I’m delighted that Return to Wonderland, the anthology I’m part of, had not one but TWO reviews this weekend, in The Times and the Sunday Times.
‘Drink me! It’s hard not to lap up this collection of short stories by some of our greatest contemporary children’s authors, inspired by Alice. Peter Bunzl (Cogheart) focuses on the Duchess’s son; Robin Stevens, crime queen, tries to save Alice from Wonderland; and Piers Torday wonders how the Cheshire Cat got his smile. I particularly loved Patrice Lawrence’s tale of Honour the hedgehog, from a family of croquet balls.
The Times, Saturday 7th July 2019
As adaptations of Alice in Wonderland tour the country this summer, and as Oxford celebrates Alice’s Day, this collection of stories inspired by Carroll offers more matter for enthusiasts. Eleven authors pay tribute in tales that are variously playful (Pamela Butchart’s updating of Wonderland); impassioned (Swapna Haddow’s hymn to the importance of librarians and Lauren St John’s plea on behalf of bees and all animals); inventive (Robin Stevens’s view from Alice Liddell’s elder sister, or Patrice Lawrence’s from the perspective of a hedgehog croquet ball) as well as, in many cases, puzzling, dark, punning, hallucinogenic. Most coherent is Piers Torday’s origin myth — in which the elements of the story come together. Like the original, this is one for ambitious readers.
Nicolette Jones, Sunday Times, Sunday 8th July 2019
I’m so pleased to see that this book is getting such lovely attention – and it’s the perfect time for year for it, too! Saturday was Alice Day, a day that’s all about Alice in Wonderland, and to celebrate, Patrice Lawrence, Amy Wilson and I visited Blackwell’s Oxford Westgate to talk about the anthology and our stories. We had such a wonderful time – and we even met the White Rabbit AND Alice herself!
