I am very glad for your PPS; otherwise this comment might have been the start of a passionate argument. >.> I'm not inflexible or dogmatic about very many things, but the correct order in which to read the Narnia books is definitely one of them.

The book was an easy choice (Horse and His Boy, all the way, although Dawn Treader is a close second), but it was very hard to not just check all the children except for Digory (I have never liked The Magician's Nephew very much, which is part of why I think it's such a bad idea to start with it). The characters have always been one of the strengths of the series, for me.