The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

By L. Frank Baum

The Wizard of Oz is the first fantasy written by an American. Its evocative use of the forces of nature in its plots and produced powerful effect on the American imagination. The story follows Dorothy, a young orphaned girl raised by her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em in the bleak landscape of a Kansas farm. She has a little black dog Toto, who is her sole source of happiness on the dry, gray prairies. One day the farmhouse, with Dorothy and Toto inside, is caught up in a cyclone and deposited in a field in Munchkin Country, the eastern quadrant of the Land of Oz. The falling house kills the evil ruler of the Munchkins, the Wicked Witch of the East.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fantastica
• Release date: Jan 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781909438248

L. Frank Baum

L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900 and received enormous, immediate success. Baum went on to write seventeen additional novels in the Oz series. Today, he is considered the father of the American fairy tale. His stories inspired the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz, one of the most widely viewed movies of all time. MinaLima is an award-winning graphic design studio founded by Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, renowned for establishing the visual graphic style of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film series. Specializing in graphic design and illustration, Miraphora and Eduardo have continued their involvement in the Harry Potter franchise through numerous design commissions, from creating all the graphic elements for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley at Universal Orlando Resort, to designing award-winning publications for the brand. Their best-selling books include Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone, Harry Potter Film Wizardry, The Case of Beasts: Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Archive of Magic: Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts screenplays. MinaLima studio is renowned internationally for telling stories through design and has created its own MinaLima Classics series, reimagining a growing collection of much-loved tales including Peter Pan, The Secret Garden, and Pinocchio.

Book preview

L. Frank Baum

The Wonderful

Wizard of OZ

Fantastica

LONDON NEW YORK MELBOURNE TORONTO

MOSCOW CAPE TOWN AUCKLAND

New Edition, Children’s Classics

Great American Classics

Published by Fantastica

An imprint of Max Bollinger

27 Old Gloucester St,

London WC1N 3AX

[e-mail]

www.interactive.eu.com

This Edition first published in 2013

Author: L. Frank Baum

Editor: Max Bollinger

Copyright © 2013 Fantastica

Cover design and artwork

© 2013 urban-pic.co.uk

All Rights Reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

The greatest care has been taken in compiling this book. However, no responsibility can be accepted by the publishers or compilers for the accuracy of the information presented.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book has been requested.

ISBN: 9781909438279 (pbk)

ISBN: 9781909438248 (ebk)

Bref: WOZ-03

Contents

INTRODUCTION

1. THE CYCLONE

2. THE COUNCIL WITH THE MUNCHKINS

3. HOW DOROTHY SAVED THE SCARECROW

4. THE ROAD THROUGH THE FOREST

5. THE RESCUE OF THE TIN WOODMAN

6. THE COWARDLY LION

7. THE JOURNEY TO THE GREAT OZ

8. THE DEADLY POPPY FIELD

9. THE QUEEN OF THE FIELD MICE

10. THE GUARDIAN OF THE GATE

11. THE WONDERFUL CITY OF OZ

12. THE SEARCH FOR THE WICKED WITCH

13. THE RESCUE

14. THE WINGED MONKEYS

15. THE DISCOVERY OF OZ, THE TERRIBLE

16. THE MAGIC ART OF THE GREAT HUMBUG

17. HOW THE BALLOON WAS LAUNCHED

18. AWAY TO THE SOUTH

19. ATTACKED BY THE FIGHTING TREES

20. THE DAINTY CHINA COUNTRY

21. THE LION BECOMES THE KING OF BEASTS

22. THE COUNTRY OF THE QUADLINGS

23. GLINDA THE GOOD WITCH GRANTS DOROTHY’S WISH

24. HOME AGAIN

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 WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ

1. 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.

2. 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

Reviews for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

[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.

[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

[ladycato · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book—a novella by modern standards—remains a pleasant read over a hundred years after Baum first published it in 1900. The basic characters are the same, and some of the same events take place, but I think the movie is a more solid story over all. That said, I still liked it. There is a deep sense of magic to Dorothy’s adventure (with Toto, too) in Oz.

[cubsfan3410 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have seen the movie COUNTLESS times and finally read the book. It was wonderful and has a little bit more to explain the movie story.
LOVED it!

[pzr-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've just read this to my two kids. They loved the story and I had a ball making up voices for the characters (you should hear my Kansas accent...). Given that it's over a century since Baum wrote the book, it holds up remarkably well. Many children's books from the '20s, '30s and '40s sound positively archaic now. 'Oz' is older and yet it didn't feel antiquated at all. I suppose it's because the prose and tale itself are timeless, the hallmarks of a classic.

[citizenjoyce · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a surprisingly wonderful book. I've only seen the movies before, and while I did miss the music, I found the plucky girl character Dorothy strong and purposeful and all the other characters varied and interesting. I wish I had a child to read it to now, but I don't think it would work too well on my 18-year-old grandson.

