Playful, Whimsical, Imaginative, And Mildly Rebuking

Alice scolds the black kitten for unraveling a ball of worsted, engages in imaginative play, and reads a reversed poem before entering the fantastical Looking-Glass House.

In this chapter, Alice addresses the mischievous antics of the black kitten who has unraveled a ball of worsted while the white kitten was being washed by the mother cat, Dinah. Alice scolds the black kitten and talks about the upcoming bonfire that was postponed due to snow. She enters a whimsical dialogue with the kitten, pretending it can understand her, as she fantasizes about the snowy landscape and the game of chess. Alice also imagines what Looking-Glass House is like, a mirrored version of her own home. As she describes it, the glass turns into mist and she steps through it into the Looking-Glass Room. Inside, she finds animated chess pieces, including a conversation between a king and queen, and reads a book with the nonsense poem 'Jabberwocky', which she must hold up to a mirror to read. Alice then decides to explore the garden, inventing a novel way of descending the stairs.