The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It is the first published and best known of seven novels in "The Chronicles of Narnia" (1950–1956). Among all the author's books it is also the most widely held in libraries. Although it was written as well as published first in the series, it is volume two in recent editions, which are sequenced by the stories' chronology (the first being "The Magician's Nephew"). Like the others, it was illustrated by
The Chronicles of Narnia "Narnia" stories. Lewis maintained that the "Narnia" books were not allegorical, preferring to term their Christian aspects a "supposition". "The Chronicles" have, consequently, a large Christian following, and are widely used to promote Christian ideas. However, some Christians object that "The Chronicles" promote "soft-sell paganism and occultism" due to recurring pagan imagery and themes. In later years, both Lewis and the "Chronicles" have been criticised (often by other authors of fantasy fiction) for gender role stereotyping, though other authors have defended Lewis in this area. For example, Lucy gets a healing potion and a dagger, while Peter gets a sword.