This was a lot better than the movie. A bit more violent and I think some hidden messages, but still I liked it. ( )

When I was a child I read practically every classic children's fantasy book I could get my hands on, or had my parents read them to me. From Lewis and Tolkien to MacDonald and Nesbit, we covered almost all the basics. Baum was of course a member of this distinguished company. Yet while I either continued with the others' bibliography or reread those initial beloved works, he pretty much dropped off my radar after a year or two. Then, when I suggested to my five year-old sister that we read something together this summer, her gaze gravitated to the old, battered copy of The Wizard of Oz sitting on my shelf. Thinking that it would be smart to introduce her to the world of "big books" via a story she already knew, and contemplating the poetic justice of one of reading one of my earliest loves to her, I agreed readily.

Though in the end it was a satisfying experience, I cannot say that I am as fascinated by Baum's creation as I once was. It is decent, but pales considerably next to some of those other childhood classics. As another reviewer mentioned, the writing is very odd rhythmically, and as I tried to read it aloud I often found myself stumbling over certain sentences and sometimes had to read them over again. Moreover, the characters are fairly cardboard, not fleshed-out people in the style of Lewis' Narnia and other quality children's books. The Scarecrow is the group's Strategical Planner, The Tin Man is Mr. Weepy, and the Lion is the Noise Machine (though for some reason I ended up reading him as a rather stuffy old English gentleman—right-o, chums!). As for Dorothy, she is Everyman, or Everygirl to be more exact. Only she's not a particularly active Everygirl. Though I am just as tired of the corny girl power heroines that seem to plague modern fiction, it would be nice for her to do something useful that advances the plot. On the other hand, this does illustrate what is for me an important lesson—that the simplest of actions, such as helping a Scarecrow down from his pole or throwing a bucket of water in anger, can have cataclysmic effects.

Of course, reading aloud is an endeavor that brings its own benefits. It was fun to watch my sister's excitement at discovering the Land of Oz in its literary form; I was surprised to see how much she picked up on that most adults would just brush by; for instance, when I was reading the descriptions of Kansas being gray and bleak she commented, "That's why there's none color at the beginning of the movie!" I also enjoyed trying to enter the world of the book by bringing the characters to life, but I will not be doing my Queen of the Field Mice voice in public anytime soon. For these reasons, I would suggest trying Oz on your children as an introduction to real chapter books, especially considering that most will already be familiar with the plot. But it is not in any sense a favorite of mine. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1220678...

One of those fantasy classics which I had never actually read, though of course I've seen the 1939 film numerous times. Naturally the first thing that strikes me is the number of differences between the two:
1) Dorothy is much younger in the book - the original Denslow illustrations show her as a very little girl, Alice-size or smaller.
She is also more passive than in the film (which gives the scarecrow, lion and woodman a bit more character development).
2) Oz is a distant part of our world, not a dream (so Uncle Henry and Auntie Em have to rebuild their house after the cyclone removes it).
3) The Kansas section at the start of the book is very short, and the section at the end even shorter (half a page).
4) The Wizard interviews the four travellers separately, when they arrive in the Emerald City, and appears different to each of them.
5) The Emerald City isn't all that green - residents and visitors are forced to wear green-tinted spectacles.
6) The magic shoes are silver rather than red.
7) Dorothy and friends encounter a country populated by living china figurines and another populated by sinister 'Hammerheads'.
8) There are no songs.
It is generally pleasantly and confidently well-written, and I'll pass it on to my nine-year-old with a strong recommendation; I think he will enjoy it, and I can see why it is a classic. ( )

Anyone who knows me will know that I invest far too much time, energy, and money into a lot of things: Star Trek, Doctor Who, Horatio Hornblower, and so on. But the first thing I ever became obsessed with as a child was the Marvelous Land of Oz. I used to draw maps of it, write up timelines, and all those things I do all the time for everything these days. But I haven't read an Oz book in over five years, so I was pleased that a class I was taking gave me cause to read one over again. Well, The Wizard of Oz is still awesome. And all you posers out there with your Wicked soundtracks can bite me.

Like many others, my only exposure to Baum's classic work was the movie adaptation. The book has much the same charm, but is delightfully different. I could easily picture myself reading this to my future children. ( )