Book Review: The Wonderland Diaries

My nine-year-old son was super excited to get the new book by Jeff Savage, The Wonderland Diaries. I was, too, actually because it's such a fun premise. And the story did not disappoint!

Mr. Savage has taken a new twist to a well-loved story and truly made it his own. Both my son and I loved getting to know Celia and Tyrus as they fall through a portal that lead them into an amazing adventure. We loved seeing some familiar characters like the Cheshire Cat and meeting new ones like Sylvan. They were so well-drawn and memorable. Celia and Tyrus are trying to get out of Wonderland and must learn to work together to solve the riddles and find out how to do it. But the Queen of Hearts is working hard to capture them and will stop at nothing! With time running out, will they make it back?

This was a really great adventure story that will have your child begging to stay up later for just one more page. It was a nice cross between the familiar and the new and the characters hit all the right notes for both younger readers and older. There was one part that was just a tiny bit too scary for my little boy, but we talked about it and that helped. Tyrus and Celia are great characters that have traits children will identify with as they make mistakes and try to put them right. There are also some great spots to open up a conversation with your child on topics like dyslexia and how to apologize when you've done something that hurts someone else. (The discussion questions in the back were helpful, too) But all in all, it was an imaginative take on Alice in Wonderland. If your family likes twisty, turny adventures where everything isn't just what is seems (or what you remember) you'll want to pick up The Wonderland Diaries!

Get your copy here

Here's the back copy:

Something monstrous has been found in the magic world of Wonderland and it wants to get out.

Lewis Carroll created a curious and fantastical world in his classic book Alice in Wonderland, but he secretly recorded the true story of his actual travels to Wonderland in four journals which have been lost to the world...until now.

Celia and Tyrus discover the legendary Lost Diaries of Wonderland and fall into a portal that pulls them into the same fantasy world as the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter. However, Wonderland has vastly changed. A darkness has settled over the land, and some creatures and characters that Tyrus remembers from the book have been transformed into angry monsters.

Celia and Tyrus make their way through this unpredictable and dangerous land, helped by familiar friends including the Cheshire Cat and a new character, Sylvan, a young rabbit. Together, they desperately work to solve puzzles and riddles, looking for a way out of Wonderland. But the danger increases when the Queen of Hearts begins hunting them. Believing the two young visitors hold the key to opening multiple portals to multiple worlds, she will stop at nothing to capture them.

It's up to Celia and Tyrus to save Wonderland and the real world. It's a race against time before they are trapped in Wonderland forever.