The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Children's Classics) - Softcover

Baum, L. Frank

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9781535311953: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Children's Classics)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1535311959 ISBN 13: 9781535311953

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

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The Wonderful Wizard of OzYoung Dorothy, who lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry and her little dog Toto on a Kansas farm. One day, Dorothy and Toto are caught up in a cyclone that deposits her farmhouse into Munchkin Country in the magical Land of Oz.

The falling house has killed the Wicked Witch of the East, the evil ruler of the Munchkins. The Good Witch of the North arrives with the grateful Munchkins and gives Dorothy the magical Silver Shoes that once belonged to the witch.

The Good Witch tells Dorothy that the only way she can return home is to go to the Emerald City and ask the great and powerful Wizard of Oz to help her. As Dorothy embarks on her journey, the Good Witch of the North kisses her on the forehead, giving her magical protection from harm.

On the way she meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion. But the Wicked Witch of the West has her own plans for the new arrival - will Dorothy ever see Kansas again?

Some Important Characters:

Dorothy is the protagonist of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. An orphan, she lives with her aunt and uncle on their farm in Kansas, along with her dog, Toto.

A Scarecrow who wishes he was smarter

A Tin Man who wants a heart

A Cowardly Lion looking for a little courage and in the end gets a potion of “courage.”

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the ruler of the Emerald City. To manipulate people, he uses technology, as he doesn’t possesses any real magic powers.

The Munchkins are a race of little people who are very thankful to Dorothy after she kills their savage ruler, the Wicked Witch of the East.

The Winkies are also very thankful to Dorothy and her friends after they together kill the Wicked Witch of the West, who was enslaving them.

The Winged Monkeys were put under a powerful enchantment when they played a trick on the fianc� of a witch.

The witch wanted to kill them, but she decided to just force them to do the bidding of the owner of the magical Golden Cap. They have been enchanted for generations. Glinda get them out of their bondage after she gets the Golden Cap from Dorothy.

Facts and Trivia1. The author Baum actually framed the pencil he used to write the novel.

2. Dorothy Gale, the main character, was named after a niece who died.

3. Baum never lived in Kansas.

4. The book sold out in two weeks.

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Review

An updated version of the definitive guide, The Annotated Wizard of Oz provides a facsimile color version of the first edition of L. Frank Baum's children's classic along with extensive notes and a thorough history of the immense Oz project. In his excellent introduction, Michael Patrick Hearn describes the author's early life and interests and the development of his collaboration with W.W. Denslow, the original illustrator for his books.

An energetic and excitable fellow, Baum's devotion to make-believe began in his early 20s, when he joined a small touring theatrical troupe on the East Coast. Later attempts to run a general store and a newspaper in South Dakota (then the Wild West) failed miserably. Although few of his business ventures or artistic efforts had met with success, in 1897 Baum's "Father Goose" rhymes (designed and illustrated by Denslow) became a surprise bestseller, and Baum was able to buy his family a summer cottage on Lake Michigan, christened "The Sign of the Goose," for which he made most of the furniture (goose-themed, of course) and stenciled the walls with a frieze of green geese.

The idea for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, "a modern fairy tale," as he considered it, soon followed, and the book appeared in May 1900. The 10,000-copy first printing sold out in two weeks, and about 90,000 sold within the first year. Hearn goes on to describe the many books that followed, as well as the 1902 musical extravaganza The Wizard of Oz and Baum's subsequent, ill-starred attempts to depict the world of Oz on film. (He died long before the 1939 MGM musical made his fairy tale known around the globe.) In 1907, he told a reporter for the Grand Rapids Herald why he preferred young readers:

To write fairy stories for children, to amuse them, to divert restless children, sick children, to keep them out of mischief on rainy days, seems of greater importance than to write grown-up novels. Few of the popular novels last the year out, responding as they do to a certain psychological demand, characteristic of the time; whereas, a child's book is, comparatively speaking, the same always, since children are always the same kind of folks with the same needs to be satisfied.

Hearn has gone to great lengths in his notes to this facsimile of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, often referring to subsequent volumes in the series, slowly building a key to the rules and history of Oz, pointing out inconsistencies as well as hints to Baum's literary sources (such as Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress), and providing, among other delights, a mini-treatise on malevolent vegetation in Oz. This is an essential volume for the Oz aficionado or the student of children's literature, and a wonderful resource for parents of young readers. --Regina Marler

Book Description

The Wizard of Oz is a beloved American classic. This edition, with fine illustrations from internationally acclaimed artist Lizbeth Zwerger, has been reformatted as a readaloud edition.

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