[eric_j._guignard · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

REVIEWED: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
WRITTEN BY: L. Frank Baum
PUBLISHED: May, 1900

There really isn’t much more to say than has already been offered a thousand time over. This book is a timeless classic. I just read it to my son and can confirm that the story is touching for all ages. He’s five, I’m thirty-seven, and we enjoyed it together. My parents love it, grandparents love it, etc. There are not a lot of fiction works that are appealing to so wide an audience. If you don’t know the basic story, according to the movie at least, your childhood was a sham. The book includes additional passages and adventures which were left out of the MGM film; it’s also darker and more violent than the movie... and lacks the songs.

Five out of Five stars

[ashleytylerjohn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a delightful book. If you're familiar with the film, it has a similar plot but feels more picaresque (episodic), and covers a little more ground. The feeling engendered by each is very, very different, though both are masterpieces in their own right.

This is indeed that rare book that can be enjoyed by old and young alike (the second in the series has quite long passages that really only an adult will be able to follow, but this one holds the interest of all ages). I read it as a child, back in the day, and it was the first chapter book I read to my nephew (when he was 2) because it had illustrations on almost every page, which was a necessity if we wanted to hold his interest--and on the rare pages without one, I'd show him the cover while I quickly got through the text--so if you're looking for early books for your kids, this is a great option.

If you enjoy the cleverness of the conversations, do keep reading--The Marvelous Land of Oz is not quite as good, but the third Oz book (Ozma of Oz) is my favourite of all, once I got used to Dorothy's makeover (Baum hired a new illustrator, and she goes from frumpy brunette to stylish blonde).

If you're a reader (and you must be, you're here), and you haven't read this one, you must! You simply must. It will surprise you, and you may end up preferring it to the wonderful film (not that it's a contest--they can both be terrific, and are.)

[thereadingmermaid · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I made the mistake of growing up watching the film and not reading the book until adulthood. They are VERY different. This novel is a lot more graphic and dark. Not at all like the yellow brick road we skipped down with Judy Garland.

[csdaley-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Better than I expected it to be but it does show its age. Still fun to read. I am a little surprised it took me this long to read it.

[bribre01 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've been a huge fan of the Wizard of Oz movie, I can't believe it's taken me this long to read the book. It's a cute, entertaining story with much more detail about the land of Oz. I'm also a fan of Gregory Mcquire's Wicked series, and I was interested to find some of the characters from his books in the original book (Boq). The entire time I was reading I kept thinking that I can't wait to share the book with my kids someday. I now want to read the entire series.

[jljaina · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rating is closer to 3.5 stars. I have parts about this I loved and parts that bothered me so my thoughts a left a jumbled mess. First off, if you do not know this story, go learn about it. Everyone should know the Wizard of Oz and most of us do. Although I think many of us are more familiar with the movie. The story concept is just great and one I have always loved and all that credit goes to the author.

Now, I must admit I like the movie more than the book. While the basic story is great and Dorothy being a little girl does put a more child-like quality of the book there is a lot of violence in this story. The Tin Man's story is both sad and horrifying and might be a bit much for a young child to handle. And the neck breaking, limb lopping as they make their way across Oz was harsh. While it is not very graphic in description it is still easy to visualize. So while the story is written in a style for young children, about half the content is on the mature side.

This is a short story being between 110-140 pages (depending on the pictures of various editions). The chapters are short and the pace is fast. A lot happens in that time. It is still a fantastical adventure and in some ways getting the back story of the characters added to it's enrichment.

There are quite a few differences from the movie to the book. From the house Dorothy green up in, the Ruby vs silver slippers, the Winged Monkeys, The Emerald City, etc. It was very interesting to see and discover the differences. One thing that really jumped out at me was how each character acted versus what they kept saying they wanted from the Wizard. Amusing aspect to the story, making it all the more endearing.


Overall enjoyable. I am curious to continue the series yet there is no feeling of needing to rush to the next book. It is a series to read at leisure. I advise caution for young children for this book. If a movie copied the details of the book, it would not be rated G. So just a heads up, I advise you to read it before your child does if allowing them to read this at a young age.

[joeydag · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was too young to understand this book and it has been too long ago for me to remember what it was like to be a teenager boy reading about a young woman's life and challenges.

[davidtaylorjr-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

There are not many times when the movie is better than the book, but this is one of those times.

[klburnside · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book at a little independent bookstore in Bardstown, Kentucky, because I really liked the bookstore and wanted to support it. I'm really not sure why I chose the Wizard of Oz, other than that I've never read it and it was cheap.

I really liked the book at the beginning, it was just simple and magical and took you off into another world. By the end I got kind of bored with the lack of complexity. I think it would be a fun book to read aloud to a child, but it doesn't go on my list of favorite children's books.

It was really interesting to see how the book compared to the movie. I want to see the movie again, but mostly what I want to see is the made for tv movie, the Dreamer of Oz, which tells the story of L. Frank Baum writing the book. Do any of my sisters remember if this is one our tapes we think was lent to the Nolans?

