Which book when?

In spite of having a couple of English lit degrees, I wasn't aware that critics are of different minds on the proper sequence of reading the Narnia books. Robert Bell ("Inside the Wardrobe," December 16, 2005) recommends Lewis's own sequence as published, but he doesn't tell us why. Critics who opt for the chronological approach are surely not parents of Narnia readers. I can still see the look of amazement and delight on the face of my young son as he ran in to tell me (back in the early 1970s) that the newest story was set in a time before the others we'd read. Lewis, who at the end of every chapter propels his reader into the next (no small problem at bedtime), surely knew just what he was doing with sequence. He was aiming for and succeeded in securing my son's reaction in myriad kids. Let the pro-chronology critics stand down.

SUSANNE WASHBURN

Dorset, Vt.