Formal aspects: The book, written in 1939, is about Hitler’s crusade, and particularly his interaction with England (represented through the King and Queen of Hearts). Like Alice in Sponsor-land, it represents a mixing of media—it was originally broadcast over the BBC radio before being published in the book. The book makes explicit reference to this in its opening, even stating that the book format “allows them to include bits considered a trifle injudicious in the other medium”, demonstrating the differences which can be achieved in different mediums. The cover design and illustrations throughout are done in a style which references the original engravings in the 1894 copy. Much like Alice in Sponsor-land, it lists the characters at the front as in a play. It also uses typographic play like that seen in the 1894 copy of Alice. This, combined with the illustration lay out makes it a direct formal referent to the 1894 version which included tons of typographic play such as font size, mirrored text, and shapes of text on the page (pictures once again cannot be included for copyright issues). Hitler is drawn as very small throughout the whole book making it seem like the illustrators have employed a type of hierarchic scale to further their satire of Hitler.

What makes it a parody?: The book actually calls itself a satire, which is not incorrect as it is most definitely a political satire about Hitler. On top of this though, it is also a parody of Alice. Adolf in Blunderland uses the Alice framework to tell a satirical story, twisting the original children’s story around to fit a humorous depiction of the lead up to WWII. Through its use of the Alice tropes, the book manages to mock many of the original aspects of the story, turning them on their head for the purposes of political satire. This is especially noticeable in the way the illustrations are done: the illustrator uses a very similar drawing style to the 1894 version of Alice, but uses this style to depict dwarfed dictators and political atrocities.

  What makes it unsuitable for kids?: Needless to say, the subject matter of this story is not geared towards children. The story focuses on complex innuendo, political issues, and language which would be difficult for a child to understand. Its jokes and references are aimed at an adult audience who would be capable of understanding and appreciating subtle (and not-so-subtle) political satire. It is also pertinent to note that if parts of the book were deemed too “injudicious” to be aired on radio to a public audience..they probably weren’t written with a children’s audience in mind.