I have a confession to make.

As a kid, I never read a fantasy book. I swore by The Baby-sitter's Club series, so anything else was just uncool.

This may explain why in my old age I've blossomed into a fantasy addict.

What started as a mild Harry Potter habit has turned into an intense infatuation with all things imaginary.

Now my addiction extends to The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis.

I am no Narnia expert, having read just two of the seven books in the series that was originally published in 1950, but I am a Narnia fan who is eager to read the remaining five books, which I've heard get progressively better.

Although celebrated childhood favorite The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was the first book published in the series, it is not the first book chronologically.

The recently reorganized sequence features The Magician's Nephew as book one.

Think of the Magician's Nephew as a prelude for all that is to come.

Adventurous Londonite children Digory and Polly are transported via magical rings (but no "Lords" involved . . .) to the Wood Between Worlds. From there they can drop into an infinite number of worlds, one of which contains a stunning giantess of a queen.

Powerful and power-hungry Queen Jadis turns out to not just be a queen, but to be a witch.

Following a string of chaotic events, Digory, Polly, the Witch, Digory's madcap uncle, a cabby and his horse end up in Narnia.

Except it's not Narnia yet. The group arrives just in time for its magnificent blossoming from a barren landscape to a lush, pristine paradise.

The land is gloriously sung to life by Aslan, a lion who is not just king of the jungle but a virtual deity in Narnia. Aslan's song, not roar, forms the grass, trees, flowers, animals and magical creatures that compose Narnia.

I'm no creationist, but if I were, this is the creation in which I would want to believe.

The circumstances in The Magician's Nephew explain the mysteries of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, such as why exactly the wardrobe is magical.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe picks up several decades after the formation of Narnia.

Years later, the four Pevensie children discover that a wardrobe in their uncle Digory's country mansion leads to the enchanted world of Narnia.

Their adventures develop around a very depressing issue indeed, for Narnia has come to be ruled by the Witch, and under her rule, it is always winter and never Christmas.

The siblings' quest involves defeating the Witch, returning Aslan to power and fulfilling their royal destinies.

"You are already too old for fairy tales . . . But some day you will be old enough to start reading them again," wrote Lewis to his goddaughter.

I am old enough now to rediscover the magic of fantasy. It's amusing, absorbing, and provides surprisingly realistic portrayals of human emotions.

With the recent Harry-Potter-Lord-of-the-Rings trend, it seems like all of America is once again old enough to indulge in fairy tales.