Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Written by: L. Frank Baum


What a treat this book was! I won't assume EVERYONE has heard of the tale of The Wizard of Oz, but I may assume quite a bit of people have by now, what with the movies, cartoons, plays, musicals, etc...all throughout the world. I picked this up yesterday and just was delighted to finally read this book. I never read the Wizard of Oz before, and I've seen the movies, shows, plays, musicals, and even read Wicked, and boy...did they all leave so much out! For one I didn't know the "Ruby" slippers were actually Silver! Originally in the book that is...how interesting. Especially because those Ruby slippers are one of the first things that come to mind when I think of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. I must say L. Frank Baum said it best... "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was written sole to please children of today. It asppires to being a modernized fary tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out." Which is funny because the new adaptations of his story tend to be darker and have moral lessons and deep seeded lessons. His writing was very straight foward and told so simply that I really found myself enjoying this book. Dorothy and all her classic friends The Scarecrow, Tinman, and Cowardly Lion are such a treat, they're all so clever, smart, kind, and brave in their own way. Even the Wicked Witch of the West as far as bad guys go is pretty tame. I also loved learning about all the other characters who I have seen show up in other tellings of this story, but in very different ways. I find myself wishing other authors wouldn't expand or muddy Mr. Baum's original story because it is just that a story for children that for a time will transport them to another world similar to our own, but so very different too. There is a lot of content here too which is the funny thing and how the creatures and citizens of Oz exist with one another and how they are for the most part a happy and kind people from what we see. Especially to Dorothy and Toto who have a bite to eat, and bed to sleep in more than one citizen in the world of OZ. So, if you want to feel like a kid and enjoy a "modern" fairy tale not at all dark this was a pretty fun read indeed.

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