The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew

Title: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew
Author: C.S. Lewis
Genre: Fantasy
Age Level: Eight to Twelve Years Old
Characters: Digory, Polly, Uncle Andrew, Queen Jadis, Aslan
Plot: Digory and Polly are neighbors in the town of London. One day, they decide to explore the attics above their houses. The children end up in Uncle Andrew's room, where he makes them put on magic rings. The rings transport them to woods where there is ponds. Eventually, the two are in the ancient world of Charn. Once there, they accidentally wake up an evil Queen Jadis. The Queen goes with the children back to London, where she causes a disruption. Digory and Polly scheme up a plan and transport the Queen to the woods in between worlds, but in the process take Uncle Andrew, Frank, and a horse with them. The group then go to the land of Narnia, where they witness Aslan the lion create everything. The Queen escapes and Digory is sent on a mission to retrieve a golden apple for his sick mother. In the garden, Digory finds the Queen and is tempted by her to eat the apple. He refuses and returns to Aslan. Digory, Polly, and Uncle Andrew then return to London. The golden apple was eaten by Digory's mother. She immediately became better. The core of the apple and magic rings were buried in Digory's backyard. Pretty soon, a tree grew from the core of the apple. This tree was later made into a wardrobe, which leads into the second book, "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe."
Biblical Allusion: C.S. Lewis did a great job of symbolizing the book of Genesis through fantasy. "The Magician's Nephew", closely parallels with the book of Genesis. It starts with the creation of the world of Narnia. Aslan the lion represents God/Jesus. There is also temptation in the garden. There are some minor differences. For instance, Aslan did not create man. Man simply came from another world. Also, sin was before the creation of the world in Narnia, where as in the Bible, sin came after creation. Lastly, all of the animals had souls in Narnia, while only men have souls in the Bible.
Precautions: On this particular book there is not any real issues you should be concerned about. The book was written by a Christian man specifically for children, so it is family-safe.
Recommendations: I strongly recommend this book for children/pre-teens. The text is safe, clean, and fun. A great book for symbolically reinforcing the account of Genesis. Hope you enjoy!