Mrs. Russell (our Depute Head) is a big fan of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, but she isn't the only one. Alice's adventures remains one of the most popular children's books of all time - it has never been out of print for more than 150 years!
If you haven't read the book or seen one of the many movies, tv adaptations, plays (it was the Cbeebies Show recently) over the years you have probably still heard about it as part of pop culture. The story itself seems simple - Alice finds herself in a curious place called Wonderland one afternoon when she chases a rabbit down a hole.
It's not just children who love the story. Lots of Adults find that as they age the book reveals more to them, including being used in neuroscience to reveal more about the brain. The V&A was due to hold an exhibition this year about it (it's been postponed due to the current situation but the BBC Secrets of the Museum has behind the scenes on the real Alice) and the British Library has an online collection of articles and artefacts you can browse through at home to learn more about this classic tale.
The original story was illustrated by John Tenniel but as it has been republished over the years, others have tried their hand at illustrating the work including Salvador Dali, Chris Riddell and Helen Oxenbury (the BBC Beauty of Books episode 3 talks about this in more detail).
Even if you have read Alice in Wonderland it's a book that a re-read can reveal more to the reader.
You can read it for free Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Or if you fancy a challenge why not try to Escape from Wonderland yourself in this escape room.
