World of Reading: Alice's Wonderland Bakery: Wonderful Wonderland Adventures, Level Pre-1

PreS-Gr 1–Five stories based on five different episodes of the Disney Junior show featuring Alice’s Wonderland Bakery are ­collected in this volume for beginning readers. These entries feature Alice’s friends, preschooler versions of the characters from the source material—Hattie (the Mad ­Hatter), Rosa (the Red Queen’s ­daughter), and Fergie (the White Rabbit). Even ­Jabberwocky makes an appearance as Jabbie, Rosa’s pet, as does Dinah, Alice’s cat, and the wily Cheshire Cat, who contributes to the story lines with his own brand of mischief. Themes include friendship, your first sleepover, and peer pressure, which will resonate with burgeoning readers. Almost every problem is resolved with baked goods made by Alice using her magic cookbook. The digital cartoon art is captured from the popular program, and fans will be much appreciative. The large, black font; wide spacing; controlled vocabulary; and bright, relevant images will aid in comprehension. One to two sentences appear on each page. A word list is included in the back matter. Alice is white, Rosa appears to be Black, and Hattie appears to be Asian. VERDICT A sweet offering for children just learning to read on their own.–Shelley M. Diaz- SLJ (April 1, 2023)