Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

"Alice in Wonderland" redirects here. For other uses, see Alice in Wonderland (disambiguation).

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
First edition cover (1865)
AuthorLewis Carroll
IllustratorJohn Tenniel
LanguageEnglish
GenrePortal fantasy
Literary nonsense
PublisherMacmillan
Publication date
November 1865
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Followed byThrough the Looking-Glass 
TextAlice's Adventures in Wonderland at Wikisource

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (also known as Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 English children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatures. It is seen as an example of the literary nonsense genre. The artist John Tenniel provided 42 wood-engraved illustrations for the book.

It received positive reviews upon release and is now one of the best-known works of Victorian literature; its narrative, structure, characters and imagery have had a widespread influence on popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.[1][2] It is credited as helping end an era of didacticism in children's literature, inaugurating an era in which writing for children aimed to "delight or entertain".[3] The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children.[4] The titular character Alice shares her name with Alice Liddell, a girl Carroll knew—scholars disagree about the extent to which the character was based upon her.[5][6]

The book has never been out of print and has been translated into 174 languages. Its legacy includes adaptations to screen, radio, visual art, ballet, opera, and musical theatre, as well as theme parks, board games and video games.[7] Carroll published a sequel in 1871 entitled Through the Looking-Glass and a shortened version for young children, The Nursery "Alice", in 1890.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Time was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference published was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Susina 2009, p. 3.
  4. ^ Lecercle 1994, p. 1.
  5. ^ Cohen 1996, pp. 135–136.
  6. ^ Susina 2009, p. 7.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Alice industry was invoked but never defined (see the help page).