The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

By L. Frank Baum

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a children's novel. The story chronicles the adventures of a young girl named Dorothy Gale in the Land of Oz, after being swept away from her Kansas farm home in a cyclone. The novel is one of the best-known stories in American popular culture

The author

Lyman Frank Baum (May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919), was an American author chiefly known for his children's books, particularly "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".

• Language: English
• Publisher: Passerino Editore
• Release date: Aug 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9788899447823

L. Frank Baum

L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) was an American author of children’s literature and pioneer of fantasy fiction. He demonstrated an active imagination and a skill for writing from a young age, encouraged by his father who bought him the printing press with which he began to publish several journals. Although he had a lifelong passion for theater, Baum found success with his novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), a self-described “modernized fairy tale” that led to thirteen sequels, inspired several stage and radio adaptations, and eventually, in 1939, was immortalized in the classic film starring Judy Garland.

Book preview

Oz

INTRODUCTION

Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.

Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as historical in the children's library; for the time has come for a series of newer wonder tales in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.

Having this thought in mind, the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was written solely to please children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out.

L. Frank Baum

Chicago, April, 1900.

THE CYCLONE

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar--except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child's laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy's merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.

Today, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at the sky too. Aunt Em was washing the dishes.

From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.

Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up.

There's a cyclone coming, Em, he called to his wife. I'll go look after the stock. Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.

Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of the danger close at hand.

Quick, Dorothy! she screamed. Run for the cellar!

Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him. Aunt Em, badly frightened, threw open the trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole. Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt. When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor.

Then a strange thing happened.

The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.

The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of a cyclone the air is generally still, but the great pressure of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher and higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone; and there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as easily as you could carry a feather.

It was very dark, and the wind howled horribly around her, but Dorothy found she was riding quite easily. After the first few whirls around, and one other time when the house tipped badly, she felt as if she were being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.

Toto did not like it. He ran about the room, now here, now there, barking loudly; but Dorothy sat quite still on the floor and waited to see what would happen.

Once Toto got too near the open trap door, and fell in; and at first the little girl thought she had lost him. But soon she saw one of his ears sticking up through the hole, for the strong pressure of the air was keeping him up so that he could not fall. She crept to the hole, caught Toto by the ear, and dragged him into the room again, afterward closing the trap door so that no more accidents could happen.

Hour after hour passed away, and slowly Dorothy got over her fright; but she felt quite lonely, and the wind shrieked so loudly all about her that she nearly became deaf. At first she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces when the house fell again; but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring. At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her.

In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

THE COUNCIL WITH THE MUNCHKINS

She was awakened by a shock, so sudden and severe that if Dorothy had not been lying on the soft bed she might have been hurt. As it was, the jar made her catch her breath and wonder what had happened; and Toto put his cold little nose into her face and whined dismally. Dorothy sat up and noticed that the house was not moving; nor was it dark, for the bright sunshine came in at the window, flooding the little room. She sprang from her bed and with Toto at her heels ran and opened the door.

The little girl gave a cry of amazement and looked about her, her eyes growing bigger and bigger at the wonderful sights she saw.

The cyclone had set the house down very gently--for a cyclone--in the midst of a country of marvelous beauty. There were lovely patches of greensward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes. A little way off was a small brook, rushing and sparkling along between green banks, and murmuring in a voice very grateful to a little girl who had lived so long on the dry, gray prairies.

While she stood looking eagerly at the strange and beautiful sights, she noticed coming toward her a group of the queerest people she had ever seen. They were not as big as the grown folk she had always been used to; but neither were they very small. In fact, they seemed about as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age, although they were, so far as looks go, many years older.

Three were men and one a woman, and all were oddly dressed. They wore round hats that rose to a small point a foot above their heads, with little bells around the brims that tinkled sweetly as they moved. The hats of the men were blue; the little woman's hat was white, and she wore a white gown that hung in pleats from her shoulders. Over it were sprinkled little stars that glistened in the sun like diamonds. The men were dressed in blue, of the same shade as their hats, and wore well-polished boots with a deep roll of blue at the tops. The men, Dorothy thought, were about as old as Uncle Henry, for two of them had beards. But the little woman was doubtless much older. Her face was covered with wrinkles, her hair was nearly white, and she walked rather stiffly.

When these people drew near the house where Dorothy was standing in the doorway, they paused and whispered among themselves, as if afraid to come farther. But the little old woman walked up to Dorothy, made a low bow and said, in a sweet voice:

You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins. We are so grateful to you for having killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and for setting our people free from bondage.

