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Book Resume
for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Professional book information and credentials for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
22 Professional Reviews (2 Starred)
1 Book Award
Selected for 4 State/Province Lists
- School Library Journal:
- Grades 3 and up
- School Library Journal:
- K - Grade 6
- Publisher's Weekly:
- Ages 8 and up
- School Library Journal:
- Grades 4 and up
- Publisher's Weekly:
- Ages 8 and up
- TeachingBooks:*
- Grades 3-12
- Word Count:
- 26,435
- Lexile Level:
- 880L
- ATOS Reading Level:
- 7.4
- Genre:
- Adventure
- Science Fiction / Fantasy
- Year Published:
- 1865
4 Subject Headings
The following 4 subject headings were determined by the U.S. Library of Congress and the Book Industry Study Group (BISAC) to reveal themes from the content of this book (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland).
22 Full Professional Reviews (2 Starred)
The following unabridged reviews are made available under license from their respective rights holders and publishers. Reviews may be used for educational purposes consistent with the fair use doctrine in your jurisdiction, and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the rights holders.
Note: This section may include reviews for related titles (e.g., same author, series, or related edition).
From School Library Journal
September 13, 2024
Gr 3 Up-This sequel to Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland takes place six years later, with the beloved Alice stepping through a mirror into a surreal realm where she meets peculiar characters, explores curious landscapes, and attempts to make sense of the nonsensical events around her. Eager to become a Queen by following directions offered on a chess board, Alice seeks-and listens to-the advice of "adults" along the way, even if she doesn't always take it. Humpty Dumpty's overworked analysis of portmanteaus in "The Jabberwocky," for example, only confuses little Alice. This novel is like that poem, a construction of the imagination that delights young readers, who see in its searching but confident protagonist a template for who they may become-or already are. Many current YA and graphic novels would pair well with this classic as mentor texts. VERDICT The kind and considerate Alice trusts her own judgment even as a fantastic dream turns her world upside down, endearing her as a heroine to children everywhere for over 150 years. A must for all collections.-Georgia Christgau & Darius Phelps
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
From Publisher's Weekly
February 29, 2016
Reader Reynolds buoyantly leads listeners down the rabbit hole and into the topsy-turvy world of Carroll's Wonderland. When the young Alice follows a waistcoat-wearing rabbit holding a pocket watch, she finds herself in a fantastical world of talking mice, disappearing cats, hookah-smoking caterpillars, fish-headed footmen, and babies who turn into pigs. She shrinks smaller than a mouse and grows tall as a tree, participates in a mad tea party, plays croquet using flamingos for mallets, and runs afoul of the ill-tempered Queen of Hearts, whose cry of "Off with their heads!" seems to be the answer to most anything. It is a madcap, nonsensical entertainment, and Reynolds leaps into this tale's telling with enthusiastic aplomb. Fully embracing the material, Reynolds delivers the author's whimsical prose, poetry, and quirky characters with just the right touch of theatricality: bigger than life, but not completely over-the-top. It is a fine-tuned, enjoyable performance that allows the wonder of Wonderland to shine.
From Publisher's Weekly
December 7, 2015
Day (A Dictionary of Tolkien) ably reinterprets Carroll's famous text as a classical primer in disguise, identifying connections with mathematics, theosophy, politics, and philosophy. Day argues that the various existing valid interpretations from these perspectives together constitute a complete classical education, which Carroll intended to impart "secretly and subliminally" to his favorite child-friend, Alice Liddell. Even if the reader isn't ultimately convinced of this conclusion, the various premises Day brings together are strong enough to intrigue anyone who is not already familiar with them. Carroll's text is illustrated with a mix of art by John Tenniel, the book's original illustrator, and later artists; Day's annotations and sidebars include classical mythological art, historical paintings, and photographs. Though this is a handsome addition to any collection of Alice analysis, it inexplicably lacks a full treatment of Through the Looking-Glass, making it a poor substitute for the new edition of Martin Gardner's The Annotated Alice. Likewise, its biographical content (throughout and in a concluding section) is no substitute for Morton Cohen's new edition of Lewis Carroll: A Biography. Day's classical interpretation may make this work more popular among academic readers than recreational ones.
