Which book in the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ series is a prequel?

One of the most popular sagas in fantasy fiction, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, began with the publication of ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ in 1950.

However, some fans of C.S. Lewis’ series don't recommend starting with the first book published. Instead, they suggest reading the volumes in the order of the storyline, beginning with the prequel. (A prequel is defined as a story or movie containing events which precede an existing work.)

Readers who prefer chronological order consider ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ to be the second story in the series. For these readers, first place goes to ‘The Magician's Nephew’, which was not published until 1955. Although ‘The Magician's Nephew’ was actually the second-to-last book published, the story is set in 1900, earlier than any of the other books, thus making it a prequel.

‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’, the first book to be written and published, is often considered, by scholars and fans, to be the best introduction to ‘Narnia’. However, in 1957, an 11-year-old boy who was preparing to read the ‘Narnia’ books for a second time, wondered if he should re-read them chronologically; his mother thought they should be read in the order of publication. The lad wrote a letter to C.S. Lewis, and received this response from the author:

“I think I agree with your order for reading the books more than with your mother’s...When I wrote ‘The Lion’ I did not know I was going to write any more.”