What led you to pick up this book? I am currently reading Wicked and became interested in reading the fairy tale version of the Wizard of Oz. It’s a classic that I have never read, only watched.

Plot summary: Dorothy’s house gets swept up in tornado and lands in the land of Oz where you befriends the Scarecrow, Tinman and Cowardly Lion, and together with Toto they travel the yellow brick road to reach the Wonderful Wizard of Oz so Dorothy can return home to Kansas.

If this book has been made into a movie, and if you’ve seen the movie, compare the book to the movie. The movie is quite different from the book in almost every way except the characters. I enjoyed the book just as much as watching the movie but they are almost like separate works and can’t even be compared. Alice’s journey to the Wizard of Oz is different, her journey home, encounters with the witch, etc. are all different. The book was magical but the movie was more vivid and simplistic compared to all the different lands and people Dorothy encountered.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is a an outstanding book where a girl, named Dorothy, gets whisked away by a tornado to the Wonderful World of Oz.

In this story, Dorothy has to talk to a talking Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and a Tin Woodman. She must find the Wizard of Oz to send her back home, but when she gets to Oz, she finds that he is an imposter. After that, Dorothy goes to Glinda, the good witch, who gives her a pair of flying shoes which Dorothy uses to fly home.

If you think about it, isn't Dorothy like the Greek God, Hermes, the messenger of the gods? They both have flying shoes. Hermes took people to the land of the dead, and Dorothy leads the tin woodman, lion, and the scarecrow to the City of Emeralds to find Oz. Could the Tin Woodman be one of Hephaestus' automatons? Could the Cowardly Lion be like the Nemean Lion, a vicious monster? Ha, Ha. Was this book inspired by Greek Mythology?

(Answer the poll on the right sidebar, or post a comment to give me your opinion.)

The moral of the story seems to be that there is no place like home. I think that because even when Dorothy had a whole kingdom at her fingertips, she still missed home.

This book also has flabbergasting ***chuckles*** illustrations. They are inked drawings, with amazing effects. For example, in the illustration at the beginning of Chapter 4 - The Road through the Forest, you can almost see into the forest with the 3D effect.oz

I recommend this book to anybody who wants a fantasy adventure story. It's a thrill ride all the way through. ( )

Wow! I picked this book because I had only seen the movie. Imagine my surprise to find that the movie was a loose interpretation! This is the perfect example of why you NEVER see the movie before reading a book-- the movie characters stump your imagination. Judy Garland will always and forever be Dorothy in my mind! Overall, I liked the story, although quite honestly, it was a bit slow for me. The plot just seemed oversimplified, which made the element of surprise almost non-existent. The witch was just gone midway thru the book! However, I can see why children would enjoy this type of story. There is no major emphasis or elaboration on evil, with most of the story's focus on friendships and cooperation. I did enjoy the fact that each of the friends, the lion, scarecrow, and tin man, all got to rule their own little countries. I also thought it was funny that the Emerald City only looked that way because of the mandatory wearing of the green tinted glasses, it was really white. The main thing that I liked about this book was the characters interdependence on one another to reach their goals, which is what true friendship is all about.

I can't believe I never read this classic either. I've of course seen the movie a dozen times. I can only imagine what it would have been like to read such a book before the the movie. This book has made such an impact on children all over the world. Ironically I saw the movie Australia recently which uses this book in a few scenes. It's such a good imaginative book for kids to read. ( )

This classic tale tells the story of Dorothy's journey to the strange and magical land of Oz, and the her many travails along the road home. This book is great for children starting in elementary school and up through middle school. It can also be read as a historical document in the context of American history and the election of 1896. ( )