From Library Journal
October 15, 2015
One of the most popular and influential stories ever written, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland continues to encourage speculation about its encoded subtexts. In this book that commemorates the 150-year anniversary of the original publication, Canadian writer, poet, and J.R.R. Tolkien scholar Day proposes that Alice is about Victorians of the time, especially those at Oxford University. A staunch conservative Oxford don, Charles Dodgson, writing as Lewis Carroll, strongly opposed the liberal ideas and reforms that were beginning to permeate Oxford, especially those of Dean Liddell, the father of the real life Alice. In addition, Day suggests the book may be read as an education in the classics, with Alice's fall down the rabbit hole being analogous to Persephone's imprisonment in the underworld. For ease of reading, this beautifully illustrated book features a page-by-page commentary alongside the actual Alice text. A short biographical sketch of Dodgson follows the story to further strengthen Day's interpretations. VERDICT Although the book reads like a scholarly text, Day has succeeded in making his thoroughly researched and persuasively argued book appealing also for lovers of Alice as well as for general readers interested in Victorian literature and society.--Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
From Horn Book
January 1, 2011
These abridged editions retain some of the flavor of the original books while removing archaic or otherwise unfamiliar words--and losing many of the details and much of the vibrancy that make these works classics. With the glorified plot summaries as their introductions to literature, young readers may not want to read the originals. The black-and-white illustrations are also bland.
(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
From Publisher's Weekly
February 22, 2010
The classic and an equally transporting imagining of the life of Alice Liddell Hargreaves.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll
, read by a full cast. BBC Audio
, two CDs, 2 hrs., $14.95 ISBN 978-1-60283-660-0
With strong performances from a stellar full cast, this dramatization of the beloved novel sends listeners tumbling down the rabbit hole and into a world of magic, mushrooms, anthropomorphic animals and adventure. Chasing the White Rabbit, growing and shrinking in size, and meeting a menagerie of oddballs—the dotty Mad Hatter, the lugubrious Mock Turtle, and the homicidal Queen of Hearts—Alice attempts to navigate the strange world without losing her head—literally and figuratively. With Sarah-Jane Holm as Alice, Roy Hudd as the Mad Hatter, and David Bamber as the White Rabbit—all of whom sound as if they're thoroughly enjoying themselves—the cast transports the listener into an alternative universe with perfectly scored incidental music and fantastic sound effects. An energetic and delightfully zany rendition of the classic.
From Horn Book
July 1, 2008
Each of these books presents an episode from the classic volume on which it's based, introducing beginning readers to great works of literature. The writing, though accesible, is bland. The stories are all forced to be cliffhangers, presumably paving the way for continuation in a serialized way. Cartoonlike illustrations (some books more accomplished than others) will appeal to comics fans.
(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
From Horn Book
January 1, 2005
A palette of blues and greens predominate in the watercolor illustrations for this version of the classic fantasy. Foreman models his depiction of a dark-haired Alice on Carrolls photographs of the real Alice Liddell, a girl, with, he notes in an afterword, a ."..mischievous little face." This interpretation will be a welcome addition to the pantheon of fine Alice editions.
(Copyright 2005 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
From School Library Journal
November 1, 2004
K-Gr 6-In a note, Foreman explains that he has based his artwork for this classic on photographs taken by Carroll of the "real Alice" (Alice Liddell), some of which are reproduced in this book. The illustrator points out how, with her "mischievous little face," she "seems as much a child of the 1960s or the twenty-first century as the 1860s." With her short gray-black hair, turned-up nose, and simple striped dress, his Alice makes an almost comfortingly drab counterbalance to the otherwise colorful characters and bright backdrops that fill the tale. Ranging from small vignettes to the occasional two-page painting, the watercolors shimmer with seaside shades of blue, green, and yellow. The pictures are packed with movement, whimsy, and humor, and are perfectly placed to match the pace of the action. Scenes depicting the time before and after Alice's descent into the rabbit hole are done in brown and white, neatly delineating the beginning and end of her adventure. This version makes a solid choice for those libraries looking to spiff up their Alice collections with a splash of color.-Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal
Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
From Publisher's Weekly
December 1, 2003
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland gets another makeover in a new edition illustrated by Iassen Ghiuselev. Beginning with a gouache painting that combines elements from the entire story into one fantastical scene, Ghiuselev's illustrations continue by alternating seemingly gilded paintings of Alice interacting realistically with Mouse and Duck and Dodo, and burgundy-hued pencil drawings, all of which emphasize the dreamlike qualities of the text. This large-trim (9" x 13"), limited edition includes a bookmark.
