A comic from 1905
Little Nemo in Slumberland
Every Sunday, a boy called Nemo falls asleep and dreams he's on his way to Slumberland, a magic kingdom where a princess is waiting to play with him. Something always goes wrong on the way, and in the very last panel he wakes up in bed.
By Winsor McCay, every Sunday in the New York Herald, 1905 to 1911. Here are 14 pages Peabody picked for kids.
How to read it
Each page is one dream. Read the panels left to right, top to bottom. The words under each panel tell the story, and the bubbles are what people say. Look at how the panels change size: when something grows, the panel grows too.
Old comics use some old words and old spellings, so read the hard bits out loud together. New to comics? Start with the parts of a comic.
The pages, oldest first
The horse that jumps the stars
15 October 1905 exciting
Look for:
- A horse that leaps from star to star
- Strange animals racing through the sky
- Where does Nemo land at the end?
Printed in the New York Herald on 15 October 1905. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
The mushroom forest
22 October 1905 dreamy
Look for:
- A guide in a spotted suit
- Mushrooms taller than houses
- The panels get taller as the mushrooms grow
Printed in the New York Herald on 22 October 1905. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Comic Strip Library, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
Walking on giant stilts
29 October 1905 exciting
Look for:
- Stilts taller than a cliff
- Bright birds as big as Nemo
- A long fall into the tall grass
Printed in the New York Herald on 29 October 1905. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
The bed that sailed away
5 November 1905 exciting
Look for:
- Water pouring into the bedroom
- The bed floating like a boat
- A giant crab under the sea
Printed in the New York Herald on 5 November 1905. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
The giant turkey
26 November 1905 funny
Look for:
- A turkey bigger than the whole city
- A house that tips upside down
- A bear in the snowy woods
Printed in the New York Herald on 26 November 1905. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Comic Strip Library, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
The Man in the Moon
3 December 1905 dreamy
Look for:
- A bed that tips and slides
- The moon with a giant face
- Who is inside the moon's mouth?
Printed in the New York Herald on 3 December 1905. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from X-Tra Online, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
The palace of ice
17 December 1905 dreamy
Look for:
- A man in a red coat on skis
- A palace that shines like ice
- A hall full of children
Printed in the New York Herald on 17 December 1905. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
The sleigh ride
24 December 1905 exciting
Look for:
- Reindeer over the rooftops
- Polar bears in the top panel
- Nemo hanging on as the sleigh tips
Printed in the New York Herald on 24 December 1905. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
The room full of years
31 December 1905 dreamy
Look for:
- An old man with wings
- Boxes with a year written on each one
- Can you find 1905 and 1906?
Printed in the New York Herald on 31 December 1905. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
Snow in the bedroom
21 January 1906 funny
Look for:
- Snow piling up on the bed
- Huge polar bears
- A friend with a snowball for a head
Printed in the New York Herald on 21 January 1906. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
The acrobat on the rings
4 February 1906 funny
Look for:
- A strongman in a striped suit
- Flips and swings on the rings
- Count the panels: there are twenty!
Printed in the New York Herald on 4 February 1906. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
Flying through the fireworks
6 May 1906 exciting
Look for:
- A huge eagle carrying friends
- Rockets and fireworks everywhere
- Clouds at the bottom of the page
Printed in the New York Herald on 6 May 1906. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
The butterfly garden
12 August 1906 dreamy
Look for:
- Butterflies bigger than Nemo
- A beanstalk with leaves for steps
- Everyone hides under the umbrella tree when it rains
Printed in the New York Herald on 12 August 1906. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
The hall of doors
23 December 1906 funny
Look for:
- Doors marked TOYS, DOLLS and BICYCLES
- A wall covered in names, top to bottom
- Who is waiting with a little pony?
Printed in the New York Herald on 23 December 1906. Published in the US before 1931, so its copyright has ended: it belongs to everyone. Scan from the Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons, marked public domain in the United States.
After you read
Every page ends the same way: Nemo wakes up. Make your own dream comic in the Comic Studio, and end it with your hero waking up in bed. Read one with a grown-up and you can tick the “100 years old” square in the comics reading challenge.
For grown-ups
Made over 100 years ago, picked page by page. Old comics often drew people in cruel, mocking ways; any page with a drawing like that, or built around a fight, is left out, not explained. Each link opens the page's own file at Wikimedia Commons, a public site with millions of pictures, so read it together.
We checked each page's date and public-domain tag at its Commons file page on 31 October 2026. What public domain means, and where to find more old comics, is on the Read free page.
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