Once upon a time – for that is how all stories should begin – there was a boy who lost his mother.”
-- Narrator (Chapter 1, "Of All That Was Found and All That Was Lost" paragraph 1)

Importance: The story opens with the classic line, “once upon a time,” in keeping with the idea that David is about to wind up in a land filled with fairy tale creatures. The fact that the line includes the information that the boy “lost his mother” is an indication of the significance of that event. The entire story is driven by the fact that David's mother died, putting him in the position of having a stepmother and half-brother, and of experiencing all the jealousy and anger of that situation. It also put him in the position to believe he might be able to save his mother, which pushes him to go on through the opening into Elsewhere.

But the feeling of relief went away after only a few days, and the...
-- Narrator (Chapter 2, "Of Rose and Dr. Moberley and the Importance of Details" paragraph 6)