ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS

Every bit as handsome as its Greenaway Medal–winning predecessor (1999), this edition of young Alice’s second venture beyond the everyday world features a text printed in a comfortably legible font on creamy paper, well supplied with vignettes, sepia figures and full-color scenes done in Oxenbury’s trademark pale hues and delicate lines. Bearing a slightly disheveled look and dressed in a bright blue shift, Alice makes a sturdy, confident companion for the adventure. Though the Bandersnatch’s chopped-off head is a gory sight and there are other battles galore (the plot is, after all, loosely based on a game of chess), in general the figures she encounters, from Humpty Dumpty to Tweedledum and Tweedledee, are comical enough to keep the tone lighthearted. An outstanding rendition equally suited to reading aloud or alone. (Fantasy. 7-10)