Dorothy listened to this speech with wonder. What could the little woman possibly mean by calling her a sorceress, and saying she had killed the Wicked Witch of the East? Dorothy was an innocent, harmless little girl, who had been carried by a cyclone many miles from home; and she had never killed anything in all her life.

But the little woman evidently expected her to answer; so Dorothy said, with hesitation, You are very kind, but there must be some mistake. I have not killed anything.

Your house did, anyway, replied the little old woman, with a laugh, and that is the same thing. See! she continued, pointing to the corner of the house. There are her two feet, still sticking out from under a block of wood.

Dorothy looked, and gave

Reviews for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

[ladypembroke · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just finished reading this book to my son, who is almost six. He really liked it, which sort of surprised me as it was more challenging for him to stay with than all the picture books and easy readers we usually share. I am very glad that my edition had all the old pictures in it so that it still had a little picture book flavor. That made the transition to more advanced reading easier.

The one thing I will note: As with the Beatrix Potter stories I also read in my childhood, I was a little surprised at the level of violence in this book. I guess it is just a reminder of how times have changed. But if you are at all worried about creatures of various sorts meeting a rather gruesome demise, I would sit this book out. But I truly believe you would be missing out on a really wonderful story.

Keep in mind as well that there are some MAJOR differences from the MGM movie -- the ruby slippers are silver, and Glinda is not the same Good Witch as the one at the beginning of the novel. (Spoiler: This change is what makes the movie Glinda seem so awful if you really think about it. She knew the whole time about the slippers and she never said anything?? Not cool.)

[ainjel-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great book for the young and old alike. If you're familiar with the movie or with Wicked... throw everything you know away and immerse yourself fully in this wondrous piece of art. Dorothy is a determined, plucky girl, the Wicked Witch is very much a child herself, and the Scarecrow and Tin Woodsman are as humourous and heartfelt as you always thought them to be. I highly recommend this book to every little girl looking for some adventure and humour, and every little boy wanting the same!

[catherine_gv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's REEEALLLY good. The kind of books I love to read :D It's ''childish'', but not written as though we were children of 5 to understand it. :D

[pepperwings · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A rather wonderful story! There were definitely some differences from the movie, which I found interesting, and I listened to the audiobook, which was a very nice interpretation/performance. I don't feel the political aspects were very pronounced, I'll have to read more analysis of that to understand it better, I suppose.

[niquetteb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The book is definitely different from the movie. The tale is directed towards youngsters with the use of repeating things and simplified wordings. There is a bit too much violence for a children's book, though. There is a scene where the scarecrow kills crows by snapping their necks.

[amberthehuman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a case of the movie being better than the book. Or, at least, the movie being better than this one book. I think once I read more, I'll get a better sense of the whole project, but with this one book, the story pacing is better in the movie. Not to give things away, but the ending of the movie comes about 3/4 way into the book, and then it's just less exciting. But I'm glad I finally read it!

[ajaygx · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Classic children fiction...

[benjamin.duffy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gay culture touchstone? Turn-of-the-20th-century political allegory? Nah. Much more of a straightforward fairy tale than I would have thought based on having seen the Judy Garland movie adaptation. Once you strip away the 1930s MGM musical-ness (pretty hard to do, considering what a part of the cultural consciousness that film is), and substitute in Baum's simple yet lyrical language, it feels very much like an American answer to classic European folk tales. At its heart, this felt like a story about believing in yourself, being kind, and being a good friend. If I had owned this book when any of my kids were four or five, it would have been wonderful to read to them.

Of course, as a former history major, I looked for the populist, free silver, political satire that was supposed to be here, and I've gotta say I think that must be some bullshit interpretation tacked on by later critics. This suspicion of mine is borne out by the fact that Frank Baum wrote approximately 327 sequels to this book, and to read them all would take more time than the actual Free Silver controversy lasted. I think Baum just set out to write a great children's story that wouldn't bore their parents to death, and he succeeded.

[ferrisscottr · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It's been a long time since I've been this disappointed in a book. We all know the great characters and the great world building the Baum does but in this story the writing is dreadful. I've read quite a bit of Baum's other books and have been pretty happy with them but in this book it seemed like it was written by a 3rd grader...not written for a 3rd grader but by a 3rd grader. I have read thousands of books and this is in my top five for the worst writing that I've ever experienced.

I did give it two stars because I did finish it and the characters and world building are so entertaining.

