The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Ratings321
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings321
Average rating3.8
From the book:Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations. Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as "historical" in the children's library; for the time has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.
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“Brains are the only things worth having in this world, no matter whether one is a crow or a man.”
― L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
It was pretty good. The introduction to this edition talked about how the author had originally told this story aloud to the neighborhood kids, and that you can still see how the details and plot line are better suited to an oral tale. I agree completely, and I enjoyed the story best when I took the time to read it to myself with the inflections and phrasing that one would use if reading it aloud.
Like many people, I was familiar with the film, but had never read any of the books in the OZ series, so I gave this one a shot. I was pleasantly surprised to discover hos different is was. The plot's essentially the same, but expanded on, and we get a lot more world-building. Dorothy, also, comes across as a much stronger, more realized character, and her increased self-assurance really makes for a more enjoyable story.
I would have been fine just sticking with the movie and Wicked. I don't feel compelled to read any of the sequels. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I'd first read it as a kid.
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14 primary books16 released booksOz is a 15-book series with 13 primary works first released in 101 with contributions by L. Frank Baum and Ruth Plumly Thompson.
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