Lewis Carroll sends Alice on a second set of adventures in some territory that is beyond our world. This time she crosses a mirror and enters a game of chess. She will eventually become a queen but she will in all possible ways express her deep desire to rebel against a world that is seen as having too many limitations and frustrating rules. She will in a way rebel against the game of chess itself when she comes to the end of it and pulls the tablecloth from under all the pawns and pieces to have peace and quiet, to free herself of absolute slavery. But what is she the slave of ? Of rules, the rules of the game, the rules of society, the rules of education. Of words and their silly ambiguities that enable them to mean both one sense and its reverse, that enable them to lead to absurd statements and declarations that completely block her in blind alleys and impasses. But at the same time, her return to the normal world that transforms those adventures into a dream, is a rejection of such adventures and of such rebellion as being absurd and purely fantasmatic, dreamlike. There is in this book a rather sad lesson that comes out of this ending : children can dream adventures, can dream perfect freedom, but reason brings them back to the comfortable world of everyday life and submission. And there is no other way possible. This book is pessimistic about a possible evolution from one generation to the next thanks to the retension of childish, childlike dreams, forgetting that the world can only change and progress thanks to the fuel those dreams represent in our social engine.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

"Through The Looking Glass" is, perhaps, not QUITE as good as "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland", but it's close enough to still rate five stars. Not, properly, a sequel to the first book, there is no indication at any point in it that the Alice (clearly the same individual, slightly older) from this book ever had the adventures in the first one; there is no reference to her previous adventures, even when she once again meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Obviously, the two books are intended as parallel adventures, not subsequent ones.

The most memorable bits from this book are doubtlessly the poem, "Jabberwocky", as well as chapter six, "Humpty Dumpty". But all of the book is marvellous, and not to be missed by anyone who enjoys a magical romp through silliness and playful use of the English language.

(This review refers to the unabridged "Dover Thrift Edition".)

Carrol was a profound and wonderful writer, and Through the Looking Glass... is definate proof of this. Though there isn't much evidence that he was a pedophile, you shouldn't grade his works simply on who he might or might not have been. Through the Looking Glass... is one of the greatest works of literature in the english language, and will continue to be despite the author's supposed problems.

Earth Mobiles As Explained by Dr. Xargle is a joltingly funny report on how Earthlets travel. The Dr. teaches his students appropriate sailing lingo, and how fast bicycles can go. This book is an excellent read for parents and children alike, and both will laugh together as the infamous Dr. Xargle explains how we get around.

I read many of the Amber Brown books with my 7-year old daughter, and generally, we love them. All of the books have a portion dedicated to the fact that her parents have split up and how she is dealing with this situation. Although my daughter cannot relate directly to that, it has lead to some interesting discussions. Most of the books have a humerous story interweaved, but unfortunately, not this one. It is a story of a girl who goes to Europe to visit her father, gets sick, and is bored sitting in her aunt's flat. We were as bored as Amber. While I would highly recommend other books (I, Amber Brown; Amber Brown Sees Red; Forever Amber Brown), I have to recommend staying away from this one.

This book was an okay book, but thier could have been a little more excitement and adventure, which I think makes this book kind of boring, but the good thing is she had fun in Europe.

I just finished this story. It is about Amber Brown at school. Her best friend Justin Daniels just moved away. When she came home her parents get divorced. Guess what! Her dad moves to France. She could not believe what happened to her life. Her life was wrecked into pieces! She was heart broken. Then a couple of months later she goes to France. She was so happy to see her dad. France was so cool. But she gets the chicken pox! I thought the book was great! It lots of parts I liked. I don't have a favorite part, though!- By Amanda H. Age 7

I once heard someone describe a dull western movie as a "plodding oater." OK, so this is not a western adventure, but the description fits.

Every now and then, I run across a children's book that challenges my sanity. This one qualifies. Perhaps some children have the tenacity to finish books that repeat, and repeat, and repeat words, phrases, and ideas over and over. Perhaps all of this repetition reinforces reading skills. Well, I could not finish the book and my daughter was bored to sleep before we could get past the halfway point.

... I found this book perfect for an early reader. The repition is exactly what an early reader needs to reinforce their reading skills and also helps reinforce the concepts being introduced.

A mi me encanto este libro. Este libro dice lo que le paso a Ambar cuando ella fue a el quarto grado sin su mejor amigo Justin.

Ian Whybrow's Little Wolf is a delightful continuation of Little Wolf's Book of Badness, published in 1995. Little Wolf, his cousin, Yeller, and little brother, Smellybreff, are starting their own school, Adventure Academy, with the money that Uncle Bigbad hid. Little Wolf recounts the hilarious adventures through letters home to his parents. They hire Mister Marvo who promises to build "Instant Adventures" for the school. Instead he steals all the gold and Little Wolf's little brother, Smellybreff. They then discover that Mister Marvo was disguised as the wolf, Mister Twister the Fox, who was Uncle Bigbad's crime partner. Little Wolf, Yeller, and their one pupil, Stubbs, a shy, but clever crow, now try to find Mister Twister. A map is provided at the beginning of the book and the two wolves and crow begin their adventures trying to rescue Smellybreff. The adorable pen and ink illustrations are shown on each page with splotches of ink and little drawings to accompany each letter. This book is one of my favorites!

I ordered this book to help teach the importance of telling the truth. It was not the classic tale I remember. I agree with the other review that the book seemed more violent and did not express the true intent of the original tale.

I wish ther was a -10. Dum story. Same old evil wolfs are bad. Y not somthing new for a change?

My students loved this book and the silly illustrations. Perfect for Kindergarten.