“Through the Looking Glass” is Lewis Carroll’s sequel to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and was written six years later, in 1871. Several aspects of the storyline are based on similar themes. Where the first story used playing cards to represent numerous characters, the second uses chess pieces. Even Alice herself is said to be a pawn who must, as in a real game of chess, reach the eighth square in order to become a queen, while the land through which she travels resembles a giant, real life chessboard, where the squares are lush countryside neatly divided by brooks.
Though not quite as famous as Wonderland, the story is significantly longer and has also been adapted many times for film, television and the theatre. Tim Burton’s recent film, “Alice in Wonderland”, is based largely on the first book but includes characters and elements of plot from both.
Our very own audio production of the book, read by Peter Schofield and originally broadcast on the children’s internet radio station Abracadabra, can now be relished in its entirety right here. Just press play on the controls below and let each curious and enthralling chapter unfold as intrepid Alice ventures into a magical land where opinionated flowers, an intellectual egg, knitting sheep and eccentric knights are but a few from the cast wondrous new characters awaiting her company.