THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS

Pruned to something less than half the original (using only Carroll's language), with chess moves, verse, chaptering, and main events intact: an abridgement that may find some use as an introduction, though any child who enjoys it should be steered to a complete edition. It's not true—despite Ross's otherwise sensible introduction—that all the humor is here (where are the ``six impossible things before breakfast''?); but his forthrightly honest approach (even the title page reads ``Abridged & Illustrated by...'' in caps) merits some indulgence, while even purists will enjoy comparing his witty, freely rendered caricatures with Tenniel's elegantly limned art—which Ross's frequently parodies. (Fiction. 6+)