The Wizard of Oz: The Classic Edition

This lavishly illustrated picture book is an abridged version of the original Wizard of Oz, first in the Oz series. The story bears similarities to the popular movie of the same name, but is quite different. Dorothy hitches a ride on a tornado, and flattens a witch beneath her house, but the magic shoes are silver. She lands in the land of the Munchkins and meets a good witch; not Glinda, this one is kindly and elderly and short. The Good Witch of the North kisses Dorothy on the forehead, giving her a charm that protects her against evil, although Dorothy is unaware of the kiss's power. She and Toto set off on the yellow brick road, in search of the Emerald City and the powerful Wizard of Oz.

En route, they meet the Scarecrow, the Tin show more Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion. These three new companions learn about the wizard from Dorothy, and decide they can use a little help, too. The Scarecrow wants a brain, the Woodsman wants a heart, and the Lion wants courage. Their journey has many obstacles, however, like the deep abyss in the road or the field of poppies that causes all people and animals to fall asleep. Once they finally reach the Emerald City, they are greeted with the city guard, who locks a pair of green spectacles on everyone's head, even Toto. While they are impressed by the lovely green tones of everything in the city, they are less happy with the wizard, who is vast floating head, and not too friendly. He demands that they kill the Wicked Witch of the West before he will grant anyone anything, and the group of friends sadly set out again. None of them wants to kill another person, even if she is a wicked witch.

Most of the events up to this point were reflected in the movie, albeit missing many details and with alterations. From this point, though, the novel brings in so much more that was abandoned by the film. The witch tries to stop the travelers from reaching her home through a variety of nasty methods, and when the yellow brick road folk thwart each of her efforts, she calls on the flying monkeys as a last resort. They destroy the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsman, but leave Dorothy and the Lion intact; Dorothy because she is protected by a kiss, and the Lion because he is too fearsome. Dorothy is imprisoned for many days, until the Wicked Witch of the West tricks her to steal one of the silver slippers, and Dorothy throws a bucket of water over her in anger. Through chance, she has killed the witch. They return to the wizard in triumph, learn he is more a con man than a wizard, and watch him disappear in a hot air balloon, accidentally leaving Dorothy behind. The story doesn't end there, though. The friends go on yet another perilous journey, this time to find the Good Witch Glinda and ask her how Dorothy can return to Kansas.

While this book is abridged, it is a nice method of sharing a classic story with young readers. I imagine not many people have actually read the Wizard of Oz, as a matter of fact, but are familiar with the story from the famous movie that has become iconic in the film industry. I've never read it myself, but after reading this version as a bed time story to my girls, I am certainly eager to read the original. Personally, I am not fan of abridged books, but in the context of reading them to young children who won't sit through a reading of the full book, I see their appeal. (My family has also read an illustrated and abridged version of Peter Pan for one of our bed time books.) This abridgment is written with clear language that seamlessly pieces together parts of the original novel so that new readers won't feel confused or as if anything is missing. A note at the end of the book explains that the original story was condensed, not rewritten, and this book is meant to be a visual interpretation of Baum's work. Certainly the illustrations are gorgeous, and vividly express the world of Oz, allowing descriptive details to be omitted.

As I wrote earlier, I am very interested in reading the first book in the Oz series. Honestly, I have played with the idea of reading the series for years (they are fantasy classics, and referenced in so many other works), but now that we have read a picture book version I am feeling much more motivated. The world of Oz looks complex and amazing, and the characters are more interesting than I remembered. They have flaws and traits not captured in the film. The plot has intriguing developments, fun folk-tale inspired complications, and a brisk and suspenseful narrative pace, and I want to see the story unfold in its original words. Meanwhile, this picture book is an beautifully illustrated version, and an enticement to seek out the source material. show less

