Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There1865-71 (collected 1888) / Audiobook / 208 pages / UK
****
I didn't see Disney's take until I was too old and sober to appreciate it. Going back to the sources was more rewarding, but it's probably a bit too tongue-twisting to make it onto the bedtime story list. We'll stick with Lovecraft.
1910-11 (collected 1911) / Audiobook / 375 pages / USA
***
More ambiguously magical than I was expecting, I wouldn't have got much out of this as a boy, but I found it relaxing as a grown-up. For a vintage book, the attitudes aren't bad either.
1961 / Audiobook / 255 pages / USA
**
Starting out like a similarly quirky Alice in Wonderland for boys, this quickly grew tiresome without comparable iconic imagery (I didn't see the illustrations, admittedly). This is coming from someone who normally considers puns the highest form of wit.
Alfred Bestall, Rupert: The Daily Express Annual (1964)
1964 / Ebook / 114 pages / UK
***
I had one or two Rupert annuals as a child, but don't remember ever feeling like reading them once I was able to, so I don't know if this one's typical of the form with its odd parallel prose and poetry streams for the same stories, origami tips and racist magic paintings. Apart from that part, it was quite nice.
Faves: 'Rupert and the Compass,' 'Rupert and the Dog-Roses.'
Worsties: 'Rupert and the Distant Music,' 'Rupert's Pleasure Island.'
Faves: 'Rupert and the Compass,' 'Rupert and the Dog-Roses.'
Worsties: 'Rupert and the Distant Music,' 'Rupert's Pleasure Island.'
1988 / Audiobook / 240 pages / UK
***
I might have read some or even all of this one as a child, it's one of the less memorable ones for being less ghoulish and comparatively humdrum until the second half, when the precocious prankster's "brain power" gets a sci-fi literalisation. It stands up well as an adult, even without nostalgia.
