Alice in Wonderland is coming out in theaters next month in the US… starring one of my favorite actors, Johnny Depp! Adding to the excitement is that it’s directed by Tim Burton. He directed Edward Scissorhands (starring Depp), The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (also starring Depp), and the list of great movies by Burton goes on!
We’re hoping to re-read the book before watching the movie and introducing these wonderful characters to my daughter before the big event.
Here are some online sources for reading the book, and listening to it read aloud…
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Online Version organized by chapter, illustrated by Sir John Tenniel.
Alice in Wonderland – different versions at Project Gutenberg – you can download them or read them online. The mp3 recordings are the ones with the speaker symbol next to them.
Illustrators of Alice on the Web – Choose the ones with "text" to read the book online or look at different illustrations.
The Original Alice -Written and illustrated by Lewis Carroll – (Requires a Flash Player) – A version where you flip the book on your computer screen and you can hear it read aloud.
LibriVox Recordings of Alice in Wonderland (The recordings below are clips from here so you can get an idea of how they sound.)
Here’s a poem and a song from Alice in Wonderland to get you in the mood. First the poem:
MP3 of How doth the little crocodile
How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail, And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale! How cheerfully he seems to grin, How neatly spread his claws, And welcome little fishes in With gently smiling jaws!
(Recorded by Peter Yearsley.)
Below is the song from Alice in Wonderland, based on Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. The "Mad Hatter" recites it. (He never really finishes the song in the book because he’s interrupted by the Dormouse saying, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Twinkle, Twinkle". I edited the recording so the Mad Hatter could finish his rhyme and the dormouse could finish it with “Twinkle, Twinkle…”.) The recording was edited from the original by Peter Yearsley.
MP3 of Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you’re at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea-tray in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder where you’re at!
Curiouser and curiouser! (I was so much surprised, that for the moment I quite forgot how to write good English.)
-Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 12:07 pm and is filed under Alice in Wonderland, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Authors, Books & Stories, Childrens Stories, Countries & Cultures, England, English, Languages, Lewis Carroll, Movies, TV & The Internet, Online Books, United Kingdom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
4 Responses to “Alice in Wonderland the Movie and Book”
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February 19th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
The Crocodile poem is a parody of the ever-so-moralizing “How doth the Little Bee”, of a genre that was popular among Victorians.
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rands/ajrbion1.html
February 19th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Thanks for pointing that out Uly! It’s interesting to see the connection. Here’s the full poem:
How Doth The Little Busy Bee
by Isaac Watts (1674 – 1748)
How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!
How skilfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labours hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.
In works of labour or of skill,
I would be busy too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.
In books, or work, or healthful play,
Let my first years be passed,
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.
February 21st, 2010 at 2:57 am
Hello Mama Lisa,
I only recently found your blog – I was looking for Japanese children’s songs – and I’m so happy that I now know about you! What a tremendous resource – your website and blog, and also this lovely post about Alice in Wonderland.
August 28th, 2012 at 11:11 am
Mama Lisa,
Have you seen Syfy’s Alice with Kathy Bates, Tim Curry, Matt Frewer and Andrew Lee Potts? I am a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland, and Syfy’s Alice is one of my favourite adoptions. It is a retake, however it is refreshing for the older viewers because it happens 150 years after the original Alice came to Wonderland. It is a great movie with brilliant actors. I highly suggest this for everyone. It just recently became available on Netflix.