Customer Reviews

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland -A Classic Illustrated Edition

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Children familiar only with the classic illustrations by John Tenniel will be introduced to a wide variety of artistic interpretations of Lewis Carroll's immortal "Alice in Wonderland", compiled by Cooper Edens. This unabridged edition brings together the works of over thirty illustrators from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. The book is aesthetically balanced with both black and white and color pictures. It is interesting to see how each artist has visualized Alice and the rest of the eccentric characters. Some, such as A. E. Jackson's and Margaret Tarrant's, I found right on target, while others, like A.A. Nash's Shirley Templesque Alice, I found off the mark. But this is simply a personal opinion. My favorite interpreter though is still Arthur Rackham, whose art is featured prominently. All in all a very satisfying purchase.

I wanted to read Alice in Wonderland to my 3 year old daughter. She will listen to stories, but has a much better attention span if they are illustrated. This book has illustrations on every page. I know some people hesitate because the illustrations are not all by the same artist, so depictions of Alice are not consistent. I certainly didn't mind that, and my little girl didn't, either. She was ENRAPTURED.
We LOVE this book. It's become nightly reading at bedtime. It's large, easy to share with a little listener. It's also beautiful enough for a keepsake. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to share this story, or wants to see all the glorious illustrations done over the years, by many talented artists.

So far, I have read "Alice's Adventures" twice with my daughter... The first time was a standard edition with black-and-white illustrations, and that was fun, though it took a while to get through. Revisiting the story with this ornate and wildly creative edition, which combines dozens of vintage illustrations from a number of different versions of the book, was a lot more fun... Although it can be mildly disconcerting to have the images and representations of Alice and the Wonderland menagerie change so much from panel to panel, at its heart this is a wonderful way to see the story -- you not only get a sense of how many different ways a story can be depicted, you also absorb a little bit of magic from each artist. Consistently surprising and evocative, this book breathes new life into a timeless tale. Highly recommended! (ReadThatAgain)

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is one of the most beloved children's classics. It has been adapted into numerous cartoons, films and plays over the years, and it has become an important backdrop of the World culture. It is a brilliant and zany fairy tale that remains fresh and engaging well over a century after it had been written. This is in large part thanks to the unforgettable and unique characters that are as famous (if not more) as Alice herself: the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the "Mad" Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and many more. They are among the most idiosyncratic characters in all of literature. However, the aspects of the book that I found the most fascinating were the clever use of language, the numerous puns, and the plays on the difference between the literal and actual meanings of different expressions and saying. It was very amusing to read these, and realize how clever and verbal this book actually is. The book made me reflect again on so many aspects of the world that I take for granted, and it made me feel like a child exploring and learning about various objects, ideas and relations for the first time. This alone makes this book worth reading and rereading, and I expect to come to it many times again.

I have to say that I completely disagree with the editorial review of this book. My daughter is 4 and I have tried to get her to listen to the original Alice in Wonderland many times, but if you are a fan at all, you know that it is pretty advanced material for little kids. This version however, is so beautifully illustrated that it totally keeps my daughter's attention! Personally, I find the different illustrated versions of Alice fascinating rather than confusing, and my daughter does as well. It was the first book the we ever just read and read and read and read......and after an hour or so I realized she had finally fallen asleep just dreaming of Alice! What a beautiful version of this classic tale

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, a Classic Illustrated Edition compiled by Cooper Edens and published by Chronicle Books, offers illustrations from the late 19th and early 20th centuries from multiple artists. The cover opens up to reveal a four-and-a-half-page collage of these illustrations. The art was compiled by Cooper Edens who, according to the publisher's website, "owns one of the largest collections of vintage picture books in the world."

As a lifelong fan of the original story, it's neat to see different interpretations of the same characters almost side-by-side. For example, the first four pages of Chapter IV: Pig and Pepper offer three different depictions of Alice with the frog footman, one of which is a full-page color illustration by Harry Rountree. This volume included some of my favorite Alice illustrations, such as the trial scene in Chapter XII: Alice's Evidence as drawn by both Tenniel and Arthur Rackham. (Note that this edition colorized Tenniel's courtroom scene and flipped Rackham's card-tumbling image.) It also introduced me to other lovely pieces, including A.A. Nash's tall Alice and Maria Kirk's sweet-looking brown Cheshire Cat, blending in with a tree. The book closes with an alphabetical list of acknowledgments, noting all of the persons whose collections are included.

The original text has been kept in tact. My favorite piece of emblematic verse, The Mouse's Tale, which can be found in Chapter III: A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale, retains its intended, poetic tail shape rather than being flattened into sentences.

All in all, this is a nice addition to the bookshelf of an Alice collector. Thank you, Chronicle Books, for including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in your library of Classic Illustrated Editions.

This book is just beautifully illustrated. Each illustration is different and all work together to draw you into the lovely quirky world of wonderland. I'm really happy with my purchase

The book began with a girl named Alice. Though you do not know much about her you see her world beginning to change. As you embark on an exciting journey through this life she is living, you begin to realize how strange, but fun it really is. You first begin by experiencing a great fall through a hole that does not seem real. It last for an incredibly long time and seems to set the stage for what the rest of the book will rely on.
Once the fall has ended the story begins to take place. You begin to see what kind of a place she has come into and how mysterious it is. Once again the rabbit she has seen out of the hole, has come into contact with her in the hole. She attempts to follow it, which then leads her into a room with many doors. This room will be where most of the journey occurs. As you see her going about trying to open each door, she comes upon something remarkable. A key to open a very small door and also a bottle that says drink me. So first assuring herself it is safe she drinks it and becomes an incredibly smaller size enabling her to be able to go in the door.
Though she is not small, she has forgotten the key on the table and must find it. This is how many of her adventures were spawned. She was attempting to get into the door that she saw inside when she was taller. It was a beautiful place with shrubbery and flowers that just amazed her. It was so amazing she would spend a lot of her time trying to reach the destination inside of the door. The things she does are so remarkable, like meeting different animals that are alike the rabbit. One of my favorite of the animals is probably the mock-turtle. He is just so interesting, but you will see what he does as you read in the book.
Lewis Carroll was able to fascinate my mind in this book. He has an interesting way to grasp the reader by the way he says and describes objects. The idea that animals can talk and can be part of a society that views this as average is outside of the normal belief. So once you let this book take hold on your emotions and let it grasp you, you are able to enjoy this book immensely. It may have been written for more of a childish level, but there are even deeper concepts that adults may enjoy. The humor that was placed inside of the book had me laughing and gave me a much more vivid imagination of the animals personalities.
I enjoyed this book greatly and would suggest it to anyone who has time. Though it may not be an enormous book it has become one of my favorite books. Many people know this story, whether they saw it in a movie or they read it, so you are able to speak with others about this as well. I believe Lewis Carroll to be a remarkable story teller and author. Also if you enjoy this book it does not just end here, he has written Through the Looking Glass as well. This is a continuation to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland so the attachment you have gained from his prior writings, you may continue.

This is about the 12th classic children's story that I have read to my pre-schooler this year. It has been his least favorite to date. I agree that the writing is excellent, how many writers could capture the true esscence of a dream? But it was not the best story for a 4-year old. He just never really got into it. Some of the chapters were better than others and I will try reading it to him again when he gets older, but for now I'll give it a 3* rating.