From Publisher's Weekly
Starred review from September 22, 2003
Readers will be astonished by every tableau in this pop-up extravaganza. The initial spread explodes into a surprisingly tall green forest, topped by billowing leafy shapes that resemble the Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter and Queen of Hearts. On the lawn below, in papery 3D, Alice scurries about while the White Rabbit checks his pocket watch. Along the left-hand border of the book, a series of narrow flaps present an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's text. These pages-within-pages feature pop-ups of a green bottle ("Drink me") that shrinks Alice, a cake that makes her a giant and Alice swimming in "the pool of tears that she had wept when she was nine feet high." Finally, an accordion-pleated square in the lower right corner expands into a long, vertical rabbit hole; through its circular window, Alice can be seen falling, as if into a well. And that's only the beginning. Subsequent stages of this moveable feast include a wiggly Alice grown too large for the White Rabbit's house; a Mad Tea Party with shining silver-foil tea service (the March Hare and Mad Hatter dunk the Dormouse in a teapot); and Alice waving her arms as the Queen and her court, transformed to a "pack of cards," arch over her head like a rainbow. Those who know the story can best negotiate this wonderland, for the narrative gets a bit lost in the visual dimensions. Sabuda, who also has adapted The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, borrows from the Tenniel illustrations, but pares them down and drenches them with violet, fuschia, gold and green hues. His paper engineering snaps solidly into place, and elements like the Cheshire Cat's unfolding face are both startling and beautiful; and the pack of cards rising up into the air will have the audience studying how Sabuda created the effect of scattering and tumbling. A Jabberwocky cheer of "O frabjous day! Calloo, callay!" seems appropriate for this salute to Carroll's classic. All ages.
From Publisher's Weekly
February 3, 2003
"An Alice accessible to all ages," wrote PW
in a starred review. "The villains here are more stoogelike than menacing, and the volume brims with the fun and frights of a visit to an amusement park. An ideal introduction to a lifelong favorite read." Ages 8-up.
From Publisher's Weekly
March 1, 2002
An edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll contains all of Arthur Rackham's original artwork from the 1907 edition (published after Sir John Tenniel's illustrations). Pen-and-inks dot the text; full-page paintings, such as one sepia-toned frame showing Alice, in a delicate rose-patterned dress, addressing the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, plus a sewn-in satin bookmark make this an elegant gift choice.
From Horn Book
January 1, 2002
For those looking for an alternative "Alice, " this brilliantly illustrated version with its deep fuchsia cover and vibrant watercolors is a visual treat.
(Copyright 2002 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
From School Library Journal
October 1, 2001
Gr 4-Up-McGraw provides a unique visual interpretation of Carroll's classic tale. As in Natasha Wing's Hippity Hop, Frog on Top (1994; o.p.) and Edward Lear's The New Vestments (1995; o.p., both S & S), his gouache illustrations are marked by bold, rich colors and a collage-style layout. His work suggests the influence of early 20th-century abstract, fantasy, and surrealist painters, as well as that of contemporary illustrator Brian Wildsmith. At times, the trip through Wonderland appears nightmarish. The images of Alice with the bottle of poison in front of her face and the executioner as a masked club card clutching an ax are particularly jarring. The story can be read on many levels. McGraw has chosen to portray the deeper, darker side of Alice's adventures. This is definitely a sophisticated and special interpretation that will appeal to a very limited, mature audience.-Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, WI
Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
From Publisher's Weekly
October 1, 2001
DeLoss McGraw's illustrations bring the magic of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to a younger audience, with abstract splashes of color that render the Caterpillar a bit less eerie and the Queen less terrifying than Sir John Tenniel's interpretation. One hallucinogenic image captures Alice awash in deep blue watercolor, her long legs rising in an ethereal haze as her head reaches the ceiling. A small green window and miniaturized chair accentuate her rapid growth.
