Saturday Morning at the Library

 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Lewis Carol

illustrated by John Tenniel

When I was 5 years old, I was forced to take dancing lessons while the Brother was forced to take accordion lessons. I hated dancing class. The Knights of Columbus Hall where the classes were given had no heat or it wasn't turned on. I hated wearing the pink beginner tights. I liked clacking around in the tap shoes, but Ma wouldn't let me practice inside the house on the wood floors. I spent most of my time in class being miserable and crying. Eventually, I was taken out of class.

While the Brother still had to endure accordion lessons, Dad took me to the library. He would leave me upstairs in the children's library where I could look at the books and choose to take some books home with my own library card. As I got older, I would go downstairs to the adult library and wander among the stacks enjoying the scent of the books before going to find Dad in the reference area consulting the law books and catching up on his work.

So for the next several weeks, a list of my favorite books, some I have read as a child, others as an adult and some  I have read more than once.

Chapter I: Down the Rabbit-Hole

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on

the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had

peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no

pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,'

thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?'

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could,

for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether

the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the

trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a

White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; 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 late!' (when she thought

it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have

wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural);

but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH OUT OF ITS

WAISTCOAT- POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried

on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that

she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and

burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop

down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get

out again.

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so

suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling

down a very deep well.

Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to

look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make

out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the

well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps

and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was

labelled `ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to

drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell

past it.

If you haven't read this book, you can download it complete with the Tennial illustrations from Alice-in-Wonderland.net or you can find this book at your public library.