Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908)

This was very well done. This volume follows Dorothy into another fairy world, this time being joined by her new kitten Eureka, her California cousin Zeb, his old horse Jim, and the wizard Oz with his nine miniature piglets. They make their way through multiple adventures in many lands, all in a quest to return to the surface world. Finally, they end up trapped just below their goal of the surface and call on Ozma to whisk them away to Oz when things seem hopeless. Eureka the cat and Jim the horse make bad impressions in Oz. There's a trial over Eureka trying to eat one of the nine piglets, which turns out to be untrue, and Dorothy, Zeb, Jim, and Eureka all return home. Oz stays in Oz and becomes Ozma's royal wizard. Ozma stays in charge. Happy story. Good book. ( )

Qui la recensione

http://tonarinodiablo.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/ancora-il-mago-di-oz/ ( )

The fourth book in the Oz series by L. Frank Baum. It begins with an earthquake. Dorothy, her kitten Eureka, her second cousin Zeb, and the cab-horse Jim are all swallowed up by a giant hole that opens in the ground. They float down through a hollow world and find themselves in the land of the pretty but heartless vegetable people, who live in glass houses beneath six multi-coloured suns. The Wizard, who was also fell in during the earthquake, joins them and the group decides they must escape and somehow make their way back up to the top of the world. They journey through various underground fairy lands, meeting invisible people who are preyed upon by invisible bears, evil wooden people with wings who attack them and more. Eventually they hit a dead end and are rescued by Ozma and taken to Oz. The last part of the book, set in Oz, is nothing more than a chance to catch up with the familiar characters of the previous books.

I did find this Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz delightful in parts and beautifully inventive in imagery. I think this would be a lovely series to read aloud to a young child. I loved Jim, the somewhat cranky old cab-horse and Eureka the bad-tempered little kitten. However, there were some things that annoyed me in this fourth book. The complete randomness of the journey back to the top of the world was okay, it seemed in keeping with the random adventures of the previous Oz books, and there was some fantastic dreamy imagery and yet . . . and yet there was so much that just seemed pointless. Like, what was the point of the old man with braids and his gifts? The manner in which the group was finally rescued and wished away to Oz was also unsatisfying. I felt like there should have been something more to this section of the book, something to wrap it up.

The story in Oz itself wasn't even a story, so much as a chance to "check in" with all the trademark characters like the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, etc. And since when are there no horses in Oz? In this book we learn that no one in Oz has ever seen a horse, so Jim's appearance is a huge deal, but I'm sure in The Land of Oz Tip describes the difference between a real horse and a saw-horse, and wasn't there a multi-coloured horse in the first book? Finally, the trial of the kitten, Eureka really upset me. The "good" guys (Ozma) threaten to make a little girl (Dorothy) watch her tiny kitten's head get chopped off for "murder" (they think it ate a piglet) and in the end they're all friends again . . . maybe it's the cat lover in me, but I wouldn't be as quick to make up with Ozma as Dorothy. ( )

I decided to try to get through the books of Oz that are written by L. Frank Baum this year and I have thus far gotten through the first four books of the series. I am finding them fascinating because this and the previous book (Ozma of Oz) take place mainly outside of the land of Oz itself and in other fairy lands that Baum has created for the stories. It is interesting to see him say that they are Oz stories simply because they contain the characters briefly or at the end of the tale.

I do, however, like the book even though they are not truly Oz stories in my opinion. I enjoy reading them because they are whimsical and light-hearted in a way that most children's books simply are not. These books are truly something that I can see someone reading to their children before bedtime to make them believe that anything can happen in their lives. They are beautiful stories. There are times that Baum is harsh though in his writing about certain characters, such as in this book he again treats the sawhorse badly because of how he was created. He also calls the Wizard a humbug repeatedly. Some of these words feel like they are rude and putting someone down, which I don't like. They are classics though and they are produced from a different time period. They are an enjoyable read and easy to understand why they have stood the test of time. ( )

This isn't as much of an Oz book as some, taking place mostly somewhere within the earth. Our main characters only make it to Oz near to the end. This doesn't mean that Baum's storytelling was wasted, however. Everyone goes on a typical Oz-like journey through all sorts of unusual countries, giving the reader's mind so much to work with in terms of creating a visual for the places that they should "see" in the text.

Not a favorite in the series, but not a mistake at all, this book has all of the wonderful characteristics of an Oz story while introducing many new lands outside of Oz or its neighbors. Every turn in the adventure brings more to the imagination than could be possible with many other writers. ( )