Wizard of Oz.

It was pretty good. The introduction to this edition talked about how the author had originally told this story aloud to the neighborhood kids, and that you can still see how the details and plot line are better suited to an oral tale. I agree completely, and I enjoyed the story best when I took the time to read it to myself with the inflections and phrasing that one would use if reading it aloud.

Like many people, I was familiar with the film, but had never read any of the books in the OZ series, so I gave this one a shot. I was pleasantly surprised to discover hos different is was. The plot's essentially the same, but expanded on, and we get a lot more world-building. Dorothy, also, comes across as a much stronger, more realized character, and her increased self-assurance really makes for a more enjoyable story.

It's the Wizard of Oz, so I doubt I can add any insight to the story. It has been on my shelf for quite a while, so I got it down to read yesterday. I never realized how different the book and movie are. The main plot points and characters remain, but very little else. The wicked witch of the west was really only present for 2 or 3 very short chapters because the story moves fairly quickly from one point to another. It almost seems like a string of fairy tales or fables that are strung together by a central story. I think I would like to see an adaption that was closer to the actual book, one that highlights the specific colors/countries the way Baum wrote and has the short stories interwoven into the main plot. The book was not quite what I was expecting, but it was a quick pleasant read. It was innocent and concise, and there was a morals a plenty.

Sissy, sussy, sick (my brain why)

This book is a bit worn by time because the author's intentions were pacifistic, but he still included some good old murder for good measure and the standarts of the market. It's a very fun book that sometimes forgets it's logic, Woodman in particular is written inconsistently. I really liked the moral, psychological message it had, but the slaying was hillarious and out of place.

And I am off...off for a year of Oz.

Lory at Entering the Enchanted Castle will start a readalong of the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. The Book Stop, home of a fellow Oz fan, will be joining Lory as co-host.

There are 14 books, and the plan is to start in December and read in published order through January of 2025.

If you're not up for such a commitment, though, there will be a stopping point at the end of the first six books. Baum actually tried to end the series here — he wanted to write other things — but his fans wouldn't let him, so he reluctantly went back to writing an Oz book a year till the end of his life. The later books have some good parts, but the first six are probably the strongest. You'll get a good taste of Oz that way, even if you don't go further.

It's not necessary to read all of them, or read them in order. Feel free to dip in as you wish.
There will be a monthly post on each book, at The Enchanted Castle or at The Book Stop or both, and a roundup of any posts that are shared with us. #Ozathon24 is the hashtag for sharing.

Part I: Essential Oz Adventures

December, 2023: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
January, 2024: The Marvelous Land of Oz
February, 2024: Ozma of Oz
March, 2024: Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
April, 2024: The Road to Oz
May, 2024: The Emerald City of Oz

Part II: Further Journeys in Oz

June, 2024: The Patchwork Girl of Oz
July, 2024: Tik-Tok of Oz
August, 2024: The Scarecrow of Oz
September, 2024: Rinkitink in Oz
October, 2024: The Lost Princess of Oz
November, 2024: The Tin Woodman of Oz
December, 2024: The Magic of Oz
January, 2025: Glinda of Oz


An online book club chose Finding Dor0thy. Then our film club picked Wizard of Oz. It seemed like a good time to reread The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

If you are a fan of the movie, you will find little to disturb you. Some scenes in the movie have been condensed from the book (the witch makes four attempts to secure the four wanderers before succeeding in the book, rather than the one in the movie) and the trip to visit the good witch after the departure of the wizard is omitted completely in the movie, and, of course, the beginning and ending scenes in Kansas are a completely fabrication in the movie, but the movie has generally stayed true to the book.

I think children will still find the book captivating.

This book, despite its age, truly surprised me. I found myself feeling concerned with some of the messages contained within the storyline; beauty equals love, performing acts of service justifies entitlement, etc. Baum's introduction specifically sets the reader up for failure by explaining his intention to avoid scaring his readers through dark elements, which he does repeatedly. I thought the writing was poor, despite his target audience and, yes, I adjusted for generational gaps.

I have seen the Wizard of Oz classic movie starring Judy Garland a number of times. Although it is not one of my favorite movies I do consider it a work of art, with its unique use of sepia tone and also color all presented in the movie. Now finally reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum in my opinion the book is better than the movie. With many classic fairytales the original book is usually a lot dark and harsher than a modern adaptation of the movie. To not spoil anything in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the book has more darker elements. Which for a children's book I was a little shocked to read. Along with this we are given the back stories of the tin man, the scarecrow, the lion and the wizard of oz. I do wish that some of these sections would have been left in the movie adaption. Along with this, the book also explores more sections of Oz that are not displayed in the movie. I do understand that with a movie written for a bigger commercial use, there are time limits as with a book there really are not any limitations. Overall, I'm happy to have seen the movie first because I think if I would have read the book first my expectations of the movie would have been higher. I also liked that the book was different than the movie, because when reading the book, I didn't picture the movie version in my head. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who has or hasn't watched the movie. There are also about twelve or thirteen more books in this series which talk more about Oz and the people who live there.

I needed another book to read aloud to the kids and this one was available. It's been around since 1900! It was very interesting to see all the differences from the well-known movie. The first difference that strikes you is that the Ruby Slippers are actually Silver Shoes. And nobody ever says “Follow the yellow brick road!” Instead, “the road of yellow brick” is mentioned. There's more interesting back-stories to the origins of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. It's kind of cool and a little gruesome getting into the Tin Woodman's back story – it's much more in keeping with fairy tales of old. But it's dealt with so matter-of-factly that my two kids didn't blink an eye at any of it. They enjoyed the story and looked forward to every night's reading from it. As for me, it was fun actually reading the source material to such an old, well-loved movie.

A great and quite young kids book, original character ideas written in a simple easy to follow style with short chapters. Impossible to separate this book from the movie so I'll never really know what it was like to read this for the first time. If I ever had kids it would be a delight reading this to them.

But I think the yellowbrick road is still too tempting for that.