The Real Alice in Wonderland

Cathy Rubin co-author of The Real Alice in Wonderland contacted me recently with an interesting bit of trivia.

American Independence Day and Alice in Wonderland share the same birthday. So, I not only share my birthday with my country, I share it with a timeless story.

According Cathy, Friday July 4, 1862 is credited with the first time Lewis Carroll told Alice Liddell and her sisters the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.  It was shortly after the first telling of Carroll’s story that Alice began to urge the author to write it down for her.

I've been intrigued by this book since I first heard about it, so I went to Cathy's Web site to get more information about how and why she came to write this book. 
"In 2007, my daughter’s school  selected  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for Book Day.  My daughter Gabriella remembered we had a connection to the Liddell family.  Alice Liddell inspired Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) to write the original story.  At this point I knew very little about Alice Liddell’s story other than what my grandmother and my great aunt Phil Liddell had told me about her when I was a child.   Gabriella bugged me to help her research the story. You could say we jumped down the rabbit hole together. It took us several months to research the content for our Book Day workshop  which we called The Real Alice In Wonderland. After we presented the workshop to Gabriella’s school and other groups we were encouraged by educators, friends and family to turn our story  into a film or book.  The book as you can see came first!"


Like many other readers, I did not know that Lewis Carroll wrote about a real  person. It was interesting to find out a bit about her:   

Alice Liddell was born into a privileged, academic family on May 4, 1852.  She was the fourth child of Henry and Lorina Liddell.  Her father, one of the most prominent educators of his day, was the Dean of Christ Church College, Oxford University.  Alice was home schooled by some of Oxford University’s finest tutors.  She was a bright child with significant artistic talents.  Alice was also known to be free-spirited (largely due to her never-ending curiousity about everything).   She grew up to become a beautiful and cultured young woman.  Her beauty inspired many distinguished photographers and artists such as Charles Dodgson, Julia Margaret Cameron and Sir William Blake Richmond.  She also inspired the devotion of many suitors including Prince Leopold, Queen Victoria’s youngest son.  In 1880, she married a wealthy landowner, Reginald Hargreaves, with whom she had three sons.

So, I wish a Happy Birthday to the gool ol' U. S. A. and to the wonderful story of Alice and the rabbit hole.

Special Surprise Tomorrow

The Fourth of July is my birthday. For years I thought all the fireworks and picnics and parades were just for me, and, boy, did I feel important. Then I found out that 99.99 percent of the American public was celebrating Independence Day, and just my family cared about my birthday.

When I matured, just last year, I got over the disappointment and was thrilled to share my birthday with America. I get tingly all over when I hear "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy."

Just this week, I found out I share my birthday with another significant event. Perhaps not as important as the independence of a nation, but still pretty significant.

I know this is a big holiday weekend here in the States, but if you have time and are interested, stop by tomorrow and discover the surprise. It's a good one.

I'm A Yankee Doodle Dandy

Today the United States is celebrating a birthday, and so am I. The country is 233 years old, but I won't tell you my age.

For many years I thought all the parades and fireworks were in my honor, and it was quite a let down when I found out they weren't. To read all about that visit the Blood Red Pencil blog.

I've gotten over that fit of pique, but I still get all misty-eyed and goose-pimply when I hear the Star Spangled Banner and see Old Glory waving in a gentle breeze. And I drive my family nuts by singing "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" off and on all day long.

Happy Birthday to Us!!!!