ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

In his colorful new illustrations for a much-illustrated classic, Browne strikes exactly the right note: he pays homage to the inescapable Tenniel in the moments he depicts and even in the way he depicts them, but in his own highly individual style; he includes a satisfying number of full-page and smaller illustrations, but not so many that they overwhelm the text. His paintings are cool and clean, each detail rendered with sharp precision. Browne's fans will not be surprised to find satire as well as a comic spirit: the cook's apron is tied with a string of sausages; the Duchess's headdress and nostrils give a remarkably piggish cast to her tweezed, matronly face; the Mouse has a toad for a tie, a fish in his pocket, and a tail that follows the pattern of his subsequent tale; the shelved rabbit-hole is full of curious, surrealist treasures; and such Browne familiars as a chimp and a gorilla make quiet appearances in crowd scenes. You may not have known you needed another Alice, but you need this one.