All little girls have to grow up but - maybe not Alice. I have never been quite sure what her time in Wonderland did for her. But the voyage began as a boat cruise down a river when Lewis Carroll felt the obligation to entertain three young ladies with a story. Row, row, row that boat.

John Tenniel illustration for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Turns 150

By Maryann Yin

This week marked the 150th anniversary of the first time Lewis Carroll told the story that became his beloved novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. On July 4, 1862, Charles Dodgson (the author who would publish as Carroll) boarded a small boat with three young girls.

Here’s more from Brain Pickings: “Entrusted with entertaining the young ladies, Dodgson fancied a story about a whimsical world full of fantastical characters, and named his protagonist Alice. So taken was Alice Liddell with the story that she asked Dodgson to write it down for her, which he did when he soon sent her a manuscript under the title of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground.”

In 1865, Carroll published his first Alice story. The Through the Looking Glass sequel followed in 1871.

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http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/alices-adventures-in-wonderland-turns-150_b54007