Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Wisehouse Classics - Original 1865 Edition with the Complete Illustrations by Sir John Tenniel)

By Lewis Carrol and Sir John Tenniel

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.

Dodgson's tale was published in 1865 as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by "Lewis Carroll" with illustrations by John Tenniel. The first print run of 2,000 was held back because Tenniel objected to the print quality. A new edition was quickly printed, released in December of the same year but carrying an 1866 date.

The entire print run sold out quickly. Alice was a publishing sensation, beloved by children and adults alike. Among its first avid readers were Queen Victoria and the young Oscar Wilde. The book has never been out of print. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has been translated into at least 174 languages. There have now been over a hundred English-language editions of the book, as well as countless adaptations in other media, especially theatre and film.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wisehouse Classics
• Release date: Feb 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9789176371558

Book preview

Alice! a childish story take,

And with gentle hand

Lay it were Childhood’s dreams are twined

In Memory’s mystic band,

Like pilgrim’s wither’d wreath of flowers

Pluck’d in a far-off land.

Chapter I

Down the Rabbit-Hole

ALICE was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, ‘and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice ‘without pictures or conversation?’

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it sovery much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, ‘Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!’ (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.

Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labelled ‘ORANGE MARMALADE’, but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.

‘Well!’ thought Alice to herself, ‘after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they’ll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!’ (Which was very likely true.)

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end! ‘I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?’ she said aloud. ‘I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think —’ (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) ‘— yes, that’s about the right distance — but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I’ve got to?’ (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)

Presently she began again. ‘I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think —’ (she was rather glad there was no one listening, this time, as it didn’t sound at all the right word) ‘— but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma’am, is this New Zealand or Australia?’ (and she tried to curtsey as she spoke — fancy curtseying as you’re falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) ‘And what an ignorant little girl she’ll think me for asking! No, it’ll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.’

Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. ‘Dinah’ll miss me very much to-night, I should think!’ (Dinah was the cat.) ‘I hope they’ll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I’m afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that’s very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?’ And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, ‘Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?’ and sometimes, ‘Do bats eat cats?’ for, you see, as she couldn’t answer either question, it didn’t much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly, ‘Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?’ when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.

Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment: she looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, ‘Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it’s getting!’ She was close behind it when she turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.

There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked; and when Alice had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying every door, she walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to get out again.

Reviews for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Wisehouse Classics - Original 1865 Edition with the Complete Illustrations by Sir John Tenniel)

[judygibson-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good as always!

[tnaewwf123 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Here is a story I have always heard about, but never got to read or even see one of its film adaptations. I placed it under the banner of 'ILS 516 Modern Fantasy' because just as Young et al. (2020) stipulate, any work of modern fantasy has its author known (p. 148). Since this was around the time I had begun to exhaust the stack of books I checked out before my library closed, I decided to take a chance on the audiobook version for us LION cardholders. I did just that and felt that as good as Scarlett Johansson is at reading this book, it is really disappointing there are no sound effects. See, my personal measuring stick of an audiobook is Stephen King’s The Mist. My dad used to have it on cassette being told with so-called ‘3D Sound.’ This basically meant that the text had sound effects accompany it. So, if a part of the story took place during a rainstorm, you actually hear the rain in the background of the conversations. This made the book literally come to life in a way that could not be achieved from just reading it. I was hoping that because this was a fantasy story, there would be sound effects added too. For example, one perfect usage would have been when Alice falls into the pool of her own tears at the beginning; there could have been the sound of her falling into water. Yet, not a single sound effect is used. Ultimately, even though I really liked the story itself, I am disappointed it did not take advantage of the audiobook format more.

[sumisbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's hard to review 2 books at once. I loved the first book. But I was not impressed with the second. Like many, I've been spoiled by movies so I was very disappointed to find out the Jabberwocky was just a poem. I was also surprised at how young Alice truly is in the books. All-in-all was an interesting read.

[overthemoon_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oozing charm

[jessmahler · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The best thing I can say for this book is it is short.

I had a friend who loved Lewis Carroll, I had some time and it was cheap and I figured I'd give it a try. Honestly not sure why I finished. I remember thinking "WTF? I don't know if I can stand to finish this", checking the progress bar and seeing I was already a third of the way through. And just figuring if it was that short might as well.

It never was so bad I wanted to throw it through a wall, but the most enjoyment I got out of it was recognizing scenes from the animated Disney movie. Kudos to Disney for managing to make an engaging film out of this word vomit.