This is one of those reviews I feel ridiculous writing because who doesn't know the story of The Wizard of Oz? Dorothy is a child living in a one-room house in Kansas with her aunt, uncle and dog. A tornado rips through the plains but before Dorothy and her little dog can make it to the hole in the floor the tiny house is swooped up in the tornado's vortex and they are whisked off to a fantasy land. Upon landing they inadvertently kill a wicked witch (of the East). The townspeople munchkins are overjoyed but all Dorothy wants to do is go home. So, the munchkins give her the witch's shoes and send her along a yellow brick road. At the end of the road is a wizard who supposedly can help her get back to Kansas. Along her journey she meets show more some oddball characters (a tin woodsman, a cowardly lion, and a brainless scarecrow). Unbeknownst to them, they are being watched on their journey. The deceased witch's sister (Wicked Witch of the West) wants the shoes given to Dorothy. To read The Wizard of Oz as an adult is 100% entertainment. I had fun taking note of how many times the brains-needing Scarecrow did something exceedingly smart or the Cowardly Lion acted inherently brave or the no-heart Tin Man felt true compassion. Other amusements: the group discussing heart disease. show less

Classic work in which a young girl explores a strange land, seeking a way to get home. The original book has been largely superseded by the 1939 film in the public consciousness (to the point that this reprinting, like most, drops the full title, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"), but is well worth reading in the original. Dorothy is much tougher and braver in the original than the squealy Judy Garland portrayal, and the work is a good beginning to the lesser-known later Oz books, which are less world-building and more undirected explosions of imagination. Unfortunately the pacing suffers a little from the long, anticlimactic journey to Glinda's in the last half of the book, a reminder that sometimes the books were less about the plot and show more more about just being odd travelogues... but that's the fun part of any journey, after all! (Interestingly, despite being described in the author's introduction as "a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out", the book contains a surprising amount of beheadings. Cultural shift?) show less

I began reading this version of The Wizard of Oz to my youngest daughter, who is six years old, thinking that it may frighten her a bit, but in reality, this version was beautifully done and far less frightening than the movie version of this classic. In it, the characters are almost all seen as friendly and not at all intimidating or frightening. The residents of the land that Dorothy travels to on her way to Oz are small, cheerful characters who welcome Dorothy with open arms. When Dorothy finally reaches Oz, she is very well received, treated almost like a princess, and comes face to face with the Great Oz, who quickly shows himself to be just an ordinary man. This version would be wonderful to use as a read aloud or to the young but show more independent reader as an introduction to this classic tale, and also encourages using one's imagination and the themes of friendship, confidence in one's strengths, pursuing one's dreams, and the triumph of good over evil. show less

For Christmas, I ordered an mp3 player (Library of Classics) that was pre-loaded with 100 works of classic literature in an audio format. Each work is in the public domain and is read by amateurs, so the quality of the presentation is hit or miss.

The Wizard of Oz is an iconic motion picture, from a children’s book written by L. Frank Baum. Everyone should be familiar with the movie, and while the book is obviously very similar, it contains quite a bit of extra material as well as a few major differences. For example, in the book, Dorothy does not wear ruby red slippers, but silver shoes instead.

This book is an excellent beginner book for young readers, though there is perhaps more violence than some may consider appropriate for very show more young children. Highly recommended. show less

The book showed resemblance to 'Narnia' and 'Alice in Wonderland' but for younger readers. It was quick and very imaginative. A lot of lessons can be learned from the book. I wished there more action :) and the a slower pacing.

A children’s novel written by L. Frank Baum is more familiar to me as the movie so it was one time where the book didn’t feel right compared to the movie. It was first made into film in 1939. We all know the story. Dorothy, a young girl, living with her aunt and uncle in Kansas is swept away in a tornado and finds herself in a land populated by witches, north, south, east and west and all sorts of different characters and animals.

The author was an US born author. He was sheltered, shy and had a heart problem. He spent time with imaginary friends and reading books. He married a ‘women’s rights’ person and was considered a progressive thinking. His book has a female hero. The movie does follow the book fairly well. The shoes show more were silver and not red. There is considerable violence with the woodman chopping heads off here and there but unlike the movie I actually was able to finish the book. The movie was always too scary. I was born in the same town as Judy Garland and she played Dorothy of course, so that’s my claim to fame. show less