Book Review: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carol (Alice #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Imaginative story and fun poems that will capture kids' imagination

Cons: A tad repetitive in a few spots

The Bottom Line:

Down the rabbit hole

All kinds of funny travels

You won't want to miss

The Curious Case of Alice in Wonderland

A couple times growing up, I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.  But I haven't done more than watch the Disney movie since then.  I decided it was time to revisit this childhood friend.  The book may not be quite as fun as I remembered, but it was still plenty of fun.

It all started when Alice was spending a lazy afternoon on a river bank.  Suddenly, she looked up to find a White Rabbit in a waistcoat go hopping by.  Curious, she got up to follow him into his hole.  Suddenly, she found herself falling down, down, down.  And when she landed, she was in Wonderland, a strange place full of even stranger creatures.  Yes, the animals all talk.  But Alice seems to find herself growing or shrinking whenever she eats something.  There's a locked door she can't seem to get through.  A Caterpillar demands she recite.  She visits the strangest tea party she's ever attended.  And she plays croquet with the Queen of Hearts where the penalty for winning is a rather harsh "Off with her head!"  Will Alice ever find her way home?

I've heard the book was at times a lampooning of Victorian England (when the book was first written).  I don't know enough about the time period to view it as such.  Instead, I just read it as an absurd novel.

And absurd is the write word for it.  The things that happen here are absolutely crazy.  At one point a baby turns into a pig.  We can't leave out how often Alice seems to grow and shrink.  And the game of croquet sounds like absolute chaos.  As a kid, I found these elements downright fun and enchanting.  I guess I've grown up a touch since I found them a bit tedious and repetitive this time around.  Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the book.  But the first half spent a bit too much time worrying about Alice's size.

I had never really realized just how well the book plays with the ultimate revelation.  Yes, the final few pages explain what has happened to Alice.  Knowing this while I read it this time around, I was able to see how that theme was played out during the book.

And the book is an excuse of Lewis Carroll to share some of his nonsense poems.  I would argue none of the ones here are especially famous, although I did enjoy the one Alice quotes to the Caterpillar.

I wouldn't argue that any of these characters are very well developed.  Many are just around for a few pages.  Even the ones that are around longer are basically one note/one joke characters.  Alice herself is developed a tad more, but she spends most of the time reacting to the strange events happening to her.  However, that isn't a bad flaw.  The story moves forward quickly enough to keep kids' attention.  And I seriously doubt that they would appreciate more character development.

Despite being almost 150 years old, I didn't feel the language was that out of date.  I think most mid to late elementary school kids would be able to read the book with little help from the dictionary.  Every version I have seen has pictures, and the one I just read is no exception.  There were around three or four illustrations in each chapter.

So Alice's Adventures in Wonderland lost a little of its charm when reread as an adult.  That's just another reason to introduce the imagination to your kids now when they will best appreciate it.