[klarsenmd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I don't feel like the modern illustration fits with the classic work for some reason. Otherwise the images are beautifully done.

[brightman-4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great Illustration

[jerry.yoakum · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A good way to introduce a child to the idea that words and sentences can have multiple meaning depending upon the context. A sort of point-of-view pontification.

[deckla_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The problem is this particular edition (Bookbyte digital), which is not complete, and does not include the introductory poems.

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ugh, I hate nonsense books. I get that this is for kids and the whole premise is fun nonsense. When Alice falls asleep she goes down into a rabbit hole and enters Wonderland, a place where everything is fun and nonsense. There is no point to anything and everyone is weird and can you tell how much I dislike this book. There is no plot, just a dumb kid named Alice, wandering around Wonderland talking to animals and packs of cards, playing croquet with flamingos and the like. Totally bonkers.

[ssimon2000-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Okay, so we all know this story, most of us know it very well. It's an absurd children's book, and as I listened, I kept thinking about how much my preschool aged granddaughters would love the overall silliness of this classic.

I listened to the new Audible production performed by Scarlett Johannson. I was very impressed with her ability to change voices, which was so extreme, I wondered how much of it was done in post-production. If it is all her, with no electronic modification, I'm very impressed. Movie directors should be able to utilize her voice skills for so many characters.

At any rate, the rating is primarily from the performance. Surprisingly, I am not a fan of the story at all (I'm not a fan of absurdist literature - it's like bizarro books today: completely senseless). Oh well, to each his own.

I'd recommend this for people who enjoy classic children's literature and for those who enjoy hearing a book skillfully read.

[thereadingmermaid · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's hard to review 2 books at once. I loved the first book. But I was not impressed with the second. Like many, I've been spoiled by movies so I was very disappointed to find out the Jabberwocky was just a poem. I was also surprised at how young Alice truly is in the books. All-in-all was an interesting read.

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There really is a lot of nonsense in this.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a fun book. Not that race makes a difference but I do like that Alice in this book is of "color". Alice in Wonderland is a classic and favorite story of mine. I was on the journey from the beginning to the end with Alice. Young readers will have an enjoyable time looking at the pictures as well as reading this book. Parents will want to check out all of the books in this line by Penguin.

[lkernagh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Delightfully fun, whimsically amusing and what an imagination! Between the outlandish characters, the silly puns and the play with logic, it is easy to see how this book is such a great story for both children and adults. Obviously, a reader needs to love - or at least appreciate - the nonsensical fun to fully enjoy this story, especially given the caricatures and the mayhem that is Wonderland. I can see where some adult readers may revisit this one for nostalgic childhood reasons, but I think I probably appreciate the story more as a adult reader, than I would have reading it as a young girl. Overall, very happy to have finally read this children's classic.

[nodosaurus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I plan to read Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy and thought it might be interesting to reread the book, this time in French. >My first observation was that the translator did a good job and most of the book was translated well - at least to the limits of my memory. Then I did notice some shortcomings, for instance the wordplay in the mouse poem relating the mouse's tail to the tale being told just didn't work in French. However, the translator did include good footnotes. Here, he explained differences in the French and English version. He also added some historical notes that I found added value to the story. This included some symbology that I was completely unaware of. Some of the jokes and puns were, if my memory serves, and perhaps were replaced with new or similar ones taking advantage of the language differences.Overall, it is a quick read, delightful and imaginative and well worth some time spent.

[m.belljackson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Many of the reviews on this site do not relate to the Salvador Dali illustrated book, but rather to another illustrator. Very Confusing.I love Alice's imaginative adventures and her increasing confidence as she accepts her changing size and bizarre circumstances.Yet, just as I did not enjoy the treatment of animals in a cruel way - the flamingoes, hedgehogs, guinea pigs - when I first read the book as a child and, although I was happy with the final resolution of the Queen and her deck of cards, the constant "Off with their heads!" was and is still annoying.Dali's paintings remain dramatic and an eternal evocative mystery. So good that this book has come to all of us!

[bonniejune54 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Silly but interesting.

[gbill_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

You have to love a children’s book that features a large blue caterpillar smoking a hookah. This is a classic of fancy and imagination, featuring iconic characters in the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, and Queen of Hearts among others. It stands up to the test of time and is an enjoyable read even for an adult; there is a lot of cuteness here. I love the different branches of arithmetic per the Mock Turtle: “Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision."

[luigiloyola · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This classic children's book is a timeless tale that captures children's imagination. This book can be used to introduce upper elementary students to math concepts such as graphing and beginning geometry. Using the characters in the book which are depicted as a deck of cards, children can explore laws of probability using a standard deck of playing cards.

