Member Reviews
Jenny S, Reviewer
I really enjoyed this fun collection of Alice in wonderland. I hadn’t read the other two books Through the Looking glass and A Tangled Tale. The narrator was great and really made the story fun! My only issue was that the pause between each chapter was long on the audiobook and I kept thinking it turned off. Otherwise this audio version was great and I was happy to enjoy Lewis Carroll’s wonderland collection! Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free audio version in exchange for my honest review. |
Cheryl S, Bookseller
A delightful rendition of a beloved book. The narrator is absolutely perfect in tone and pace. I haven't read Wonderland in so long it was so much fun to go back in, and I didn't remember that there were quite so many puns! This is definitely an excellent example of Alice in Wonderland et al, and the physical book looks beautiful too. |
This is so nostalgic!! Literally. Visiting the Wonderlan Collection's stories brings back a big part of my childhood and takes me back in time to when all felt like a fairytale. The narration was so good too. |
I really enjoyed this audiobook version of The Wonderland Collection, which includes "Alice in Wonderland," "Through the Looking Glass" and "A Tangled Tale," which is the only work from this collection that I haven't read before. Simon Bubb, the narrator, is really good. I know "Alice" like the back of my hand and it's one of those books that I enjoy re-reading, so it's a treasure to hear it in audio form spoken so well. "Looking Glass," I'm less familiar with as it's been a while since I've read it and I don't know it as intimately as I know "Alice in Wonderland." So this was neat because I had forgotten some of what happened and that was exciting. In true math-phobic fashion, I didn't understand the mathematical problems in "A Tangled Tale" worth a fig, and I didn't try to! I did, in true wordsmith fashion, appreciate and laugh out loud at the turns of phrase Carroll used. So no matter if you're a math or english person, you'll enjoy "A Tangled Tale." |
The Wonderland Collection consists of three stories - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, A Tangled Tale. All the three stories are the best works of Lewis carroll. The books consists of a girl named Alice who is traveling through her adventures and is very curious. All the three stories are interconnected and its a delightful read for both - children and adult. I recently an Audiobook narrated by Simon Bubb and he did a brilliant job in narrating these books. The pitch was perfect and we could feel the adventures of Alice alive. I thought a female voice would do the job perfectly, but even a male voice here worked perfectly fine. The Humpty Dumpty rhyme read by the narrator in this book was just perfect and makes me want to listen to it again and again. ______ Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for sending me this audiobook in return of a honest opnion. |
I love Alice in Wonderland, so I obviously needed the audiobook. I enjoyed the narrator, a classic voice for a classic story! |
Another great listen from Thomas Nelson! The Wonderland Collection includes a fantastic collection of some of Lewis Carroll’s most beloved stories. It includes Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and A Tangled Tale. All are great stories, perfect for kids and adults alike. This collection is a great place to start if you are new to reading/listening to classics as well. Simon Bubb did a great job with the narration. I found the majority of voices to be distinct and clear throughout the series. I was hesitant to listen initially because generally, I enjoy listening to the Wonderland series in a female voice, but his voice captivated me. His voice truly is unique and so easy to listen to. I highly recommend this series and narrator to readers and listeners who are new and old friends of these stories. These would be great to listen to in the car or hanging around the house with the whole family. I received an audio advanced reader copy from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own. |
Ever since I was a little girl, "Alice in Wonderland" has been one of my all-time favorite books. Even now, at 36 years old, it consistently ranks in my top 3. It's one of the best, most wonderful books I've ever read, so you can only imagine my excitement when I was offered the opportunity to listen to this new "The Wonderland Collection" on audio book. So how did it turn out? In a word: Excellent! I'm always a little nervous about approaching an old favorite in a new way, such as once it's been made into a movie or a new retelling of the old story. I had the perfect mixture of excitement and trepidation concerning this audio book, but it did not disappoint. The narration was excellent. As far as I know, I'm not familiar with the narrator, Thomas Nelson, unless I've heard him narrating something else and just didn't know him by name. (It's highly possible; I listen to a LOT of audio