[aubreycs-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you are familiar with the movie then this is a great book that can further explain the story. There were many different representations and symbolism throughout the book that could help make different connections to the movie. The book is worth reading. It is a story written for children but can be very much enjoyed by adults as well. It is a great story about friendship and working together. The readers will discover that each character thought they needed the Great Oz's help when really they had the gift(s) within them.

[snukes-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed it very much. Loved that the slippers weren't really ruby.

[shirezu · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I only have vague memories of the movie(s) and never read this book as a child. I was encouraged (threatened) to read this book and as a cornerstone of children's literature I probably should have before now.

A very simple tale it was more violent then I had envisioned. The Tin Woodman has no issues taking his axe to anything and anyone even though he's a self-described pacifist.

I've heard the rest of the Oz series improves from here and I hope it does. Honestly I think I could have been perfectly happy not to have read this book but at least it was short.

[shannaredwind_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Just finished reading this to the kids and they loved it. They can't wait to start on the next book in the series.

[dauntless_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Having never read the book before, I read this before seeing the new Oz movie. It was a good, quick read. I understand its' classic status!

[gaillamontagne · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My copy of The Wizard of Oz was narrated by Anne Hathaway who is more talented than I understood. She was marvelous in her vocal interpertation. (except for the southern accent for one of the characters in Oz) Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it but, I must say, I enjoyed the movie more. In the book, she actually went to Oz unlike the movie, she was dreaming from being unconscious. Glenda was an old lady creature, the slippers were silver, not ruby and the tin man's story is very violent. I understand why the movie makers had to change it...... In the book, the tin man began as a real man who had fallen in love with a munchkin girl. The witch did not want them to marry so she put a magic spell on his ax which chopped off his limbs one at a time until all were gone, even his head. A tin worker refitted him each time until he was completey made of tin without a heart. Easy to see why this had to be changed for a childrens' movie. In the book, the story drags on byond melting the witch and arriving at Oz. It does not have the continunity that the movie has. It is not very often I enjoy the movie production more than the book. The movie made more sense

[saretta7l · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

La storia del Mago di Oz la conoscono tutti tra film e citazioni in altre serie (e.g. Futurama).A rileggerlo però è proprio un bel romanzo per bambini con il tema del viaggio e delle prove da superare per i quattro protagonisti.Oz insegna che forse è inutile cercare di avere quello che si ottiene con l'esperienza e che forse si aveva già, mentre Dorothy ci ricorda quanto sia bello tornare a casa.---The story of the magician of Oz is well known thanks also to books and quotes in series (e.g. Futurama).I re-read it and I found this book a very interesting children novel that contains the theme of the travel and obstacles that the four protagonists have to overcome.Oz tells us that maybe what we already have what we are searching for and that experience helps in becoming better people, Dorothy instead remembers us how wonderful is coming back home.

[ginger_malone-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another great kids book for introducing classic literature. Kids love this story, and I would use it for characterization and story progression.

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have never before read this children's classic. Surprised by how quickly it moves along, with some of the famous scenes in the movie not in the text...

Anne Hathaway does a good job with the narration, although I felt her voice for the Cowardly Lion to be a bit over the top.

[sebastianhagelstein · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked the different fantasy aspects like the strange creatures. Several of them weren't in the movie. The creatures with the flat heads that shot their necks and hit with their heads were interesting.

[mihalevich · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Author L Frank BaumTitle The Wizard of OzIllustrator Charles SantureDate SterlingPages 96Short Summary: This book is about Dorothy who has a dog named Todo. She lives in a little house with her grandma I believe. She has a dream because there was a bad tornado that blew her house up in the air and Dorothy hit her head and became unconscious and was asleep for awhile and had this dream, and the whole book is her dream basically. Her dream is she goes to this place that has a yellow brock road and a fairy godmother and umpaloompas. She doesn't know where she is all she knows is she isn't in Kansas anymore she wanted to know how to get home and the godmother tells her to just follow the yellow brick road and along the way she meets tin man, lion, and scarecrow which they all becomes Dorothy's friends They all go on an adventure and they also come across the mean witch and then also a good witch, you will just have to read the book to see what kind of adventures these characters have!Tags or subject headings would be fantasy and imaginary, not real.My Response: I love love this book and I was even more excited when the movie came out. I read this book over and over until the movie came out then I watched the movie all the time when I got ahold of that. I also loved all the songs in this book/movie. This book was basically like my whole childhood!

