Alices in Miss Rumphius-land

Tonight I watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and although it was full of effects that are no doubt special, my eye and mind were drawn to the final scene, during which Alice boards a merchant ship bound for China.

It reminded me of an illustration from Barbara Cooney's Miss Rumphius, my favourite picture book, in which a little girl, also named Alice, goes to visit her grandfather, who carves figureheads for ships, among other things.

Though we see only a glimpse of the harbour, the ships peeking around the buildings are enough to let my imagination soar.

In fact, I think I may begin to believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast.*

And why stop there, when lunch and dinner are still hours away?


* adapted from Lewis Carroll