The fourth installment of the Wizard of Oz series. I enjoyed this one as much as the last one. The fact that Baum can keep coming up with more adventures for Dorothy and new characters that somehow fit into this wonderful world and these different lands, is almost as creative and interesting as sci-fi writers creating dimensions.

There’s still a lot left in the series so we’ll see how far I can get this year.

Another 'journey to Oz, meet strange people along the way' tale. Moderately interesting. Enjoyed the Wizard's reunion with Oz. ( )

More violence, which frankly make the books better. If you're going for that Grimm thing, you should just let people get chopped up or the whole thing feels weird. There are some mean people in this one. Including weird-ass vegetable folk. ( )

Not the greatest of the Oz books. True, we get the return of the Wizard, but it lacks the excitement and intrigue of the other books. It's not until the gang reaches Emerald City that the book gets really exciting. I did like the idea behind the Kingdom of the Vegetables, but the way it came out, and the journey before it and after just fell really really flat. The new characters, Jim and Zeb, also added absolutely nothing to the plot that we didn't already . But still, it's L. Frank Baum, so I can't rate it all that badly. Not to mention, the reunion of the Wizard with the rest of Emerald City was just amazing to read, because after the Wizard of Oz, who would have thought we'd ever see that reunion, right? Awesome! ( )

I read a great many of the Oz books when I was a child, and I simply ADORED them. Many I read more than once, although now, after so much time has elapsed, I don't have a lot of memories about specific happenings in each of the books. (Although character names are still familiar). I look foward to reading these sometime soon with my son; then I can come back and give more detailed reviews. ( )