From Publisher's Weekly
Starred review from October 4, 1999
If Zwerger's Alice (reviewed above) is deliciously cryptic, Oxenbury's (Tom and Pippo books) brims with the fun and frights of a visit to an amusement park. In perhaps her most ambitious work to date, Oxenbury applies her finely honed instinct for a child's perspective to create an Alice accessible to all ages. With the opening scene of a tomboyish heroine slumped against her sister who is reading under a tree, the artist seems to answer Alice's first line: "What is the use of a book... without pictures or conversations?" Nearly every spread contains either a spot-line drawing or full-bleed full-color painting. The artist nods to Tenniel with her hilarious portrait of the waistcoated White Rabbit and even extends the metaphor of the "grin without a cat" with a quartet of watercolors as the Cheshire Cat begins to disappear--until only his grin remains. The villains here are more stoogelike than menacing, including the baby-throwing Duchess and the Queen of Hearts, and Oxenbury makes the most of such comic opportunities as the entangled powdered wigs of the Frog-Footman and Fish-Footman. A series of cleverly choreographed closing scenes shows Alice in the Queen's courtroom, pelted by the playing cards that, on the next spread, seem to have transformed into the falling leaves of the tree where Alice awakens and her sister gives her a kiss; a poignant parting shot of Alice's sister silhouetted at dusk under the tree, with sheep grazing in the field, acknowledges the shift in tone of Carroll's conclusion. An ideal first introduction to a lifelong favorite read. Ages 8-up.
From Publisher's Weekly
January 1, 1996
wonderland revisited Spanish illustrator Angel Dominguez fills an unabridged edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with 75 watercolors, most of them closely packed with lush oversized flowers, strange creatures and winding vines reminiscent of Art Nouveau-often against bizarrely serene pastoral backgrounds. Exotic birds and animals, such as peacocks and zebras, wander through the picture frame. While the illustrations bring out the text's absurdity, pretty-in-pink Alice provides a counterpoint not of normalcy but of sentimentality.
From Horn Book
January 1, 1994
The fortuitous discovery in a bank vault in London of the original, never-used woodblocks for the Tenniel illustrations was an exciting find. The illustrations in this edition, reproduced from the originals, show a crispness and fineness of detail unfamiliar to present-day readers. A handsome book and a delight for lovers of 'Alice'.
(Copyright 1994 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
From Publisher's Weekly
October 1, 1989
What the publisher calls the ``ultimate'' edition is in reality simply another look at Carroll's story in a beautifully produced volume--with an unusual twist. Edens has compiled various illustrations to the text that were made between 1865 and 1933. He presents the work of more than 25 artists, including John Tenniel, Arthur Rackham, Peter Newell, Willy Pogany, Gertrude Kay and Margaret Tarrant. But the result is a disjointed book that is disorienting to read. Illustrations by different artists, in color and black-and-white, are juxtaposed more to the text than to each other, and their varying styles create an effect that is more chaotic than instructional. Artistic comparisons would have been facilitated by captioning the illustrations with the date and artist's name, but unfortunately these details are provided only as a listing at the end of the book. To Eden's credit, many of the illustrations have been long out of print and are a joy to behold. The book appears to be more of a commercial exercise than a new look at Alice. All ages.
From Publisher's Weekly
September 1, 1988
A clock-face grows like the daisies around it as the White Rabbit hurries by; in the opening pages of the story, Browne hints at his interpretive presence in Carroll's world. A burning key, a fish swimming through space, a green thread winding its way through a cabinetful of strange objects, and the artist makes it clear that this will be no ordinary Alice. Thimbles and umbrellas bloom atop green stalks, Willy the chimp races by, another thimble casts the shadow of a trophy, the Caterpillar wears a smoking jacket covered with butterflies. The Mad Hatter has a stack of his wares on his head, and wears a terrible grimace; the tea party at which he resides displays a table full of toylike objects and sweets, among which are many surprising juxapositions. In short, the volume is so consumed by the unexpected that readers may well find their eyes leaving the text to pore over the pictures, replete with jaunty details and stunning surreal images that grandly point back in the direction of the written word. All ages.
From AudioFile Magazine
Cindy Hardin's reading of Alice is adequate but uninspired. The many delightful creatures in Carroll's classic are imaginatively voiced, but the reading is mechanically paced. Hardin's wooden reading of this sprightly tale becomes tiresome and frustrating. There are many Alice's to pick from; choose carefully. P.E.F. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
1 Book Awards & Distinctions
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was recognized by committees of professional librarians and educators for the following book awards and distinctions.
4 Selections for State & Provincial Recommended Reading Lists
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was selected by educational and library professionals to be included on the following state/provincial reading lists.
United States Lists (4)
Indiana
- ELA Common Core Standards
Louisiana
- Louisiana Believes ELA Guidebooks, Grade 5
New York
Oregon
- 2009-2010 Oregon Battle of the Books
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This Book Resume for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is compiled from TeachingBooks, a library of professional resources about children's and young adult books. This page may be shared for educational purposes and must include copyright information. Reviews are made available under license from their respective rights holders and publishers.
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