This is a wonderful book to read, especially if you love the movie, but you must be aware that the book is considerably different than the movie. I think this is a case where the majority of people will have seen the movie before reading the book, and therefore may not like the book. For example, the Emerald City is actually white, did you know that? They also encounter many talking animals such as a stork that saves the scarecrow and a mouse who is a queen. This book is much more detailed than the movie, as most books are.
I would recommend this book for my library (medium public library). ( )

One day Dorothy who lives in Kansas is transported to the Land of Oz by a huge cyclone with her dog and house.
Land of Oz was a magical land. She looks for The Wizard of Oz with her friends to return to Kansas.
I thought Dorothy, the Tin Woodman, Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion are very good companions.Everyone has a merit respectively.
Though I had been surprised at end of this story a little,I thought it was very interesting and warm story. ( )

** spoiler alert ** After reading Wicked, I realized that I had never actually read The Wizard of Oz. I had seen the movie, which is very different. I was very pleasantly surprised by the book. It is full of action and the character development is done quite well. My favorite part in the whole book is the description of the Emerald City being white, and that it only appears emerald because everyone is made to wear emerald glasses. I highly recommend this book, especially if you have only ever seen the movie. ( )

I don't think many more than a few fans of L. Frank Baum's 14-book Oz series claim The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a favorite. Speaking as a childhood Oz fan myself, I always considered this as not much more than a forgettable set-up for the much more interesting excursions that occur later in the series (with Ozma, and Glinda, and Captain Bill, and *insert your favorite combination of characters here*).

Rereading this now, as an adult, it's easy to see why: Baum's prose here is rather stilted and almost dour at times. It's not helped along by W. W. Denslow's illustrations, which, while rather intelligently using the limited color-printing to great effect, interpret Oz almost as a toy land. His Dorothy and crew in action seem almost dumpy and static, posed doll-like even, in comparison to the more sprightly drawings of John R. Neill (illustrator of the remaining 13 books by Baum, and the next 24 canon Oz books, including three he penned himself).

Yet in one way, Baum was entirely successful: he created a new American fairy tale. His talent for creating memorable characters created from both pillaged archetypes (echoes of parables and folktales abound) and strange invention is in full force here. And they tap into symbolic universal struggles. The iconic Dorothy, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, the humbug Wizard- they’ve become intrinsic within pop culture. In that way, I’m really glad I reread it, not taking my own memories, “the populist interpretation”, Wicked, etc- as “good-enough” readings of the text.

This Oz isn’t the Technicolor dreamland of the 1939 MGM musical; this isn’t the joyful utopian adventure-land I remember. The land of Oz surprised me in both its simplicity and dangerous charm. The characters astounded me over and over again: Dorothy’s blessed frank and common-sense nature, the Scarecrow philosophical argument about the benefits of mind over heart, the Wizard’s people-pleasing nature, the Tin Man’s combination of compassionate heart and brutal ax hand. ( )

I think this is a great book for all to read. It is slightly different than the movie and gives insight on the historical happenings during that time. The imagery is not as colorful as the movie, the illustrations are far and few between which was kind of disappointing. Overall their are excellent messages for children to pick up on and ideals to grasp and understand. The quotes by the characters are priceless. I love the fact that the Scarecrow doesn't think he has a brain, yet is able to talk, think and behave as though he does. The characters are lacking confidence in themselves, when everything they wanted was right there in front of them in their actions. Great book, not surprised it has been around for 100 plus years!! ( )