Many of you must have thought of the Rabbit with his timepiece from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as soon as you saw the title of this post. And you are not mistaken. Today’s post is about Alice (well, everything I can fit into one post that I am running late on….oh dear!)

‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll tells the story of Alice who falls down a rabbit hole, into a land of wonders where she proceeds to wonder about everything, and everyone around. (And everyone there wonders too!)

Before I go into this post further, I have to admit, I do not recall reading the entire original book myself (maybe a really shortened version) and I do plan to read the original version this year (as part of one of my challenges, maybe!).

If you are like me, you can read it too – it is available to read free online in various versions and if you want the paper book, you can get those too – some of which I have mentioned below:

• • This annotated version was the joint project of The Public Domain Review and Medium; featuring twelve Carroll scholars taking each one of the twelve chapters and a mix of new and original artwork. The paper book of this version is also available – The Annotated Alice: 150th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (150th Deluxe Anniversary Edition) (The Annotated Books)
  • Per the description in this version, this is the world’s most precise replica of the world’s most famous book!
  • Or if you are one who loves emojis, then you should check out Joe Hale’s Alice in Wonderland emoji lattice.
  • The Nursery Alice for children (and its free online version at Project Gutenberg)
  • I love Robert Sabuda’s work – he is an amazing popup artist – and this book looks tempting – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: A Pop-up Adaptation Hardcover
  • And if you want Salvador Dali’s illustrated version of the book (the 1969 signed version of the book was sold on Amazon for $12,900!), you can get it now for less than $20 on Amazon.

Some interesting facts about the book:

• The story came about when a little girl named Alice Liddell asked Carroll to tell her a story during a boating trip.
• Carroll took real-life inspiration for many characters in the book in addition to being inspired by Alice: one example is the dodo – he based that character upon himself.
• If any of the other ideas for the title for this book had been picked instead, we would have been reading ‘Alice in Elfland’ or ‘Alice’s Adventures Underground’, (Actually, saw this on Amazon) or ‘Alice amongst the Fairies’. I am glad he went with the option we know it as today!
• Lewis Carroll suffered from a rare neurological disease, that affects perception and size distortion. This was later called Alice In Wonderland Syndrome. His personal experience with it is of course visible in the book as Alice experiences numerous such incidents.

• This series of books were banned in China in 1931; reason – animals should not use human language.
• The author of The Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, was enlisted by Walt Disney to write a script for the movie (though Walt Disney thought it was ‘too literary’ and nothing of that script made it into the 1951 movie)
• Carroll was one of the first authors to create a ‘franchise’ off of his book. He allowed her image to appear on cookie tins and other items; and also designed a stamp case. (need to check if there is anything like this available!)
• The book has never been out of print since its first publication in 1865; and has since been published in 176 languages
• The first movie version of the book was only 12 minutes long (one of the longest movies of that time) and made in 1903

My favorite character(s) in the book have to be Tweedledum and Tweedledee (in the same way that Thomson and Thompson are my favorites in the Tintin comics)!! And the book provides one with so many wonderful quotes, puns, riddles, and word-games that one cannot help but fall in love with it.

“She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).” 
— Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass)

How about you? Have you read the book? If yes, any favorite characters or quotes or memory of the book? Let me know in the comments!

This post goes towards UBC, Just Jot It January, ABC Wednesday‘s round 22 – letter A (my theme for ABC Wednesday’s Round 22, as you might have already guessed, is children’s books – I will pick one popular book – classic/modern/old/new… – and write about it – be it a backstory or facts or something else completely).

this post contains Amazon affiliate links