"...Even though I was very skeptical of the way so many of the adventures played out, I did enjoy my reread of this story, and I'll enjoy reading through the rest of the series eventually, both the books Baum himself wrote as well as those written by other authors. Some I have read before as a child, and others I haven't read before at all. This is a great book to share with your children, if you have any, especially if you'd like to introduce them to fantasy literature - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has many of the elements which characterize that genre, after all. Nothing in it is particularly epic, I'll admit, but what it lacks in detailed battles and unpronounceable names it makes up for in charm and whimsy, and those are probably more important (and appropriate) for a child's story anyway..."

For full review, please visit me at Here Be Bookwyrms on Blogger:

http://herebebookwyrms.blogspot.com/2012/06/wonderful-wizard-of-oz.html ( )

recommend to children under the age of 10 ( )

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. ( )