Alice in Wonderland

October 1, 1989
Publishing a newly illustrated edition of a children's classic is a risky undertaking: Is there really a need, for example, for another excursion down the rabbit hole with Alice? However, when the work is graced with Weevers's elegant watercolors, the answer is a resounding yes. Encountering the sublime cover painting, the reader senses instantly that here is no commonplace Alice : only slightly bedraggled, the plucky heroine paddles valiantly through the pool of tears, with stately birds and a solitary mouse in tow. In this volume Weevers ( The Hare and the Tortoise , Herbert Binns and the Flying Tricycle ) has produced his most sophisticated and lavishly detailed paintings to date. A magnificently liveried, haughty lobster sneers as he grooms fastidiously; a dolorous King of Hearts and his indignant consort preside at a tasty trial, heedless of the courtroom banner proclaiming Amor vincit omnia --love will certainly not conquer this pair. Rendered in a traditional style, unlike the surrealistic approach chosen by Anthony Browne in his recent edition of Alice , these illustrations are set amidst a treasure trove of Victoriana: Alice plummets past a dusty bell jar surrounded by crumbling leatherbound volumes, the Duchess perches on a Chinese oriental carpet beside a tufted leather footstool. This is an Alice to revisit again and again. Ages 8-up.

Starred review from April 3, 2000
Zwerger's (The Wizard of Oz) captivating cover image of the Mad Tea-Party for this edition of Carroll's 1865 tale conveys the psychological tension of the interior artwork: Alice, at the head of an elongated table with a pristine white linen cloth, stares at the pocket watch that the March Hare is about to lower into his cup of tea. The Hare, bug-eyed, gazes out at readers while the Mad Hatter to his right, wearing a hat box, fixates on a black upturned chapeau (in lieu of a place setting), and the Dormouse between them sleeps. Across the table, an empty red mug is placed in front of a vacant green chair, and a teacup and saucer trimmed in red seems to be set for the reader. The painting conveys the way in which Zwerger brilliantly manages both to invite readers into the story and to keep them at a distance. From the heroine's first appearance, as she falls down a well while chasing the White Rabbit, with a glimpse of orderly bookshelves at the upper left corner, Zwerger demonstrates the many layers to Alice's journey: a cutaway view reveals that the bulk of the other "shelves" are the result of rats and insects tunneling underground. The supporting cast conveys the artist's nearly sardonic perspective. The contrary caterpillar, with six of its eight arms crossed, would be at home in New York's East Village: instead of a hookah it smokes a cigarette and sips red wine, yet--unlike Sir John Tenniel's sedated counterpart--this caterpillar is lucid, defiantly staring out at an Alice (and readers) absent from the scene. Zwerger's penetrating interpretation reinvents Carroll's situations and characters and demands a rereading of the text. All ages.

June 1, 2003
'Tis the season for journeying down rabbit holes. In addition to Sabuda's and Seibold's pop-up editions (see Children's Forecasts, Sept. 22). Ralph Steadman portrays the curious girl in spirited illustrations that bring new life to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Steadman's imaginative pen-and-ink drawings, which first appeared in a 1968 British edition, have here been restored, reformatted and updated. The White Rabbit's anxiety at his tardiness seems insurmountable in an opening portrait; the bottle labeled "Drink Me" unmistakably resembles a classic Coca-Cola bottle; and the artist depicts Alice outgrowing the White Rabbit's house as a wordless spread of the girl in a dark interior, with only a window as the source of light. His artwork deftly blends contemporary ideas with timeless psychological portrayals.

November 24, 2014
Puybaret brings a playful sophistication to his dreamlike images, which are well matched to the unpredictable atmosphere of Carroll’s classic fantasy. However, this adaptation only sets out to tell the first part of Alice’s story, focusing on her helter-skelter pursuit of the White Rabbit and her fluctuating size as she samples Wonderland’s drinks, cakes, and mushrooms. The illustrator’s inventive use of perspective makes the most of these transformations (readers peer down at Alice from above as she shrinks, for example), but Alice’s literal highs and lows don’t add up to much of a story. Puybaret includes a cameo from the Cheshire Cat and an allusion to the Mad Hatter’s tea party, but these and others are left to (possible) later books. A visually enticing story, albeit one that doesn’t stand on its own. All ages.

May 25, 2015
In time for the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, four key moments from the story—including Alice’s fall down the rabbit hole and her croquet match with the Queen of Hearts—play out in gracefully crafted scenes that expand in an accordion-like fashion when readers pull two tabs. A tidily abridged retelling fills in the gaps surrounding these events, accented by Taylor’s spot illustrations, which depict such scenes as the pool of tears and the mad tea party. Alice appears as a somewhat stiff, doll-like girl in an A-line dress, while other chief characters include a hawkish Hatter and a glowering Queen of Hearts. Though the pop-up vignettes may be the main draw for many readers, this abridgement is still an accessible entry point into the larger story. Ages 5–up.

October 5, 2009
These lushly illustrated hardcover gift books are meant to be cherished for years to come.
Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll
, illus. by Rodney Matthews. Candlewick/Templar
, $24.99 (96p) ISBN 978-0-7636-4568-7

An interplanetary landscape serves as the backdrop to Alice’s journey in this fantastical rendition, which fits into a sturdy slipcase. Alice—whose long blonde hair is streaked with gray and facial features seem almost haunted—encounters a cast of familiar characters who, in Matthews’s hands, have exaggerated, alien qualities: an especially bestial March Hare and a goblinlike Mad Hatter appear at the tea party, as a living tree looks on. In addition to surreal and vibrant full-spread scenes, b&w spot art often appears beside Carroll’s text. Matthews’s original and psychedelic conception befits the story’s unworldly essence. All ages.