Earlier this year I vowed that I was going to read all of the original 14 Oz books this year. And to hold myself accountable, I’m going to blog reviews of the books as I read them.
And so the journey begins.
I began my reading with my Books of Wonder copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I’ve read this two or three times now, but it’s such a quick and easy read I had no problem jumping right in.
It’s hard not to compare this book to the 1939 movie with Judy Garland and company. That movie is so iconic it’s tough not to picture it when you are reading. However, I did my best. Denslow’s illustrations really help, though. Plus, the basics of the plot in this book are woven all through the movie. But the differences between this book and the movie make the book that much more endearing.
Wizard of Oz 1st edition
Like I said, the basics are the same. Young Dorothy and her dog Toto are whisked away to the land of Oz by a cyclone leaving behind Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. There she travels to the City of Emeralds to see Oz, the great and powerful, in hopes that he can return her to Kansas. Along the way she meets the Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman and the Cowardly Lion. While these basics are the same, the journey these characters make is different and much more dangerous than the MGM movie.
Some of the differences in the book include Dorothy meeting the Good Witch of the North in Munchkinland instead of Glinda, the Good Witch of the South (who she meets in the movie). Glinda doesn’t show up until the very end of the book. Also, and I think many people know this now, the magical shoes are silver in the book instead of ruby. We also don’t meet the Wicked Witch of the West face to face (they talk a lot about her) until the last third of the book. And those are just some of the differences to the movie.
Cavalcade of Awesome 