I can't remember exactly how old I was, perhaps eight or nine, and I used to wander our school library and pick out books to read. Fantasy books always seemed to intrigue me. In our library I found the 1970 edition of LWW by Collier Books. I would say I stumbled upon Narnia much in the way Lucy did...by accident. If I remember correctly, the whole series wasn't present, so I couldn't sate my hunger for more Narnia right away. But I could tell that there were more books because it said "Book 1 in the Chronicles of Narnia"! I have to say I was instantly hooked, and it only took one reading for me to realise, on some level, that Narnia would be a lifelong fascination. Unfortunately, I cannot remember exactly when I read the rest of the series, or in what order. I know I read them approximately in publication order, but because I came upon them in different libraries, and in different editions that had the books numbered differently, I may have read The Horse and His Boy before Silver Chair, or something silly like that.

My first reading of The Magician's Nephew is unforgettable and I thank publication order for delivering me that experience. Much of the magic of that reading would have been spoiled if I had read MN before LWW, and I shudder to think that people nowadays are being robbed of that experience by chronological order.

I had to go along with my family to some game that my little brother was playing with a sports team he was on at the time, and that particular arena or whatever you want to call it was outdoors and all the benches were made of stone. So I wandered off to the other end where it was quiet and read The Magician's Nephew. I was the only person around. The lonely atmosphere, the tiered seats of stone, the very slight mist in the air, the cloudy sky, and the whistling wind all made me feel closer than I ever have to being in a book. My child's imagination running wild, I felt like I was in Charn that day.

It was like it all really happened, from exploring the attic, to finding Uncle Andrew and his rings, to the Wood Between the Worlds, to Charn, and even to Narnia. As a kid, most of my friends were animals (at least outside of school), I spent most of my time reading books, and I had the tendency to obsess over things and become lost in my own thoughts. As you might imagine, seeing the birth of the world I had become so attached to was absolutely mind-blowing. It was like a spiritual experience, rofl. It's so funny to talk about it now, but I'm serious about the impact it had on me as a child.

I still re-read them from time to time, but I'm afraid that after too many readings, I won't be able to feel the dream-like quality of the experience anymore because I will be too familiar with them. I'm afraid they'll be reduced to something simple and predictable. I hope that does not happen, but I'm afraid to re-read them too often because of it. So far, I've never felt that way, and they've been just as wonderful every time, but I do wonder how many times you can really read something before that happens! :[

I had to go along with my family to some game that my little brother was playing with a sports team he was on at the time, and that particular arena or whatever you want to call it was outdoors and all the benches were made of stone. So I wandered off to the other end where it was quiet and read The Magician's Nephew. I was the only person around. The lonely atmosphere, the tiered seats of stone, the very slight mist in the air, the cloudy sky, and the whistling wind all made me feel closer than I ever have to being in a book. My child's imagination running wild, I felt like I was in Charn that day.

This gave me goosebumps. . .

What a first time experience with MN! Your first time experience with Narnia is a fantastic one, Phelan, and regardless of how many times you reread the series, you'll always have that first spark to rekindle.

Wonderful, Phelan! What a great setting for your first encounter with MN!

And I agree about the publishing order - MN isn't meant to introduce you to Narnia, it's meant to explain better to you the Narnia that you already know and love.

I have read the books many, many times over the years - most of the time out of order, now that I know them all. To me they haven't lost their delight, because of how delightfully they're written (although I didn't have an experience like your MN one).

PhelanVelvel, your first experiencing reading TMN sounds so wonderfully amazing. *gets goosebumps as well* That is unforgettable!

EDIT:

I still re-read them from time to time, but I'm afraid that after too many readings, I won't be able to feel the dream-like quality of the experience anymore because I will be too familiar with them. I'm afraid they'll be reduced to something simple and predictable. I hope that does not happen, but I'm afraid to re-read them too often because of it. So far, I've never felt that way, and they've been just as wonderful every time, but I do wonder how many times you can really read something before that happens!

Phelan, I can understand that fear, but having read the Chronicles multitudinous times over the decades, for me they have become more magical and precious, rather than less. Yes, we know what is going to happen in every story, but honestly, I cherish those 7 books now more than ever. I think it is partly because I am at another stage in my life with every read and so can take away and appreciate something different each time. But even the most familiar parts still connect so wonderfully with me. Also, Lewis simply tells fantastic tales, and with wonder like that, I don't think they can ever become old.

Thanks, guys. :3 I definitely had some special experiences through reading as a child. I still do today, but I can't say it isn't different. I didn't have anxiety back then, and I was pretty much living in my own little bubble. My world was basically the worlds of whatever book I was reading. I can remember the sensation, but it is more difficult to experience today.

I think you're all correct in saying Narnia won't lose its magic, it's just me being paranoid. XD Each time I read them, I do kind of think "Man, I've read this a million times, you'd think I'd be bored of it by now." But I end up being just as delighted with them as I have been with previous readings.

