The Nursery Alice

Ages 3 to 9

Lewis Carroll's original adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for younger readers, with the first colour illustrations by Sir John Tenniel.

"I wrote to Macmillan to suggest a new idea: a 'Nursery Edition' of Alice with pictures printed in." – Lewis Carroll's diary, 15th February 1881

The Nursery Alice, originally published by Macmillan & Co. in 1890, was the very first color edition of Alice. It was intended, wrote Carroll, "to be read by Children aged from Nought to Five. To be read? Nay, not so! Say rather to be thumbed, to be cooed over, to be dogs'-eared, to be rumpled, to be kissed . . ."

With this new, younger readership in mind, Carroll rewrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, simplifying and abridging the original text, while Tenniel redrew, enlarged and coloured twenty of his iconic illustrations. The resulting book is a delightfully engaging experience; readers prompted to interact not only with the story but also with the images and even the physical book itself, in a way that is thoroughly modern.

Gloriously reproduced by Macmillan, the original publishers of all Lewis Carroll's Alice books, this edition retains every word of the original The Nursery Alice and restores the exquisite delicacy of Tenniel's artwork - lost in reproductions across the decades - along with the delightful cover artwork by Emily Gertrude Thomson. This gem of a book is the perfect introduction to Alice, and a delight for child and adult readers alike.

About the Author

Lewis Carroll was the pen-name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Born in 1832, Dodgson was a mathematics tutor at Christ Church College, Oxford, where he met Alice Liddell, daughter of the dean, and inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The book and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, have delighted children all over the world for 160 years.

Sir John Tenniel was invited to produce illustrations for Alice. His exquisite engravings are among the most iconic and best loved images in the world.