The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (by C. S. Lewis)

Young siblings discover that a wardrobe in an old country house is a portal to the magical land of Narnia. There, Edmund meets the evil White Witch and is lured into betraying his siblings, but the plot fails.

The lion Aslan, lord of Narnia, returns to the land, heralding the end of a long, joyless winter, and the children, who continue to elude the witch's grasp, meet with him.

The witch demands an audience with Aslan and announces that Edmund, exposed as a traitor, must die. Unknown to the others, Aslan agrees to take Edmund's place and submits to execution. However, he comes back to life and summons anarmy of woodland creatures and mythical characters in time to help Peter and the other children, including a repentant Edmund, defeat the witch's forces and bring peace to Narnia.

After years of ruling Narnia, the children return through the wardrobe to find that time has stood still.

Unlike the works of his friend and colleague J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series does not stand up as well to the test of time. Written a half-century ago, this novel, occurring in an imaginary realm visited by children, is full of storyteller's asides and precious English children, and features an odd mix of childish adventure and bloody battles. His sometimes heavy-handed Christian allegory (Aslan sacrifices his life for the wayward Edmund and is resurrected) can also get overwhelming: One particularly disturbing scene has the two girls witnessing Aslan being trussed, sheared, and beaten by evil, gloating creatures, a nod to the indignity suffered by Christ before his crucifixion.

Young children who are read this story may enjoy the fairy-tale aspects, but older kids who are not fans of fantasy may be put off by the almost laughable repetition of scenes in which the children are comforted by the sudden availability of tea, and the way the forces of good seem to have too easy a time of it in vanquishing their foes. Other stories in the series are somewhat more fun -- try The Voyage of the Dawn Treader or The Magician's Nephew.