Alice Through the Looking-Glass

by Lewis Carroll, Helen Oxenbury (Illustrator)

Overview

New edition of this Victorian classic, here presented in its true adult context for the first time. In his introduction, Jeremy Reed highlights the psychedelic nuances of the text, revealing how Lewis Carroll's vivid imagery exerted a strong influence on various '60s songwriters, and questions how the literature of this Victorian eccentric was casually assimilated into children's literature. A Creation edition of a remarkable book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763642624
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	04/14/2009
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), born in Cheshire, England, who became a lecturer in Mathematics at Christ Church College, Oxford. In 1862, on a boating picnic, Carroll made up a story to tell a group of children, among them the eleven-year-old daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, Alice Liddell. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published three years later and became a publishing sensation, beloved by children and adults alike. Carroll soon began to work on another book featuring his inquisitive young heroine and based on the idea of a chess game. Alice Through the Looking-Glass was published in 1871. Robert Ingpen has designed, illustrated, and written more than 100 published works of fiction and nonfiction, among them The Jungle Book and the centenary edition of Peter Pan and Wendy. In 1986 he was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for his contribution to children's literature.

Rpbert Ingpen was born in 1936 in Geelong, Australia. He studied illustration art and book design at The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. In 1986 he was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for his contribution to children's literature and has been honored with Membership of the Order of Australia. A world-renowned artist and author, he has designed, illustrated and written over 100 books. This series of classic works illustrated by Robert includes Treasure Island, Peter Pan and Wendy, The Jungle Book, The Wind in the Willows and A Christmas Carol. Robert lives and works in Anglesea, near his home town of Geelong, Australia.

Date of Birth:

January 27, 1832

Date of Death:

January 14, 1898

Place of Birth:

Daresbury, Cheshire, England

Place of Death:

Guildford, Surrey, England

Education:

Richmond School, Christ Church College, Oxford University, B.A., 1854; M.A., 1857

Website:

http://www.lewis-carroll-birthplace.org.uk/

Editorial Reviews

Helen Oxenbury takes the 19th-century classic and revitalizes it for a new audience, Alice Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. In a starred review of her Alice in Wonderland, PW wrote, "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." Those who enjoyed Oxenbury's first foray into Wonderland will be every bit as delighted with the artist's return visit. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 2 Up-In this delightful companion to Oxenbury's illustrated version of Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Candlewick, 1999), Alice now wears black tights and a white long-sleeved shirt to suit the winter setting ("Without, the frost, the blinding snow,/The storm-wind's moody madness-/Within, the firelight's ruddy glow,/And childhood's nest of gladness"). Leaving the cozy room behind, she steps through the looking glass and into a world depicted in warm watercolors, sepia-toned illustrations, and line drawings. Not a word of the original tale has been altered. The artwork echoes the whimsy of the language, clearly showing Alice's amusement at the antics of Tweedledum and Tweedledee, her frustration at the impossibility of slicing a "Looking-glass cake," her affection for the gentle White Knight, and her exasperation when both the White and the Red Queen fall asleep snuggled against her. The large font and numerous illustrations, including many single- and double-page paintings, make this edition inviting for reading aloud or alone. The artwork has an engaging openness to it, and Alice comes across as a real child, making it easy for readers to imagine themselves exploring the wonders of this make-believe realm.-Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Every bit as handsome as its Greenaway Medal-winning predecessor (1999), this edition of young Alice's second venture beyond the everyday world features a text printed in a comfortably legible font on creamy paper, well supplied with vignettes, sepia figures and full-color scenes done in Oxenbury's trademark pale hues and delicate lines. Bearing a slightly disheveled look and dressed in a bright blue shift, Alice makes a sturdy, confident companion for the adventure. Though the Bandersnatch's chopped-off head is a gory sight and there are other battles galore (the plot is, after all, loosely based on a game of chess), in general the figures she encounters, from Humpty Dumpty to Tweedledum and Tweedledee, are comical enough to keep the tone lighthearted. An outstanding rendition equally suited to reading aloud or alone. (Fantasy. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews

"Lewis Carroll, we could say, created the whole of children’s literature with these wonderful stories. Placing a child at the centre of a narrative that was entirely free of instruction, entirely devoted to delight, was a stroke of genius. The Alices are the greatest nonsense ever written, and far greater, in my view, than most sense.”—Philip Pullman, author, His Dark Materials trilogy

From the Publisher