books.) Despite not knowing him, I was very impressed with his narration style. He really brought the characters to life for me. Anyone who has ever read "Alice in Wonderland" or "Through the Looking Glass" knows how many different characters there are. On top of that, these are all characters with which we are extremely familiar. I'd hazard a guess that there isn't a single person, at least in the UK or USA, who hasn't read/watched/heard/etc. of Alice, the Red Queen, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, Humpty Dumpty, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, etc. I think a narrator has a much harder job narrating a well-known tell than narrating a story no one's ever heard. With a story no one knows, the narrator can create the characters from scratch and make them come alive. With a story like "The Wonderland Collection," everything the narrator does is going to be compared to someone else we've seen bring these characters to life before. Whether it's Alan Rickman or Ben Kingsley, we all have a version of how we expect the Caterpillar to sound. The same goes for all of the other characters. This narrator had some big shoes to fill. And he did a great job. He brought these characters to life a new way all his own, but he did it in such a way that I was really impressed by his choices. No two characters sounded the same. In a scene full of dialogue, it was always very clear who was speaking. I especially loved the choices he made for the Mad Hatter, the Mock Turtle and the Tweedle brothers. He did well on all the characters, even the female ones, but he did an especially good job on those four. The pacing was just right too. I tend to listen to my audio books on double speed (2x). With this particular book, I was able to listen at 1.5x speed, and it sounded perfect to me. It wasn't too rushed, and it didn't drag. A few times, my phone (which isn't all that great) glitched out, and the book would stop. On those occasions, I'd have to go back into the Netgalley app and hit play on the book again. When I did, it would reset my reading speed preferences back to default (1x speed). There were several times when I forgot to readjust it to 1.5x, and even in those times, the book flowed well. Most of the time, an audio book on regular speed is much too slow for me and drives me nuts. This narrator did a great job of narrating at a pace that I didn't mind listening to at regular speed. (Although, because I prefer things to be a little faster, I did go back and speed it up to 1.5x whenever my brain clued into the fact that it was at normal speeds again. Still, my point is that I could have listened to it normally and wouldn't have been too bothered by it. The only time the book failed to hold my attention was at the end. The mathematician stories at the end of the book couldn't really hold my interest. That was to be expected though, as I never really cared for many of Carroll's short stories. There are a few that I like, but most, I can do without. In other words, it was the story itself that didn't hold my attention, not the fault of the narrator. I highly recommend this audio book to anyone who loves the Alice stories and wants to dive back into them. I also highly recommend it to anyone who has never read them before. Finally, I think even children would enjoy this audio book. The wide array of voices the narrator uses almost makes it seem like a cartoon, and I think kids would be able to get interested in it without too much trouble or fidgeting. It was a great audio version of two of my very favorite tales. |
Sara W, Educator
Beautifully designed cover and fantastically narrated audio collection of the Wonderland and Looking Glass books and the collection of short stories called A Tangled Tale. Firs of all this reminded me of the absolute magic of Wonderland and I really enjoyed becoming reacquainted with this magical book. However, and i'm not sure why, but I was not familiar Looking Glass or Tangled Tale and it was great having the opportunity to experience all three in one collection. The narration was great with different voices being used for the different characters and a really soothing feel to it. It was so engaging and I listened to it in two sittings. However, there was one slight issue in that the pauses between chapters were excessively long and it took some getting used to. There were some abrupt ends to a couple of chapters in Looking Glass but that might have been my copy. Overall, I loved listening to this audiobook. |
Grace W, Reviewer
I received this audiobook from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. I really enjoyed this version of Alice in Wonderland. The narrators voice really fit the authors words. He would change his voice a tiny bit for different people and it fit well. I do feel like he spoke a little bit slow. I ended up having to speed it up a lot. The pause between the chapters was a bit long too. Other than that, the flow of the audiobook was very good. This audiobook was a great experience. It was a nice way to read a classic book with a modern twist. |
