Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has 12 chapters. Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel begins with “Down the Rabbit-Hole” and ends with “Alice's Evidence,” taking Alice from her fall into Wonderland to the courtroom scene and her sudden return to reality.
The chapters are episodic rather than arranged like a conventional quest. Alice meets the White Rabbit, changes size repeatedly, joins the Mad Hatter's tea party, plays croquet with the Queen of Hearts, and hears the Mock Turtle's story. Each chapter introduces a new puzzle, character, or reversal of ordinary logic.
A common mix-up comes from confusing the novel with its handwritten predecessor, Alice's Adventures Under Ground. Carroll's manuscript is much shorter and organizes several later episodes differently. Readers may also count the opening prefatory poem, “All in the golden afternoon,” as part of the book's front matter, but it is not a numbered chapter. The sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, is a separate book with a different chapter structure.