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Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Book Review: Mrs. White Rabbit by Gilles Bachelet

This is delightful especially for fans of the classic Alice in Wonderland!
Mrs. White Rabbit 
by Gilles Bachelet

Age Range: 6 - 10 years
Grade Level: 1 - 4
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
(February 6, 2017)
ISBN-10: 0802854834
Genre: Children's
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0*


A hilarious twist on a classic tale.
Alice in Wonderland is one of the great classics of children's literature, but what does anyone actually know about Wonderland? Through the diary of the White Rabbit's extremely busy wife, readers finally get to see what happens in the background during Alice's adventures.
Mrs. White Rabbit loves her husband and their many children, but with an invisible housecat from Cheshire and a young female visitor who frequently changes size, living in Wonderland comes with a number of challenges.
With an abundance of wit and charm, Mrs. White Rabbit gives Lewis Carroll's famous tale a refreshingly modern twist.


Review:
As the description notes, this is a view into the diary of the beleaguered wife of the White Rabbit. With five children you can imagine she is very busy and doesn't appreciate the addition of a transparent cat and a young woman who can't control her size.

I thought the story was fun and creative. It could be considered a quick read but that would be such an injustice. You can't just read through quickly because there is so much to see on each page. The illustrations are fabulous, creative and many! As a fan of Alice in Wonderland I had to stop on each page and look at the drawings that relate back to the original classic.

This is set out as a children's book and I don't think that is the best audience. Perhaps if a child has recently read Alice in Wonderland, he or she might get the humor and the irony, especially with the help of an adult to point out the scenes and characters that fill this book.

*I didn't give this a 5 star rating only because I am not sure it is fitted to the target audience. However, it would definitely get my recommendation for any mature or adult enthusiast of the classic Alice in Wonderland.

I received this title as a NetGalley pdf. It adds to my NetGalley Challenge.
(I realized I was a few books short for my NetGalley Challenge so I picked up some children's titles to test for my grandchildren... and to enjoy myself!)

1 comment:

  1. Great review. If you think it's for a more mature audience, I think I will try it for myself.

    ReplyDelete

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