The stories began as images in their author’s mind: a fawn carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sleigh, a magnificent lion.

But they became much more than that.

There wasn’t anything Christian about “The Chronicles of Narnia” at first, C.S. Lewis has said — but as they developed, “that element pushed itself in of its own accord.” Thus, whether or not they realized it, the movie-goers who packed theaters in 2005 for the film version of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” — the series’ first book to be published — were, in fact, seeing a story that mirrors the core elements of Christianity.

“They don’t necessarily jump out at you, but they’re there,” Diane Burnich, an employee at Crosslights bookstore in St. Joseph, says of the series’ Christian themes.

When her now-adult children were younger, Mrs. Burnich bought them the books and read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” aloud with them. It was clear to her, she says, that in this story, the character of Aslan is a Christ figure.

And she isn’t alone in this analysis. Numerous commentaries on the book point out the parallels between the story of Jesus and that of Aslan, a majestic lion who dies in the place of Edmund to save him from sin and death, which, in the form of the White Witch, have the right to claim Edmund due to Narnia’s “deep magic.”

But Aslan rises again, and with his resurrection comes an earthquake that destroys the magic’s power over mankind. Aslan then breathes life into his warriors so that they can fight with him against the White Witch in a war they ultimately win. Afterward, Aslan ushers in a recreated world.

Although some claim Christians simply read what they want to into this story, Mr. Lewis himself said that the character Aslan was an answer to the question, “What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia, and he chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as he actually has done in ours?”

After “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” Mr. Lewis went on to add six other books to the series, including “Prince Caspian,” which centers on Narnia’s rightful prince trying to reclaim his throne from evildoers. The film version of this book was released Friday.

Tracy Verduzco, a teacher at St. Joseph Christian School, says a lot of her fourth-graders have been reading the book in anticipation of the movie and have been able to see parallels between its themes and their beliefs.

“They can see that ‘Prince Caspian’ is based on the idea of a Holy-Spirit faith,” she says. “People in this book are like modern-day Christians in that they can’t see Aslan, but he still equips them to overcome evil.”

For readers and viewers not familiar with Christianity, of course, it’s easy for these themes to go undetected. But this hasn’t hurt the appeal of the books, which gained a renewed popularity following the release of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” movie, says Dee Zvolanek, the children’s library manager at the downtown location of St. Joseph Public Library.

“I definitely make sure we’ve got plenty of copies on hand,” she says.

This probably sounds like a good plan to Narnia fans like Mrs. Verduzco and her fourth-graders.

“They’re so universally accepted as good stories, and they’re captivating whether you’re a Christian or not,” Mrs. Verduzco says. “But what’s most important to us is that they both draw children in through the world of fiction and incorporate a Biblical worldview.”

A closer look at 'The Chronicles'

“The Chronicles of Narnia,” in publication order, are:

“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (1950)

“Prince Caspian” (1951)

“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” (1952)

“The Silver Chair” (1953)

“The Horse and His Boy” (1954)

“The Magician’s Nephew” (1955)

“The Last Battle” (1956)

To read the books chronologically, however, the order should go:

“The Magician’s Nephew”

“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”

“The Horse and His Boy”

“Prince Caspian”

“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”

“The Silver Chair”

“The Last Battle”

Lifestyles reporter Erin Wisdom can be reached at ewisdom@npgco.com.