It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway-the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty. The app is available for a nominal charge or in a free version with large pop-up ads.Ī sticky-sweet rendition, with none of the original’s pungency or strangeness. Seven screens also include several drag-and-drop jigsaw pieces. These include the usual suspects: a Mad Hatter with an array of headgear options, a sniggering purple Cheshire cat and a Queen who explodes into cards at Alice’s accusatory “Hey, you!” In each scene, taps release sprays of hearts or sparkles, activate exclamations or other sound effects and set off slow animations.

This leaves a dozen bland, brightly colored cartoon views of an expressionless, doll-like blonde lass in a blue pinafore shrinking, growing (“Mm! A cookie!”) and encountering various odd creatures.

The best option of all removes the text from view entirely with the tap of a button. “A pretty girl named Alice sat by the stream one day, / She was clever and nice, but had no friend with whom to play.” Viewers can read this literary lowlight to themselves, listen to a saccharine audio or even record their own version. A rhymed version of the classic, compressed into just 12 screens thickly strewn with touch-activated trifles.

Alice in Wonderland by Jane Carruth