INTERESTED in unusual books for the tail end of the summerseason? I can recommend the Alice in Wonderland Jigsaw Book. Ostensiblyfor children, this highly original book is as much fun for adults -- somethingto which my small niece and I can attest. This beautifully presented hardbackfeatures illustrated excerpts from the original Lewis Carroll story andits sequel, Through the Looking Glass. One illustration from each excerptis enlarged and made into a 48-piece jigsaw puzzle, giving a total of sevenpuzzles in the book. Sensibly, each puzzle is colour-coded on the reverse,to avoid the pieces being mixed.

Even if the child you share this book with is not familiarwith the stories -- and the temptation not to share the book is quite strong-- they will be sure to recognise Humpty Dumpty, leaving room for a furtherintroduction to Carroll's delightful world of nonsense. To satisfy thepurist, the pictures come from the 1911 edition of Alice, illustrated byHarry Theaker. Completing the flavour of Wonderland, there is a small selectionof Carroll's poems on the inside back cover of the book -- an often-forgottenaspect of his work. This is simply gorgeous book. I can imagine fond granniesand aunties bringing the book out whenever a small visitor comes to play-- it is the stuff of childhood memories.