One Fun Day with Lewis Carroll

December 18, 2017
Krull’s playful biography of Lewis Carroll highlights the many words that Carroll himself coined: “Their burbles of delight would brighten the tulgey wood around them.” Each word is color-coded to indicate the Carroll work it appears in, and there’s a glossary, as well. An unmarried professor of logic and mathematics, Carroll cultivated relationships with the children of his friends, inventing stories for them and taking them on expeditions. As many know, the story of Alice in Wonderland was first told to a girl of that name on a summer rowing outing; Krull includes a longish synopsis, allowing the introduction of yet more Carrollisms. Sardà’s sly set pieces resemble the domestic scenes she created for The Lizsts; they show Carroll and his child friends in Victorian dress, playing hide-and-seek in stuffy drawing rooms and out picnicking. But the Alice in Wonderland sequence gives Sardà more scope—a dazzling spread of Alice chasing the White Rabbit through surreal flowers of scarlet and gold shows that hers is a bold, versatile talent. Ages 6–9. Author’s agent: Susan Cohen, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House.

February 1, 2018

Gr 3-5-This short introduction to Lewis Carroll's personality emphasizes his keen ability for storytelling; his bizarre characters and tales; his penchant for imaginative play, which endeared him to his 10 younger siblings and friends' children; and his talent for wordplay that has kept his stories alive throughout a century and a half. The real Alice of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There was 10 years old, and "like the Queen of Hearts, a bit bossy." Descriptive words invented by Carroll are printed in red and described in a glossary at the end, followed by two pages of biographical information about the famed author and his writings. Sarda's colorful, highly decorative illustrations are filled with patterned clothing, costumes, birds, butterflies, and flowers, all set against stark white pages. Renditions of Carroll's well-known characters are sprinkled throughout. VERDICT This fabulous short introduction to Carroll and the world and language he created is a great lead-in to his famous stories for young people.-Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2017
Tumble down the rabbit hole into a wonderland filled with rhymes and whimsical wordplay. In their first collaboration together, Krull and Sarda produce a delightful confection that is part Lewis Carroll biography and part word game. This charming picture book combines the nonsense words and phrases that became his trademark and names from his famous books about Alice to bring readers on a guided tour of Carroll's madcap yet irresistible fantasy world. Along the way, readers learn the story of Carroll's childhood and his meeting with the Liddell family that produced the books that made him a household name. The witty prose is aided and abetted by Sarda's illustrations, which breathe new life into the infamous characters from Carroll's life and Alice's adventures. The illustrator's double-page spreads are a wonderland in and of themselves, a riot of color that grounds the figures in the real world while also rendering them fantastical. The world created by the text and illustrations is tantalizing yet off-putting; it perfectly re-creates what Wonderland is meant to be, and the human figures in the pictures are, appropriately, both beautiful and slightly creepy. Krull refers to her subject as "Lewis" in the body of the text, not revealing Charles Dodgson's real name until a closing note. Thoughtful and evocative, this book will bring a score of new readers to Carroll's impressive work. (glossary, sources) (Picture book/biography. 3-7)

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Starred review from November 15, 2017
Grades 1-4 *Starred Review* Krull's latest is at once a picture-book biography (of Charles Dodgson), a literary history (telling how the Alice books came to be), and a celebration of language. Throughout this triple-decker delight, words, phrases, and concepts imagined by Dodgson, referred to familiarly as Lewis, are highlighted and then explained in a glossary that is color-coded by which of his works the words originally appeared. It's a masterful accomplishment as not a page goes by without a brillig or a vorpal, a tumtum or a tove. It all makes perfect sense, from Dodgson's childhood through his creation of works that have become a part of the childhood of millions, all of which is enhanced with an illuminating author's note and source list. Barcelona-based Sarda has crafted illustrations that match the text whimsy-for-whimsy, referencing the source material while still creating their own distinctive enchantment. She integrates fantasy with reality and shifts perspectives and layouts with elan, and in the process has created at least one double-page spread that would make for some awesome psychedelic wallpaper. This is an informative gem with lots of applicability and amusement for libraries, schools, and homes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)