Curiouser and Curiouser

This month we are honoring Lewis Carroll, the man who made us delight in nonsense and embrace madness.  Carroll's wildly imaginative tales of young Alice and her forays into Wonderland have inspired movies, television series, video games, music, teen books, picture books, graphic novels etc. You would be hard pressed to find a man, woman, or child unfamiliar with the Mad Hatter's tea party, the Cheshire cat, or the Queen of Hearts shouting "Off with her head!"

Prior to the publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) was a shy math teacher who enjoyed making up stories to entertain children. When the daughter of a friend (the real life Alice) begged Dodgson to write down the story he had made up for her, he complied. By chance the story fell into the hands of another author who begged Dodgson to have it published. Could anyone have imagined that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland would still be universally popular more than a century later? Or that Alice and all of the interesting characters she meets in Wonderland would have such a pervasive impact on modern culture?

Lewis Carroll was born January 27th (also my son's birthday), 1832 and to celebrate the anniversary of his birth the library is hosting an Alice in Wonderland party this Saturday (the 25th) at 10am. I have been busily making Wonderland-themed displays and decorations so I hope that it feels like you have fallen down the rabbit hole when you enter the children's area.  

 

There will be "wonderful" activities for kids of all ages on Saturday from making unbirthday cards to finger-painting the roses red. After games and crafts, kids will attend the mad hatter's tea party and watch Disney's animated Alice in Wonderland.