The Magician's Nephew

C.S. Lewis tells the origin story of Narnia here — the creation of the world, the lamp-post, the wardrobe — and it may be the most spiritually rich entry in the Chronicles. Digory's temptation by Jadis to steal a healing apple for his dying mother is genuine moral drama, and his choice to resist it, and the mercy Aslan shows him for it, carries real weight for young readers. The Christian allegory is woven throughout without feeling forced. Lewis's Edwardian setting and some period social attitudes may need a word of context from parents, and Jadis can feel frightening to very young readers. For families, Christian schools, and homeschool households, this is one of the most wholesome and imaginatively generous books in the English language.