We swore it would never happen again. Never EVER would we put together another miniature library kit. Gentle people of the jury, I present exhibits A, B, and C as evidence. But then Katie found the most adorable Alice in Wonderland miniature puzzle kit at our local toy store, and she went right back down that rabbit hole. Was it an adventure in wonderland for Katie? Read on to find out!
Here we go again! Leave it to our friends at Princeton’s fabulous toy store, Jazams, to convince us to break the promise we made ourselves to NOT build another miniature library kit. To be fair, this Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland inspired diorama bookend is so cool, it was basically a forgone conclusion we would change our minds.
The Tonecheer Alice’s Adventure 3D Puzzle (HTQ128) is quite similar to the Sunshine Town book nook I tackled in 2023, though there are some differences that make this kit both faster and easier to build. It is available for purchase on Amazon for $42.99, the difficulty rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars and, like our other three kits, the age suggestion is 14+.
Upon opening the box, I found multiple precut wood plates with various sized pieces and parts that needed to be carefully popped out. There was an 11 x17 inch folded instruction sheet, the electronic lighting kit, and construction items to assist with the build (batteries not included).
The most important tool was the “Three-in-one Tool” wood piece, which was critical in saving my fingertips and, in some instances, my sanity as I was trying to push smaller pieces out of the plates as well as connecting bits and parts together.
One extremely nice touch to this kit is all of the pieces are ready to go right out of the box. Zero paint required. There are parts that need to be glued together, but even those are few and far between. Assisted by the handy “Three-in-one Tool,” I quickly put together the two levels of Alice’s adventure. The instructions were clear and very easy to understand. All told, it took about three hours to finish.
During the build, I had one struggle and made one mistake. The struggle was building the stump that surrounds the infamous rabbit hole where Alice falls. It took nearly ten attempts to connect the smallish pieces in a circle and then push the tabs of the round stump into the wood base. My once nimble fingers are clearly not as nimble.
My mistake was forgetting to tuck the light power cord behind two bars that connect the ceiling of Wonderland to the grassy ground. I completely missed the arrows and typed message alerting me to route the wires in a certain direction. Thankfully it was relatively easy to work backward, take sections apart and correct the error, but it was still a “duh!” moment.
There’s a lot to look at in the 3D Puzzle book nook! Alice herself is floating inside, along with the White Rabbit and Cheshire Cat. The mirrors at the back of the nook offer a deeper look to see all of the charming details.
As I mentioned, this kit is wired for lights, and it has a motion sensor to wow your friends as they walk by. The motion light illuminates for one minute before turning off, but the sensor is sensitive enough to quickly turn the light back on with gentle movement.
Has Alice surpassed the other builds as my favorite miniature library? No, I’m still enamored with the Sunshine Town cats! I will say Alice’s Adventure 3D Puzzle was the least tedious mini library build. It would also be much better for our younger crafters, though they may need an adult to help with installing the electronics. Another 4.5 out of 5 stars rating from me!
If you’d like to see the event map, 
Or this really cool Victorian visual toy called a thaumatrope
And what about tea? 2016 was the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and we put together an elaborate Victorian 
The Library of Congress went all out for the 150th anniversary as well. In 
However, the award for the most whimsical Alice connection goes to the Mazza Museum of International Art from Picture Books (which I blogged about 
Dang. I want a twisty slide in my place of employment.
Interestingly, there is a connection between the original Alice manuscript and the Library of Congress. In 1864, Charles Dodgson (better know as Lewis Carroll) presented Alice Liddell, his child friend, with Alice’s Adventures Underground, a fantastical story he wrote and illustrated just for her. Later, the manuscript would be re-worked, illustrated by John Tenniel, and published as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
After a reading by Joani (who also performed a song from the time period – you can listen to an earlier performance of it 
In addition to the Alice story time program, the Young Readers Center partnered with the DC-based nonprofit Everybody Wins! DC. Fifth grade students from the J.O. Wilson Elementary School heard members of the International Lewis Carroll Society read from the book. Then, they chatted about what it means to be a professional hobbyists and book collectors. Each child was presented with a copy of the book to take home too.
The following day, the Center for the Book presented scholar and historian Leonard Marcus as their “Books and Beyond” speaker. His talk, which was titled “Lewis Carroll in the Mirror of Surrealism,” discussed the famous author and his place in surrealism art.
Before we leave these adventures in wonderland, a quick word about Joani’s fantastic dress. It was custom-made by Princeton University junior Julia Peiperl. Julia based her designs on Tenniel’s original illustrations, complete with the petticoats and pantaloons. She also made a smaller version of the dress, which was included in a Young Reader’s Center exhibit. Callooh! Callay!