[shelbystancil · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Summary: A little girl by the name of Alice follows a white rabbit down a hole where she ends up in another world. She has many many adventures in this world but eventually grows tired of it and wants to go home. After trial and error she finally gets there.Personal Reaction: I adore this book. It's one of my favorite books as well as movies. It is a crazy story but it really opens up a persons imagination. Classroom Extension Ideas:1. Have the kids draw their own types of Wonderlands.2. Use it to teach about being open to different things.

[she_climber · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Who knew this children's classic was so horrible?? Not as bad as Looking Glass, probably because of having seen the movie I was a little desenstized to the complete and utter nonsense of it all.

[amberlynn0avery · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my boyfriend's favorite book, but quickly became one of mine, as well. I think that it was well written, funny, and there's a lot to take from it. In the end, I could go on and on about how much Alice seemed like a little brat, or how the mad tea party is my favorite scene, but that would make this review much bulkier than I would like. However, I would have to say that the story is able to be read over and over, which I have done.

[meorens · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent story and drawings

[celephicus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lovely colour illustrations

[moquinn2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The book that made me want to read!

[tanya8dogearedcopy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the Classic nonsense tale of an English girl falling down a rabbit hole, there to encounter the strange world of absurdly anthropomorphized animals and playing cards, enigmatic messages and, well, sizing issues :-D

A Classic is usually a novel that has become so ingrained in the collective memory or culture, that one might not be sure whether one has read it or not. The reputation of the book itself precedes the actual experience of reading it and the characters are often the prototypes of later iterations and any number of adaptations. If you've never experienced Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, or read it once before, or even if you've read it multiple times, it bears (another) reading. As familiar as many are with the tale, to actually read or hear the original, un-Disneyfied tale is a pleasure as the nuances of the language surface and fade in ephemeral logic and gently wry humor. The subtlety, whimsy and detail of Wonderland, its inhabitants and their language lends itself to repeated discoveries.

Michael York as the narrator of this audiobook edition brings a nice range of character voices to the story, never sounded absurd himself as he renders the tale of Alice with obvious affection and a master storyteller's grace. His smooth, somewhat effete British voice evokes the romance of an afternoon spent on the Thames and brings the curiouser and curiouser world of Carroll's creation to life.

Redacted from the original blog review at dog eared copy, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; 07/12/2011

[gbsallery · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As a child, I read the stories of Alice in Wonderland (and, later, Through the Looking Glass) with a sense of wonder and amusement. Alice shows that it is possible to engage with a world which makes no sense on her own terms; she is not overwrought at her lack of understanding of the improbable and bizarre happenings around her. She brings reason to bear in narrow, specific cases (such as when arguing with the Red Queen), but is not paralysed by the irrationality of general occurrence. In this, she is like all children - dealing with reality not by knowing, but by exploring and engaging. This sense of innocent inquiry creates great sympathy in the younger reader.As an adult (older, grizzled and perhaps wiser), re-reading these stories once again provokes wonder and amusement - but this time, the wonder is at the ingenuity of the author and the amusement is if anything greater. This shift in reaction is because, as an adult, I know a few things: I know that it is impossible (in general life!) for soldiers to be playing cards, for Cheshire cats to disappear from the tail and for children to shrink and grow at the slightest provocation. Knowing this increases my admiration for Lewis Carroll, as he has constructed a world where the impossible occurs, but not without its own logic.While there is nonsense, there is structure - and the impossibilities have the common feature that they are all things which might occur to an imaginative young child while daydreaming. Thus they are not simply random (which would be nowhere near so satisfying to read), they are linked and interlocked to form a thoroughly pleasing structure. The underlying structure of the poem Jabberwocky has been analysed at length in [Hoftstadter], which elicits further wonder at the interlinked meanings and senses in the work. The amusement, of course, comes from understanding more of the jokes!

[tiffanyak_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The edition I read was actually an online version with the same illustrations and everything. It is a rather fun book, and is certainly far deeper than the "children's book" that it is depicted to be on its surface. I wouldn't say I loved it, but it was certainly worth finally reading the book behind a story I have heard so much about. The language twists alone made it well worth it, as there is definitely a lot of creativity there.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ugh. Alice is ridiculously annoying. I did not enjoy the plot of this, the poetry, the constant repetition of ideas (the shrinking and growing). None of the characters were in any way interesting. I don't understand the universal love of this book.