Pairing one of the most magical and influential children's stories of all time, with one of the most incredible illustrators working in children's books today is, quite honestly, a stroke of genius.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll and Julia Sarda may well be yet another edition of the classic story, but it's Julia's illustrations that you've come for this time round, and though you may own about a zillion copies of this book in all its various forms (and like us, might think that no one can better the original John Tenniel illustrations) you might just change your mind once you see the 30 new pieces Julia has worked on for this book.

You're probably already familiar with the story of a young girl who daydreams about adventures, but is drawn into the chaotic and crazy world of Wonderland after a chance meeting with a talking white rabbit.

Following the rabbit into a deep hole is just the beginning of Alice's adventures as she meets some truly strange and wonderful characters like the caterpillar, the cheshire cat and of course the Queen of Hearts and her rather strange entourage.

Those illustrations though, let's tease a few below:






Personally we think Julia should illustrate EVERYTHING and we make no apologies for making this our Picture Book of the Week this week, even though technically it's a chapter book. You will not want to miss this one, it's a real keeper!

Sum this book up in a sentence: Lewis Carroll's chaotic and crazy story is beautifully brought to life by Julia's glorious art style, filled with detail and charm.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll and Julia Sarda is out now, published by Two Hoots Books (kindly supplied for review). 

The Palazzo range of children's classics sees a couple of brilliant reprints, featuring the glorious artwork of Australian artist Robert Ingpen...

Once again we're revisiting a well-loved and timeless children's classic in an exciting way, with another cracking edition in the "Search and Find" range from Studio Press...

In this 150th Anniversary year of Lewis Carroll's classic "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" there's always room for one more version featuring a legendary children's author and illustrator...

In this 150th Anniversary year of Lewis Caroll's classic story, there are a dizzying array of different versions of the story currently available. Let's take a look at one of the nicest we've seen in a long time...

Here's a fantastic book that fits in rather nicely with our #ReadItMD13 theme week about fantasy realms.

Having loved Emma Chichester-Clark's recent collaboration with Michael Morpurgo, bringing "Pinocchio" to a whole new audience, I heartily approve of more fantastic classics being given new life by one of the most talented children's illustrators in the world.

For me, Alice Through The Looking Glass has always been the 'darker' side of Alice in Wonderland. I remember we covered both "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice Through the Looking Glass" at school and there being a heated classroom debate about what happened to Messr. Dodson between the two books!

Emma Chichester-Clark's masterful adaptation has given Charlotte a point of reference to a book that would, otherwise, have been off her radar for quite a few years. She knows who Alice is (though mostly knows the Disney version of "Alice in Wonderland") so having a thoroughly modern Alice in this version of Through the Looking Glass has been awesome.

Here too are the supporting cast of characters, rendered in Emma's fabulous style, given more depth and dimension than Disney could manage. Charlotte loved that she could more wholly relate to Emma's Alice, and felt that the blending of old and new here - for instance, some of the more contemporary touches the book uses to lend it that approachability for this generation's children really sit well compared to a reading of the original Carroll text.

As you'd expect, the visual richness of the story's illustrations helps bucketloads (though naturally I love the original ink drawings in both Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through The Looking Glass - they were a tough sell to Charlotte). A vibrant colourful world, with The Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter, The Mad March Hare and the Walrus and The Carpenter taking centre stage as Alice once again finds herself embroiled in the surreal dream-like world of Wonderland.

The darkness isn't as prevalent perhaps, and that's likely to be a blessing for a version aimed at Charlotte's generation who shouldn't miss out on classics purely because of tone or composition feeling slightly outdated. Here though, "Through the Looking Glass" is rainbow-hued and utterly fabulous. Wonderful work, Emma!

"Alice Through the Looking Glass" is out tomorrow, 7th November from HarperCollins Children's Books.

Charlotte's best bit: Alice as Queen, all little girls should get that chance (says she!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: I loved the original but I have to say, this has impressed the socks off me - taking a fairly dark and in some ways fairly unapproachable (for some) children's classic and turning it into something that feels fresh, vibrant and full of colour. Lovely!

(Kindly sent to us for review by HarperCollins Children's Books)

After enjoying the recent "Alice Weekend" here in Oxford, I have been on the lookout for a 'toddler' version of Lewis Carroll's classic children's book for quite some time. We finally spotted one and though it features some absolutely beautiful illustrations by Mauro Evangelista, the abridged text is far too choppy and disjointed to really give a flavour of the original book. 

Carroll's nonsensical tale gets butchered, to put it plainly - to the point where even a forgiving child's imagination struggles to fill in the gaps. It's not an enviable task to take a well loved (and lengthy) work and make it appeal to a younger audience. I guess I'll just have to wait until I can show Charlotte the 'proper' version instead. A pity. 


Daddy's favourite bit: Evangelista's artwork is sublime but can't save the book from being a bit of a mess otherwise

Rating: 1 out of 5