was not only a fun adventure, but here was a story with some very cool allegorical-like spiritual elements that I really enjoyed. "The Unwelcome Fellow Traveller" remains one of my favorite chapters from all the books.

*tries to remember* - Hey, it was a long time ago!

A long time ago for me as well!
Although I don't remember the details of my first impression, I know that I loved the book and read it again and again.

Although it might be wrong to say 'the book'. My first encounter with the Chronicles of Narnia was just the first chapter of LWW.
In a magazine.
To be continued in the next issue.
In two weeks' time ...

From the age of eight until the age of twenty-one, that pile of bi-weekly magazines was my only sample of Narnia - with no assurance that it really was 'only the beginning of the adventures'. None of the other stories had been translated into Norwegian by then (that has been remedied later).
But I've lost count of how many times I read that one story ...

Then at the age of twenty-one I found a copy of LWW in English - and of course it had the whole list of the other titles. Later that year I went to England for the first time, and I bought one of them to try them out - I guess it must have been MN, since that was presented as number one.

I took it to bed that night to read it, finished it at something like 2 a.m., and went back to the bookshop the next day to buy all the others.
Something special?

I voted "something special and magical." My fourth-grade teacher read LWW to the class. I was hooked from basically the first line. The wardrobe transition into Narnia was just so magical, and the lamppost as well, and I loved the image of Mr, Tumnus and his packages.

when I first read, VotDT, I was blown away by how well it was described: the boat, the ocean, the adventure! it was awesome!

I liked them from the very beginning. The first one I read was MN- so I was not let on the big secret till the second book. But I still managed to like MN a lot. It certainly had me hooked- I did not force myself to read the rest. I would have to say that MN may be my second or third favorite, right after HHB and tied with VDT.

So definitely there was something special about Narnia from the very beginning. Now many books have creation stories inside them- so the major mystery of it was not let out in MN to me yet. But LWW...wow.

I feel like such a bad person reading all these posts about everyone else loving it the first time they read it, because, quite honestly, I didn't like Narnia at all the first time I was exposed to it. I dunno if this completely counts because it was only an excerpt that I read in fifth grade, not the entire book or series. It was the first chapter of VDT, I think, and I'm not sure why I didn't like it. I just really did not.

Thankfully, the year after that I had to read LWW for one of my classes, and though I initially groaned about it, I liked it a little better than I did in fifth grade. It was that year that LWW was coming out in theaters, and I saw that and absolutely fell in love with the series. And here I am today.

I feel like such a bad person reading all these posts about everyone else loving it the first time they read it, because, quite honestly, I didn't like Narnia at all the first time I was exposed to it.

You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, ArcherForAslan. I anticipated this with the poll option: Didn’t like them that much the first time. (For some reason that option (3rd from the top) still has zero votes so feel free to select it.)

I know from my own experience that some things take time and grow in a favorable way later on. So I figured it would be the same with Narnia for some people.

while VotDT has and always will be my favorite Narnia story, LWW holds a special place in my heart (and book collection) because it was the story that made me fall in love with Narnia!

I thought they were very creative stories at first and was jealous I didn't think of them first. They are what I call a true fantasy series. They are amazing!!

I loved Narnia from the start. Our church library had all seven of them in special full-colour collector's-eds /swoons!

I'd borrow and consume, and I can vividly remember waking up before everyone else in my house, grabbing Prince Caspian, and hiding behind a nice curtain to completely devour [x

I can't really say what I thought of them when I first read them, because I was so young I didn't really remember. I do remember thinking they were the best ever as a child, along with several other books like The Hobbit and The Wind in the Willows, can't remember when I first read them either. I'm pretty sure all the Narnia books--or some of them--were read to me at some point, but I don't exactly remember.

My older brother read them out loud to the my two sisters and me before bed every night right after the LWW came out. It was fascinating, lying in bed, the whole room pitch black, the only light coming from my brother's computer, his impersonation of all the voices...there definately was something magical! i remember he would be reading normally, and then something drastic would happen and he would shout, and all three of us would scream! my older sister, who slept in the next room, kept coming and telling us to be quiet, ha! It was so much fun! I was so sad when we finished the series.

truly, I felt some sense of magic and enchanted feelings.. I was like, I hate Narnia (not exactly) because it makes me want to really go into some magical world and meet talking beasts and meet Aslan!! Aslan really caught my attention when I was reading the books.

I'll never forget the first time my mom read me The Magician's Nephew. I was six years old, and I remember being terrified of Uncle Andrew along with Polly and Digory. It all seemed SO real!

Then my dad read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and I just couldn't get enough of it. He would only read a chapter every night before bed. My favorite nights were the ones where he would read two. Sitting on the couch with my family and hearing about Aslan being killed at the stone table by the White Witch is one of the most memorable moments of my childhood.

I surprised with how original and magical it was while reading the series. I first saw the animated one at school and liked its story. Then reading the books made my mind expand so much. It was truly an amazing experience the first time around.