The Alice App

A favourite children’s book for well over a century and also enjoyed by many an adult, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has been related in many different print editions, plays, animations and films. Each has retold this riddle and puzzle imbued tale with a different aesthetic as interpreted by another artists take on its fantasy setting. To join these is an app every bit as welcome as the best of these earlier retellings.

Lewis Carroll’s original story is all present and correct in the virtual pages of this app, but it is much more than an eBook in an app’s clothing. To start with, it is beautifully narrated throughout by a very well chosen voice artist. Expression, mood, and quirk of character are reflected perfectly as the speaker works though the whole story. Sound effects here and there produce new highlights without overwhelming the story telling. For those who prefer to listen to their own reading voice in their mind the narration can be turned off.

The story has been told in print and voice before but this app also adds a new artistic dimension to Alice’s strange adventures. The artist has developed an interesting collage technique using renaissance art to bring Wonderland to life in a strange, slightly discordant, yet beautiful way that suits it entirely. Oil painting cracked skies might form the background while components of other paintings and other art are combined into the familiar characters acting out the story in the foreground. And yes, they do act out the story. Most of the artworks contain animation and simple interactions.

Dragging characters across the screen, initiating Alice’s shrinking and growing, and a huge amount of other movements, lift what would be beautiful colour images when static, to something very impressive indeed. A highlight that cannot go unmentioned is the chance to play the bizarre version of croquet that Alice experiences. Hedgehogs, flamingos and playing card hoops are the key elements and the interaction comes from tilting the iPad to guide the rolling hedgehogs to the hoops.

The app is completed by two background sections. The first presents the history of the author and the inspiration for the tale. The second is more personal to the creator of this app, as he describes why he chose the illustrations that he did and why they take the form that they do. A really nice touch is that these insights are accompanied by an external web link to articles about the paintings that inspired or loaned aspects of themselves to the pictures in this app. There is a pleasing art education aspect to this, as well as seeing how an artist takes inspiration from what has gone before to make something new.

Children will love sitting with parents to share the telling of the story and will further relish the chance to relive it independently, either reading the story or listening to it again. In schools it will be a great choice to encourage children to look to books for stories and entertainment. Much more than an eBook masquerading as an app, this is a package that takes nothing away from Lewis Carroll’s story but adds a new way to enjoy it.

You can download The Alice App on your iOS or Android devices from the app stores. Download the The Alice App app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.