[crunchymunchkin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In most cases, I prefer the original books over their movie adaptions.The Wizard of Oz, however, took the best from the source material and embellished what was missing, adding what they needed to in order to create a truly magical experience that has endured to this day. Whereas the movie is tightly scripted, the book meanders and includes somewhat unnecessary (and violent) encounters with killer bees, evil crows and bloodthirsty wolves. Surprising really, considering Baum did not intend for it to be as violent as fairytales of the past.

[nancy1janes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An old classic. A marvelous imaginative work that takes us to a world where what is seen is not always the reality. The land of Oz is inhabited by many odd beings who help Dorothy to find her way home, a wiser little girl, from her great adventure.

[kate_schulte078 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book would be good to use when talking about fantasy. I think students will like this because of the adventure the main character goes on.

[nmhale_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This lavishly illustrated picture book is an abridged version of the original book, Wizard of Oz, first in the OZ series. The story bears similarities to the popular movie of the same name, but is quite drastically different. Dorothy hitches a ride on a tornado, and flattens a witch beneath her house, but the magic shoes are silver. She lands in the land of the Munchkins and meets a good witch; not Glinda, this one is kindly and elderly and short. The Good Witch of the North kisses Dorothy on the forehead, giving her a charm that protects her against evil, although Dorothy is unaware of the kiss's power. She and Toto set off on the yellow brick road, in search of the and the powerful Wizard of Oz. En route, they meet the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion. These three new companions learn about the wizard from Dorothy, and decide they can use a little help, too. The Scarecrow wants a brain, the Woodsman wants a heart, and the Lion wants courage. Their journey has many obstacles, however, like the deep abyss in the road or the field of poppies that causes all people and animals to fall asleep. Once they finally reach the Emerald City, they are greeted with the city guard, who locks a pair of green spectacles on everyone's head, even Toto. They are allowed into the wizard's presence, but the vast floating head

[theportports · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's shocking to me how well The Wizard of Oz holds up. 1900? Language has changed, and yet this is still approachable. That's a wonder in itself. I read all of these back when I was a child, and I loved the. I think I'll go through and read all the Baum Oz books again...Not much else to say; we know what these books are. They're classics, imbedded in our popular culture. My favorite part? I'd forgotten that Scarecrow got "bran-new" brains made of needles, pins, and, yes... bran.That cracks me up.

[coltfan18 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book for the first time and loved it. I enjoyed the differences between the book and movie. We still have Dorothy and Toto landing in Oz after a tornado. As they travel to find the Wizard, Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion. I liked that we saw more of Oz and that each district had its own theme with a different color. As you read the book and listen to the characters lament about what is missing from their lives, you realize they already possess these qualities. Its a wonderful read no matter what your age.

[catalogthis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found it difficult to read this without the ghosts of the MGM musical and Gregory Maguire's [book: Wicked] and [book: Son of a Witch] lurking over my shoulder.Definitely liked it more than the musical -- no offense to Judy Garland. Dorothy's comrades are much more interesting in the original, especially little Toto.***August 2008 selection of the GB Book Club.***

[laurakurtz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a classic tale of the orphan Dorothy and Toto, transported from Kansas to the land of Oz, where she tries to get home and help her friends along the way. they gain love, courage, and brains from her, and she goes home safely in the end after several hardships.

[primayu_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this story a cyclone hits Dorothy's house in Kansas and, the cyclone caries Dorothy and her little dog Toto to a faraway land called "The land of Oz".There, she meets four new friends...The Scarecrow, The Tin Woodman and The Cowardly Lion.You've seen the movie, but do you know the REAL story?This is one of the my all time favorites. The picture above is the actual book given to me as a child. Since then I have read it many times to my children and then my grandchildren

[gatha_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read "the wizard of oz" when I was a child,but i did not remember the story too much, so i trid to read it. I thought it very interesting. I like the characters in the story because they has originarity. Especially, I like rion which is coward .In addition to, I like the wizard of oz because I like his magic. It is not real magic, but it can help many people and things. I think he is a coward and dishonest, but kind person.this story very unique. i have never read such a unique story since i have ever read.

[she_climber · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book! I've seen the movie several times but I can't believe how much I enjoyed the story. The little things that were different, the big things that are different. No wonder this is such a timeless classic.

[snakeshands · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Having not come across this one in a very long time, my thoughts: So much stranger than the film, for sure. Also so much funnier, and far more cynical, despite the amusing little bit at the beginning from Baum about how fairy tales where bad things happen are obsolete. Less recognized as such, but this is nearly as loony as Alice in Wonderland--especially in that very same hyper-episodic feeling, where he just throws idea after idea after idea at you, with barely time to hold onto the characters or figure out what just happened before he skips along giddily to the next. I'm very, very glad I reread this one, and onwards to the Marvelous Land (got myself this Borders collection of the first seven Oz books for a very reasonable price, and I'm just having at them.).