I received this as an audiobook to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to HarperCollins Christian Audio and NetGalley for giving me access. Alice in Wonderland is my favorite, classic story of all time. Simon Bubb did a wonderful job of narrating the story and portraying the characters. My only complaint on this audio version is that there was a long pause in-between chapters where I thought the book had stopped playing. |
This is the second time this year that I read Alice In Wonderland stories. I do love the stories very much and I did love this audiobook. I found that it is well done. The narrator did a fantastic job . The sound is fantastic. I do recommend it. I am giving this 5 out of 5. |
The Wonderland Collection by Lewis Carroll and narrated by Simon Bubb is produced by HarperCollins Christian Audio. Carroll was an English writer of children's fiction. He was noted for his facility at wordplay, logic, and fantasy. The poems "Jabberwocky" and "The Hunting of the Snark" are classified in the genre of literary nonsense. Bubb is an audiobook narrator known for his subtlety, nuanced tone, and facility with accents as an integral component of his narration, according to AudioFile magazine. The Wonderland Series seems to be a nonsensical children's tale, but so much has stuck with us into adulthood. We often speak of the "Rabbit Hole." Jefferson Airplane sang of the pills to make your shorter or taller and of the Hooka Smoking Caterpillar. We continue to say, "Mad as a Hatter." But there is more to the story that we think. It does not end with Alice being sentenced by the Queen of Hearts -- "Off with her head." The sequel "Through the Looking Glass" takes Alice on an adventure to an alternative world on the other side of a mirror. The last book does not deal with Alice but is a book of "knots" or mathematical problems in story form that were printed as a serial in the Monthly Packet magazine. Concealing the math in the stories allowed Carroll to "hide medicine in jam" creating an early version of edutainment. A fun journey back to childhood and a time when we took things less seriously. Bubb's narration is excellent with just enough British accent to remind the reader of the stories' origin. The changes in character voice are subtle but easily recognizable. An enjoyable journey. |
As expected from a classic, it is really a wonderful book. I actually wanted to finish listening to it but I just don't feel comfortable with the narration. He is in fact a good narrator but I prefer a girl on Alice's parts. I'm multi-tasking while listening to audiobooks and I get confused about the character being narrated. |
This book was great! I have read and watched many Alice in Wonderland adaptations, but I've never read the original books! It was wonderful to be able to connect the adaptions to the original, while also experiencing and noticing new elements for the first time. I loved the absolute ridiculousness of seven year-old Alice's dreams and how well they translated into a fun and exotic story. The only thing that made me give it 4 stars was the confusing language (especially during the poetry parts), but as this is an older classic it's understandable. Overall, I enjoyed a lot and I wish I could have this edition in a physical copy because the cover is STUNNING!! |
Alice is my favorite childhood heroine. Through the Looking Glass is my favorite story ever. Add to that my weak spot for an English accent and that makes this a perfect audiobook for me. The narration brings the stories to life in a way that made me smile as Alice worked her way through the tales, meeting the array of curiouser and curiouser characters. Simon Bubb's reading was clear and a joy to listen to. |
I will admit that for some reason I was hoping for a female narrator for my beloved Alice, but Simmons Bubb quickly won me over with his soft dialect and careful inflection between each of the voices. I enjoyed getting lost in Wonderland with him. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are quite silly, odd, mad little stories. These were both rereads and I notice and appreciate something new each time. A Tangled Tale was a new story for me and even more odd! Thank you |
Fantastic collection - very well read and was easy to listen to. I would definitely listen to more books with this narrator! |
Millie S, Reviewer
I have just finished the audiobook of The Wonderland Collection and I'm not ashamed to say I finished this audiobook in one day. The books itself are great reads. I really feel like the narrator brought the stories to life and helped me imagine what was happening. 5 stars |
Oh, I love Alice! I first read it in school and have come back to it several times over the years. I really loved the narration. I am glad that the narrator is British -- I don't think I could listen to it otherwise! The voice reminded me of Jim Dale or Stephen Fry, so that's a really high compliment. |