[obridget1-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum Rating: 5/5

Read from July 22 to August 03, 2013 — I own a copy
This Review has light spoilers.
This book is one of those cases that the movie is good, but so does not do justice for the book.

The movie left out so much that I would have loved to have seen in the movie. Naturally, some things that are in the book, I’m glad they left out because it is not meant to be seen by younger audiences; unless you make an Adult/Young Adult version like they do with the fairy tales these days. But I did enjoy the book. It took me so long to read it because I just wasn’t in the mood to read but it is good.
One of my favorite parts of the book were when they went to kill the Wicked Witch of the West and ran into the Winkies. And another part was the China People. Both of them I enjoyed.

This book is one of my favorites this year. There are some parts in this book that I wouldn’t suggest for younger children (Under 10 y/o, and even that’s kind of pushing it, depending on your child).

There was a part where the Tinman chopped off a few heads, and for me, younger children, if they’re a little more sensitive to that type of violence, I wouldn't suggest you let them read it until you know they can handle it. It didn't get detailed beyond saying he chopped off the heads but still, that much could upset some kids if they are sensitive. And there is also a part with a large spider as well.

I generally try to keep spoilers out of my reviews, but in this case, for those who haven’t read the book yet, I wanted to give some idea what was in it. Now, I don’t know if all editions are the same, but the one I read had those things mentioned in the spoilers. If you like classics, I would suggest this book to anyone.

[plasticatoms · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Classic work in which a young girl explores a strange land, seeking a way to get home. The original book has been largely superseded by the 1939 film in the public consciousness (to the point that this reprinting, like most, drops the full title, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"), but is well worth reading in the original. Dorothy is much tougher and braver in the original than the squealy Judy Garland portrayal, and the work is a good beginning to the lesser-known later Oz books, which are less world-building and more undirected explosions of imagination. Unfortunately the pacing suffers a little from the long, anticlimactic journey to Glinda's in the last half of the book, a reminder that sometimes the books were less about the plot and more about just being odd travelogues... but that's the fun part of any journey, after all! (Interestingly, despite being described in the author's introduction as "a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out", the book contains a surprising amount of beheadings. Cultural shift?)

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A children’s novel written by L. Frank Baum is more familiar to me as the movie so it was one time where the book didn’t feel right compared to the movie. It was first made into film in 1939. We all know the story. Dorothy, a young girl, living with her aunt and uncle in Kansas is swept away in a tornado and finds herself in a land populated by witches, north, south, east and west and all sorts of different characters and animals. The author was an US born author. He was sheltered, shy and had a heart problem. He spent time with imaginary friends and reading books. He married a ‘women’s rights’ person and was considered a progressive thinking. His book has a female hero. The movie does follow the book fairly well. The shoes were silver and not red. There is considerable violence with the woodman chopping heads off here and there but unlike the movie I actually was able to finish the book. The movie was always too scary. I was born in the same town as Judy Garland and she played Dorothy of course, so that’s my claim to fame.

[lilysreads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book a few years ago and loved it! It is an adorable read for any one of any age.

[pilgrimjess · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others” Like most of the Western world I've watched the movie version of this story but had never read the book so felt that it was about time that I did. It is interesting to read that the L.Frank Baum wanted to write a modern fairy-tale because the book is so much darker than the movie (with killer bees, crows that peck out eyes and the tin woodman beheading scores of wolves)but also comes with a social message.Now I appreciate that you can put much more into a novel than you can in 90 minutes of film but it is interesting that Dorothy's companions ask Oz for a brain,a heart and courage respectively and when granted these wishes actually go on to rule their own lands because these are seen as the ideal foundations of good governance. In contrast the actual leaders (the wicked witches and Oz) rule by fear and 'humbug'. This is certainly something that does not come through in movie or perhaps we just don't notice the significance. It is also a shame that the movie omits the dainty china country completely as it would have been fun to see how Hollywood have had handled it. Which is better the book or the movie? That's a difficult call as although the movie largely follows the plot of the book but both have a very different feel. However, if really pressed I would probably have to go with the film, mainly because I know it best, and not a 'ruby' slipper to be seen, silver doesn't work so well in techni-colour.

[cbilbo-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm a huge Wizard Of Oz fan. Even at age 40, I love this book. The story is so different than the movie...which for me is great. You have the beautiful cinematic story and the lovely written tale.

This story is written to where children of all ages can fall in love with Dorothy, The Scarecrow, The Tin Man and The Lion.

It's a fast read, but well worth the time in such a classic.

