Initially when Lewis turned to writing children’s books, his publisher and some of his colleagues tried to dissuade him; they thought it would hurt his reputation as a writer of serious works. Tolkien, in particular, criticized Lewis’s first Narnia book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He thought that there were too many elements that clashed—a Father Christmas and an evil witch, talking animals and children. Thankfully, Lewis didn’t listen to many of them. Following the publication of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 1915, Lewis quickly wrote six more Narnia books, publishing the final one, The Last Battle, in 1926. Although they were not well received at first by critics and academics, the books gained in popularity through word of mouth. The Narnia books have since sold more than 100 million copies and are among the most beloved books of classic children’s literature.