This storybook heroine is from the classic work of children's literature by the English mathematician and author, the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, written under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. She fell down a rabbit-hole into a fantasy realm populated by grotesque figures like talking playing cards and anthropomorphic creatures.

Sounds like an average day at work.

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Captain James Hook is the villain of J. M. Barrie's play and novel Peter Pan. Hook is a pirate captain and Peter Pan's nemesis. It is said that he was Blackbeard's bosun, and that he was the only man Barbecue (aka 'The Sea Cook') Long John Silver ever feared. Hook wears an iron hook in place of his right hand which was cut off by Peter Pan and eaten by a crocodile. The crocodile liked the taste so much, it follows Hook around constantly, hoping for more. Luckily for Hook, it also swallowed a clock, so Hook can tell from the ticking, when the Crocodile is near.

Talk about watching the clock.

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"Once upon a time, there was ... 'A king!' my little readers will say right away. No , children, you are wrong. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood..."

The Adventures of Pinocchio is a story about an animated puppet, talking crickets, boys who turn into mules and other fairy tale devices that would be familiar to a reader of Alice in Wonderland or Brothers Grimm; in fact earlier in his career Collodi worked on a translation of Mother Goose.

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 Elizabeth's reign raised England's status abroad immeasurably. "She is only a woman, only mistress of half an island," marveled Pope Sixtus V, "and yet she makes herself feared by Spain, by France, by the Empire, by all". Under Elizabeth, the nation gained a new self-confidence and sense of sovereignty, as Christendom fragmented. Elizabeth was the first Tudor to recognize that a monarch ruled by popular consent. She therefore always worked with parliament and advisers she could trust to tell her the truth—a style of government that her Stuart successors failed to follow. Some historians have called her lucky; she believed that God was protecting her. Priding herself on being "mere English", Elizabeth trusted in God, honest advice, and the love of her subjects for the success of her rule.

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William Shakespeare  was an English poet and playwright, now widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

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Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue. Later books never note anything unusual about Munchkin height but emphasize the color preference.

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Dorothy Gale is the young girl who lives on a Kansas farm with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em, and her little dog Toto. (Her last name is only revealed in later books in the Oz series.) One day a tornado appears outside and before Dorothy can reach the storm cellar, the farmhouse is caught up in the twister and deposited in a grassy field in the country of the Munchkins.

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Scarecrow
Wizard of Oz

In Baum's classic 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the living scarecrow encounters Dorothy Gale in a field in the Munchkin Country while she is on her way to the Emerald City. The "mindless" Scarecrow joins Dorothy in the hope that The Wizard will give him a brain. After Dorothy and her friends have completed their mission to kill the Wicked Witch of the West, the Wizard gives the Scarecrow brains (made out of bran, pins and needles – in reality a placebo, as he has been the most intelligent of the travelers all along). Before he leaves Oz in a balloon, the Wizard appoints the Scarecrow to rule Oz in his stead.

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The Tin Woodman is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. Baum's Tin Woodman first appeared in his classic 1900 book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and reappeared in many other Oz books. In late 19th century America, men made out of various tin pieces were used in advertising and political cartoons. Baum, who was editing a magazine on decorating shop windows when he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was reportedly inspired to invent the Tin Woodman by a figure he had built out of metal parts for a shop display.

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The Cowardly Lion makes his first appearance in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He is the last of the companions Dorothy befriends on her way to the Emerald City. The Cowardly Lion joins her so that he can ask The Wizard for courage, being ashamed that, in his cultural role as the King of the Beasts, he is not indeed brave. Despite outward evidence that he is unreasonably fearful, The Cowardly Lion displays great bravery along the way

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The Wicked Witch, played by actress Margaret Hamilton, was stooped, green-skinned, and dressed entirely in black. In many people's minds, this representation of The Wicked Witch has become an archetype for human wickedness.

The Witch is the sister of the Wicked Witch of the East, who is killed when Dorothy Gale arrives in Oz. The Witch asks aloud, "Who killed my sister?". When Dorothy claims the death was an accident, the Witch of the West replies, "Well, my little pretty, I can cause accidents too." It is from this movie that popular culture gets the oft-quoted phrase, "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!" Later, when she sends her flying monkeys to capture Dorothy, she stands by the window shouting, "Fly! Fly!" repeatedly. This too is a very well-remembered quotation of hers.

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Robin Hood has become shorthand for a good-hearted bandit who steals from the rich to give to the poor. It is also a proverbial expression for somebody who takes other people's giveaways and gives them to people he or she knows who could use them. This can be called "Robin Hood giving." Many countries and situations boast their own Robin Hood characters.

Starting in 2007, the University of Nottingham will be offering a Masters degree on the subject of Robin Hood.

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