[charlaoppenlander · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this one out loud to Scot. We both really liked it! I had no idea how much different the movie is from the original book and that there are sequels to the book. We are going to try to find the second in the series to read.

[jmchshannon · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Anne Hathaway is not a horrible narrator. When she is narrating lines of text, her voice is quite pleasant, melodious, and very easy on the ears. Her vocalizations of the characters, however, leave a lot to be desired. The Lion has a Jewish twang, while the Scarecrow definitely has a Brooklyn lilt. Dorothy sounds like she is always going to cry, and the Tin Woodman sounds like he is also constantly on the verge of tears. Had Ms. Hathaway not tried so hard to differentiate the voices, the entire performance would have been much more even and bearable. Unfortunately, her voices becomes so distracting that one begins to cringe at the mere thought of more dialogue. This is not the type of narrator experience one should have when one is already highly antagonistic towards the story.That being said, there are some pleasant surprises that slightly redeem the story. Knowing about the hypothesized allegorical connections before listening or reading the original version makes one focus on the multiple mentions of silver, green, and gold throughout the story. (Unfortunately, whether the allegory is true or not is not something a generic reader will ever be able to discern.) Then there is the addition of a backstory for the Flying Monkeys, which makes them less frightening and much more interesting characters. The details of the book omitted from the movie really do add a bit more credence to the story, although that is not saying much.The main issue with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is that it passes itself off as an adult warning tale hidden within the confines of a children’s story, and neither are very good stories or warnings. There is no doubt that the use of color is a deliberate choice, and there is plenty of symbolism throughout the story. However, it is obtuse symbolism. Even literary scholars do not agree on Baum’s ultimate message. There is something fundamentally wrong and almost subliminal about Baum’s motivation when no one can interpret his message. As for the child’s tale portion, there are aspects of the story that seem questionable for its audience. The killing, the slavery, and the trickery are all one thing, but the characters themselves are also problematic. They are embarrassingly clueless and naïve, something which just does not mesh well with today’s information-driven culture. They do not question authority, and they earn rewards for their lack of challenge. They are nothing but blind followers, not the mindset most parents want to teach their children. The children’s story may have been appropriate for the time in which it was written, but it does not cross generations at all.I am not and have never been a fan of the movie version of The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy and her friends drive me batty. There is something about her voice that makes me cringe. The story is too extreme in its lessons of good and evil for enjoyment, and while the cinematography is gorgeous, it does nothing to improve the overall plot. I was really hoping the combination of Anne Hathaway and the original version of the story would be enough to change my mind. Alas, it is not enough, and my attempt to at least understand the fascination of this weird and pitiful story is at an end.

[sweetbeebecky · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I began reading this version of The Wizard of Oz to my youngest daughter, who is six years old, thinking that it may frighten her a bit, but in reality, this version was beautifully done and far less frightening than the movie version of this classic. In it, the characters are almost all seen as friendly and not at all intimidating or frightening. The residents of the land that Dorothy travels to on her way to Oz are small, cheerful characters who welcome Dorothy with open arms. When Dorothy finally reaches Oz, she is very well received, treated almost like a princess, and comes face to face with the Great Oz, who quickly shows himself to be just an ordinary man. This version would be wonderful to use as a read aloud or to the young but independent reader as an introduction to this classic tale, and also encourages using one's imagination and the themes of friendship, confidence in one's strengths, pursuing one's dreams, and the triumph of good over evil.

[portm-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Audiobook - the Audible version read by Anne Hathaway. This is the first time I've read this book, although of course I'm very familiar with the movie. I was prepared to be delighted with it, wanted to be delighted with it. I wanted to like it so much that I'm tempted to make excuses for it. I would say that I only feel disappointed with it because it's a beloved movie from my childhood and a book written for children that I read as an adult, so it couldn't have possibly met my expectations. But I'd be lying. When I finally read Roald Dahl's Charlie & the Chocolate Factory book, I fell right into it, laughed along with it, and was thoroughly satisfied with it. So much so, that I was surprised how much I've disliked other Dahl stories. So, this wasn't a bad little story, and had I encountered it for the first time I'd have loved the inventiveness of the flying monkeys, tin woodsman, brainless scarecrow, etc. All I can say is that this is one of those incredibly rare circumstances where the movie was better than the book. As for the narrator... well, I love Anne Hathaway as an actor and strongly feel that she should stick to acting. This audiobook is proof that the skills needed for acting must be a different set of skills needed for making a story come alive through reading it aloud.