(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger. In the original large-size edition, Zwerger invoked a surreal dreamland devoid of background and details, but with an ambiance so intensely realized it inspired readers' own imaginations. The impact of the exquisitely composed paintings (especially the full-page ones), however, is lost in this mini-edition.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc. | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2000

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by John Tenniel. Color by Harry Theaker and DizWallis. Introduced by Philip Pullman, this hefty gift book gathers together the unabridged texts for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Extras include leaflet stories originally inserted into the Alice books, a deleted episode from Through the Looking Glass, and an account, featuring archival material, of the creation of Alice. (Unfortunately) colorized illustrations, wide margins, and large font make this especially appealing for younger Alice fans.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Oleg Lipchenko. This unabridged large-format edition of Carroll's famous rhyming nonsense poem captures its spirit with highly detailed sepia-toned charcoal illustrations reminiscent of Henry Holiday's original drawings. Lipchenko aptly avoids illustrating the mysterious snark, and the distortion and elongation of images adds a sense of movement and accentuates the poem's nonsense.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Rodney Matthews. Matthews plays up the grotesquerie, menace, and psychedelia of Carroll's work. The Mad Hatter, for example, is terrifying, with a pointy, wart-riddled beak, buck teeth, and spindly fingers. In some of the pictures (e.g., Alice's dialogue with the Caterpillar), the protagonist looks positively emaciated. The book's effective design elements include thick, creamy paper and a sturdy slipcase.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) 4-6 Mary Engelbreit's Classic Library series. Each of these classic novels features a cover illustration by Mary Engelbreit (intrepid orphans Anne, Sara, and Mary all look pretty much the same, with different hair color) and is packaged with a gimmicky necklace. For libraries, the value of these unabridged hardcovers is the inexpensive price. Review covers these Mary Engelbreit's Classic Library titles: A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Alice in Wonderland, and Anne of Green Gables.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger. Zwerger invokes a surreal dreamland virtually devoid of background and details, but with an ambiance so intensely realized it inspires readers' own imaginations. The full-page paintings, especially, are exquisitely composed, with unexpected vantage points giving dynamic views of events. Like Carroll's story itself, these illustrations open doors to many levels of creative interpretation.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2000

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Alison Jay. Illustrations finished with a crackle varnish lend a folksy feel to this unabridged version of Carroll's classic fantasy. Full pages of art, smaller vignettes, and a generous number of double-page spreads appear throughout the book. While Jay's whimsical paintings tend to soft-pedal the story's surreal elements, this is a handsome edition nonetheless.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 Charming Classics series. Illustrated by John Tenniel. Each of these "deluxe editions" of classic novels are packaged with a gimmicky necklace (thus the "charm" in the series title). For collections, the value of these unabridged hardcovers is the inexpensive price.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) YA Visions in Poetry series. Illustrated by Stephane Jorisch. A sense of foreboding pervades this sophisticated interpretation of Carroll's classic nonsense poem. Washed with muted color, the scratchy illustrations reveal a dreamlike world with TVs and cameras present everywhere. The unsettling images seem to be commenting on politics, consumerism, war, the media, and more, and the book seems best suited to YA and adult audiences.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Michael Foreman. A palette of blues and greens predominate in the watercolor illustrations for this version of the classic fantasy. Foreman models his depiction of a dark-haired Alice on Carroll's photographs of the real Alice Liddell, a girl, with, he notes in an afterword, a "...mischievous little face." This interpretation will be a welcome addition to the pantheon of fine Alice editions.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Joel Stewart. Stewart's interpretation of the nonsense poem from Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There has a spare elegance even as it adeptly embodies the absurdity of goings-on in the verse. The entire poem appears on the first page; opposite, a Victorian man reads to his son (the son later appears as the slayer of the Jabberwock). The "tulgey wood" and even the Jabberwock's death by "vorpal blade" are less threatening than simply bizarre.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. This handsome facsimile of the original 1907 edition includes thirteen full-color plates and fourteen black-and-white drawings. An informative note by Peter Glassman is appended.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by DeLoss McGraw. For those looking for an alternative Alice, this brilliantly illustrated version with its deep fuchsia cover and vibrant watercolors is a visual treat.

Reviewer: Terri Schmitz

(4) 4-6 This oversized, unabridged edition showcases illustrations from pre-1930 editions of the Victorian fantasy. The artists include John Tenniel, Arthur Rackham, Margaret Tarrant, and Charles Robinson. Black-and-white drawings and color paintings range from spot art to full-page bleeds, but the pictures lack identifying labels. Overall, the volume has a cohesive artistic look, despite the many individual interpretations.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. This fat volume, printed on sturdy stock, has invitingly large type, wide margins, and a generosity of illustrations, including full-color double-page spreads, color vignettes, and additional sketches throughout. Oxenbury has created a magical world with funny, fabulous creatures and inviting landscapes. Her art has a sweetness of tone and an amiable spirit that recommend this edition for precocious younger listeners as well as for those in the middle grades.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2000

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger. Despite some daunting expanses of unillustrated type, Zwerger invokes a surreal dreamland virtually devoid of background and details; yet its ambiance is so intensely realized that it inspires the reader's own imagination. The full-page paintings, especially, are exquisitely composed, with unexpected vantage points to give dynamic views of the events. Here's an Alice to use with young adults; like the book itself, these illustrations open doors to many levels of creative interpretation.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2000

(3) 4-6 Photographs by Abelardo Morell. In an introduction, Leonard Marcus gives a convincing explanation for why Morell's shadowy black-and-white photographs are fitting illustrations for this classic text. Incorporating cut-outs of the original Tenniel drawings, the photos for this elegant, oversized edition are disquieting and surreal--an effect that Lewis Carroll, an enthusiastic photographer himself, likely would have enjoyed.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann