Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll · 1865
This book is rated All ages. It isn't available on your library card.
Alice follows a watch-carrying White Rabbit down a rabbit hole into a world of curious creatures, impossible riddles, a mad tea party, and a Queen who wants everyone beheaded.
Characters
Alice
A curious, polite seven-year-old who follows a hurrying White Rabbit down a rabbit-hole into a world where nothing makes sense.
the White Rabbit
A fussy, anxious rabbit in a waistcoat who is forever checking his pocket-watch and fretting that he'll be late.
the Queen of Hearts
A furious playing-card queen with a fearsome temper, who shouts orders at everyone around her.
the Hatter
An excitable, riddle-asking little man in a tall hat who is stuck at a never-ending tea-party.
the King of Hearts
The Queen's small, meek husband, a timid playing-card king who tries his best to keep order.
the Cheshire Cat
A grinning cat who appears and vanishes as he likes, offering Alice puzzling advice about the mad folk of Wonderland.
the Mock Turtle
A deeply sorrowful creature, half turtle and half calf, who sighs and sobs as he remembers his schooldays under the sea.
the Gryphon
A brisk, lively gryphon, eagle in front and lion behind, who takes Alice to meet his gloomy friend the Mock Turtle.
the March Hare
A mad hare with wildly sticking-out ears who hosts the topsy-turvy tea-party with the Hatter.
the Dormouse
A drowsy little dormouse who dozes through the tea-party, waking now and then to tell a very strange story.
the Dodo
A solemn, long-winded bird who organises a Caucus-race to dry everyone off, and declares that all must have prizes.
About the story
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland follows a curious young girl who is bored on a riverbank on a summer afternoon. She sees a White Rabbit in a waistcoat, checking his pocket watch and fretting that he is late, and follows him down a rabbit-hole into a strange underground world. There, a sip from a bottle or a bite of cake can make her tiny or enormous, and every creature she meets has opinions, riddles and rules of its own.
Wonderland is a place where logic runs backwards and good manners are mostly an argument. Alice meets a Dodo who runs a race with no finish line, a hookah-smoking Caterpillar who asks her who she is, a Duchess with a very odd baby, and a Cheshire Cat whose grin stays behind when the rest of it goes. The book plays with words, poems and puzzles. Underneath the fun it keeps asking a serious question: how do you stay yourself when everything around you, and even your own size, keeps changing?
Lewis Carroll first told the story to three young sisters on a boat trip, and it was published in 1865 with pictures by John Tenniel. It is one of the first children's books written purely for fun rather than for moral lessons. Its characters and sayings, like "curiouser and curiouser," are still part of everyday language.
This is a condensed picture-book retelling in 48 illustrated pages with about 17 minutes of synthetic-voice narration, and every picture is an AI illustration made for this edition. Carroll's full original text is in the public domain, free to read, and well worth reading for all the wordplay and verse a short retelling has to leave out.
Adapted from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865), public domain.
Questions
What is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland about?
A young girl named Alice follows a talking White Rabbit down a rabbit-hole into Wonderland, a nonsensical world where she keeps changing size and meets odd characters like the Caterpillar, the Duchess and the Cheshire Cat. The story is a string of playful, puzzling adventures as she tries to find her way through.
Who is the main character in Alice in Wonderland?
The main character is Alice, a curious, polite and rather stubborn young girl. She keeps trying to make sense of Wonderland even when its creatures make no sense at all.
Is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland suitable for children?
Yes. This edition is rated for all ages. It has no real violence or frightening content, only gentle silliness, wordplay and a few grumpy characters, so it works well for reading aloud to young children and is still fun for older readers and adults.
How long does this edition take to read or listen to?
This picture-book edition has 48 illustrated pages and about 17 minutes of narration, so it fits comfortably into one sitting or a bedtime story.
Is this the full book?
No. It is a condensed retelling that keeps the main events and characters but shortens the text and leaves out much of Carroll's verse and wordplay. The complete original is in the public domain and free to read.
Read the text version: every page's caption, with its picture, on one page.
