A New Author For Me...

Hmm…I did not know what to expect when I opened this book and prepared to read it. It turned out to be a totally enchanting and captivating retelling of Alice In Wonderland. I think I loved this book because it is so totally quirky. There is a banner on the front cover which proclaims this book as “STICKFIGURATIVELY SPEAKING”. Here is the delightful reason why…all of the characters are black pen line drawn stick figures!!!  All of the important characters are right in the story where we want them…Alice and the Queen Of Hearts and the King and the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat as well as the White Rabbit and the caterpillar. But there are also some amusing and annoying other characters like pigs and birds and a cook and a Gryphon and even a Do Do bird. Alice has a very practical nature and is even a bit bossy and impatient. The story begins in the normal way…with Alice falling down the rabbit hole but as she is falling she is wondering about her latitude and longitude. As she follows the white rabbit she eats and drinks various things and becomes smaller and then taller, she fits into a small house and then bursts out of it, she floats within a pool of tears, she engages in a Caucus Race, and a Lobster Quadrille. This is a tiny lovely little book that has a ton of side stories going on within it. There are all of the conversations between all of the characters, of course and the main story retold in chapters. There are also quite a few story poems told by the characters.  My favorite parts of this book were all of the hysterical comments and conversations between all of the stick figure drawings. My favorite of these many many conversations is this one:
Alice is talking to a Mock Turtle who yearns to be a real turtle. Within the conversation the Mock Turtle talks about when he went to school and studied Reeling and Writhing. I loved this…Reeling and Writing…very funny stuff.
The main story winds itself to the croquet game while all of these little sidebars are taking place. Sometimes these can be a distraction but in this case they just add to the charm of this story.
So…to summarize and end this little review…it is a sweet funny charming retelling of a story that was a bit scary in its original format but has been retold in a unique and interesting way.
And as the author states in his note to his readers…he is lovingly and respectfully retelling this story and others in this stick figure format. He states that he truly  respects these stories and does not mean to mock them in any way.  His intentions are to provide us with enjoyment and pleasure. I truly think he does.

My copy was sent to my by Rianne…a production assistant at Publishing Works, INC.  Publishing Works is an independent publisher.