Some of the most prominent memories from many people’s childhoods are either of make believe or imagining. At some point in time, everyone has gone through a phase where they would rather play in a world that didn’t exist than to play in the world of reality. Alice, from the book Alice in Wonderland is a perfect example of a seven year old girl, who wanted nothing more than to imagine a whole other world, rather than living in her own. To put it simply, Alice in Wonderland is basically about a little girl who falls asleep and dreams about going down a rabbit hole into a non-existent land with creatures that are very stubborn. Throughout the book, Alice runs into each character and describes how bizarre her encounter was with them. Anyone with a wild imagination would love Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll because of its relatable characters, its humorous irony and its suspense.

To begin, this book was a very easy read mostly because of how well one could relate to Alice. She, like most other little children, had a wild imagination.. For example, on page 2 it states, “Nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, ‘Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” This shows Alice’s imagination was so vast that she didn’t even think it strange to hear a rabbit talk. along with a wild imagination, Alice had a tendency to easily offend the other creatures which many children her age do on a regular basis An example of the other creatures being offended is on page 50 when Alice says, “Three inches is such a wretched height to be” and then, “It is a very good height indeed! said the Caterpillar angrily, rearing itself upright as it spoke (it was exactly three inches high.” Then Alice replied, “I wish the creatures wouldn’t be so easily offended!” This shows that by the caterpillars anger, he was offended and that Alice was obviously frustrated by that. Relatable characters are just one aspect of Alice in Wonderland that makes it an enjoyable book to read.

Secondly, this book contains many examples of humorous irony which also makes it interesting. One example of this is on page 92 and 94 when the Cheshire cat appears. “My dear I wish you would have this cat removed! said the king” the Queen remarked with a simple, “Off with his head!” later the executioner came by and, “the executioners argument was that you couldn’t cut off a head unless there was a body to cut it off from.” Another example is on page 216 when Alice thinks, “It would have been all the better if the White Queen had gotten someone else to dress her, she was so dreadfully untidy.” This shows situational irony because it’s ironic that a Queen (who are usually dressed to perfection) can’t even make herself look decent to a seven year old. These two examples of irony are only a glimpse of the kind of situations that happen throughout the rest of the story.

Finally, the random spurts of suspense are what make this story intriguing. Just as the reader is getting tired of reading, the author throws in a phrase or two that makes one want to keep going. An example of this is on page 128 when it states, “Alice watched the White Rabbit as he fumbled over the list, feeling very curious to see what the next witness would be like. ‘For they haven’t got much evidence yet,’ she said to herself. Imagine her surprise, when the White Rabbit read out, at the top of his shrill little voice, ‘Alice!” This is a very surprising part of the book considering that Alice was just a visitor in Wonderland and she had to go up in front of the whole court room and defend something she didn’t even witness. Another example of suspense was on page 177, “All Alice remembered was that they were running hand in hand, and the Queen went so fast that it was all she could do to keep up with her; and still the Queen kept crying, Faster! Faster!” This was also suspenseful in that the reader had no idea where the Queen was taking Alice.

To conclude, Alice in Wonderland is a fantastic book for anyone from the age of 11 to 15 who enjoys relatable characters, humorous irony, and an average amount of suspense. Lewis Caroll did a great job of making the characters very funny and they would bring a smile to anyone’s face. The irony is another part of the book that would make one laugh. The suspense is just enough to keep one interested, but not so much that it takes away from the simple plot of the story. So, anyone with a wild imagination who enjoys reading about fantasy, will be captivated by this book from beginning to end.