ALICE IN WONDERLAND: YA BOOK CLUB – CHAPTER 1

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit-Hole
Written by Rose
Edited by Krystal

Alice is sitting by a riverbank with her sister, feeling sleepy, as she peeked into her sister’s book which had no pictures. Alice wondered what the point of the book was and as she contemplated making a daisy-chain a white rabbit appears, takes a pocket watch out and exclaims “Oh dear, I shall be late.” Curious, Alice follows him across the field and down a hole under the hedge.

Next thing she knew, Alice was falling down what seemed to be a giant well, passing bookshelves and cupboards on and on, for what seems like forever. She pondered a great many things, like falling through the center of the earth and coming out on the other side as she fell and her cat Dinah. Suddenly, with a thump, Alice found herself at the bottom with the White Rabbit running down another hall.

Read the rest of the summary HERE.

Memorable Quotes:

Alice: Please, Ma’am, is this New Zealand? Or Australia?
Narrator: (and she tried to curtsey as she spoke – fancy, curtseying as you’re falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?)

Alice: “Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?”

Narrator: For she had read several nice little stories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts, and other unpleasant things all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends has taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that, if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked “poison,” it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.

Alice: “What a curious feeling!” said Alice. “I must be shutting up like a telescope!”

Questions for discussion:

Why did Alice compare her metamorphosis to a telescope?

Like magic, what she needs to transform herself big and small appears when she needs it. Is she subconsciously influencing what happens or what appears around her?

What else about this chapter did you find curious and wish to discuss?

Read and discuss more HERE.