I read Chronicles to my kids this summer. (A re-read for me, obviously) I remember being surprised how long it took for all four children to reach Narnia, too.

I was also a bit astonished by how the meal with the Beavers got an entire chapter. lol. Lewis, Tolkien...and the food obsession of artery-choking doom. Let's catch the fish! Fry the fish! Cook the potatoes! And, by golly, let's write poetry about butter. ;)