"For C.S. Lewis childhood was a very happy time. He had an idyllic childhood just outside of Belfast. He had a brother who he loved and got on with really closely. He had a nurse who was a wonderful storyteller and who bred in him a fascination with myth and legend. He had an eccentric dad who was a wonderful, amazing character. He had a very loving mother and he lived in a house full of books. What better place for a child who was destined to grow up to be a writer than to live in a house that was absolutely stacked to the rafters with books."

-- Brian Sibley, author of "C.S. Lewis Through the Shadowlands:
The Story of His Life with Joy Davidman"

Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland on November 29, 1898. He was the second son of Arthur James Lewis and Florence (Flora) Augusta Hamilton Lewis. His only sibling, Warren (Warnie) Hamilton Lewis was born three years earlier. He adopted the name "Jack," saying he didn't like Clive.

Lewis' grandfather, the Rev. Thomas Hamilton, was the first rector of St. Mark's Church (Church of Ireland) in Belfast. Lewis was baptized here in January, 1899. Could this be where Aslan was born?

C. S. Lewis' mother, Flora, graduated from Queens College, Belfast, with First Class Honors in logic and Second Class Honors in mathematics, a remarkable achievement for a woman in the 19th century.

His father, Albert, was a police court solicitor and by all accounts, a brilliant and skillful teller of stories. He loved poetry and had written a bit in his youth. Lewis and his father had a very difficult relationship that continued throughout his life. Click here to read "The Failure to Communicate: The Communicative Relationship Between C. S. Lewis and his Father."

When Lewis was 9 years old, his mother became very ill and he set about to save her through prayer, with no success. Flora Lewis died in 1908, at the age of 47, and Lewis must have felt as if his world had fallen apart. He prayed for a miracle but instead he and his brother were sent to boarding school where he said "all settled happiness disappeared."

Read more about Lewis' early years in the first chapter of "C.S.Lewis: A Shiver of Wonder."

To see photos of Lewis' parents and early life, visit the C.S. Lewis Trail.