In which Alice, engaged in a gentle confabulation with her mischievous kitten, is beguiled by a mysterious, shimmering Looking-glass that softens like gauze and allows her to step through into an uncanny room where chessmen walk and talk with curious vivacity. There, she discovers the White King and Queen in a flutter of agitation, encounters a peculiar backward book that reveals a curious poem when reflected, and ponders the wonders of the garden beyond with a novel, floating descent down the staircase.