PhelanVelvel, I wouldn't worry about them losing their magic anytime soon!I confess I've had the same worry, but I've read some of the books over twelve times and I still cry at the end of them! From the time I first read them when I was seven to today, their loaded with magic and wonder

There have been some really amazing stories, and I have also related my own first experience with Narnia elsewhere, especially on the old site. But Digory's quote below does strike a chord.

My first experience with Narnia happened when I was in 3rd grade. My third grade teacher was a miserable, mean, and almost verbally abusive person. . . but she introduced me to Narnia for the first time, so I guess some good came out of that classroom.

I was in about second grade at a boarding school, that is to say I was still in Infant's school We were allowed an hour to talk after we were sent to bed in our dormitory of 12 girls before lights out. An older girl, one or two grades above me, was sharing the book she must have got from the library, recounting the story of Lucy's troubles with entering the wardrobe. I remember thinking at one stage that when her sister and brothers went back inside the wardrobe, not believing she had been anywhere, that I thought Betty (her name) said that they found the wardrobe full of cakes, not coats.

The following year was a perfectly dreadful year for me in some ways, especially as the teacher we had sounds uncommonly like Dig's teacher. I spent that time wishing Aslan would come and help me, too. Or I could vanish into Narnia, like Lucy, and stay there. That was 1956, when The Last Battle was first published. But then I left that place and then, when I went to another school, I could borrow from the Council Library these wonderful books I could read for myself. I found out there were other Narnia books - five at the time.

I've always loved the Narnia series. These books were my friends, along with others I read at the time, like Kate Seredy's books, and some others, including the Moomintroll books. I'm afraid I rather monopolised these sorts of books whilst in primary school, incurring library fines. When I had children of my own I ensured they could enjoy these books also. They got to see the cartoon version of LWW, and when the BBC version came out, of course we watched all of it. I remember how disappointed I was that the BBC never finished the series.

By 2005 when LWW the film premiered, I had moved on, but seeing the first movie did give me goosebumps. And so here I am.

I always feel just a little envious of people who grew up with Narnia. It really must have been such an amazing experience. I actually had never heard about Narnia until the day I saw the trailer for the movie in the movie theater. My brother had told me about a day ago about this story that a friend told him when he was younger and how they were going to make a movie about it. I have to admit, when I saw the trailer I got really excited and began looking forward to the movie even though I didn't understand what it was exactly going to be about. I suppose that is why I wasn't so upset about 'changes' because I didn't know anything about the book so I didn't know what to expect.

I really loved the movie as did my sisters and my brother offered to read the entire book series to us. I was twelve years old at the time. I remember the day my brother read the first chapter to us. It was late at night and he was reading it to us as a bedtime story. Of course the first book was nothing new to us seeing as we saw the movie. But I remember being really anxious about how Prince Caspian was going to be because I had no idea what to expect. I started having these random dreams about what the book could be about (it's a trademark of mine ) Each book kept getting me more and more exciting about the magical land and all the amazing creatures. I would sit during school time and make up characters of my own that lived in Narnia and who would also have all sorts of their own adventures but I didn't feel comfortable telling anyone, so I kept it to myself. Narnia was something I felt I could go to when I was afraid or sad and just sit and imagine what it was like to be there, I would pretend one day I would also find a portal and go and have an adventure of my own (and this coming from a 13 year old, my mom always said I was 'slow' in growing up )

I often wonder what it would have been like to grow up with Narnia, but I'm glad I discovered it when I did

It wasn't exactly my first experience, as I must have read the books earlier, but my first visual experience of Narnia was the BBC LWW. I'm not sure where I watched it, though I think not on TV, because I don't remember it being broken into episodes.

However, the music was what stayed with me. Some years later I watched it (as a video again) and didn't recognize it until the Stone Table scene with the haunting minor motif. At the same time, I was able to watch the other ones--PC & VDT and SC--and was so delighted.

For the longest time I wanted to know who had put them out, and couldn't find any reference to them anywhere. It wasn't until last year that I finally clued in that it was the BBC version repackaged as movies by a Christian company.

I first read a few of the Chronicles of Narnia books when I was around ten or eleven, if my memory serves me correctly. (Alas, I read The Magician's Nephew before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. ) Nobody else in my immediate family has read CoN (I'm working on that, though ), so I don't have the more common experience of having them read to me as a child. That must have been an amazing way to be introduced to the Chronicles, though.

When I first read the first few books, I don't really think I gave them the proper amount of attention, to be honest... I believe I had developed a rather bad habit of skimming through books at the time. I liked them a lot and remember being very impressed with the character of Aslan, but I don't think I completely "got" the books, either. (Then again, does a person ever? I always seem to find some new insight every time I reread them.)

It's a shame, but on some level, I'm kind of glad that it worked out that way. When I returned to the books and read the entire series as an older teenager, I think I was able to appreciate them even more. I returned to them at a point in my life when I really needed to find Narnia, too. It's been a magical journey ever since.