Formal aspects: This book was listed under the RBSC catalogue as a pamphlet….it is definitely not a pamphlet. To my great surprise, it is an erotic novel which explores “a sexual wonderland”. It has a cover with real life people dressed up as Alice characters. It is set up as a parody of other alice covers—the positioning of characters grouped around Alice, looking curious and surreal, is similar to other covers which have been achieved (due to copyright issues examples can’t be provided). It does this in a very sexual manner though. Body parts which are usually covered are exposed, physical contact is emphasized, and the curiosity expressed by the surrounding characters is less towards the situation around Alice, as it is towards what lies under Alice’s clothing. This highlights the aspects of the novel itself as a sexualization of the Alice story. The book contains no illustrations on the inside, just text, which is a departure from the normal Alice, layout.

What makes it a parody?: The text uses the familiar characters, and fanciful language (such as food oriented descriptions, colour, and surreality….Alice’s more sensitive body parts are even described as “delicious num nums”), and situational storyline, but mixes this with unexpected morals and adult content. With it’s use of the familiar storyline for pornographic means, Blue Alice takes the well known story and inverts people’s expectations for it through parody.

  What makes it unsuitable for kids?: While using familiar children’s characters and general plot points, the book is an erotica novel and therefore contains explicit sex scenes which, even if pornography were appropriate for children, are written in a manner which is inaccessible to those with lower reading comprehension. The book even explicitly states on the back cover: “Alice’s story is definitely not for children”.