The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Books of Wonder)

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Summary: A Masterpiece! The book that started it all! I love Oz!
Review: "The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum is the book that started all the Oz mania! I've read this book many times and I love it! Dorothy Gale and her little black dog, Toto are whisked from Kansas by a cyclone where she ends up in a magical fairy land called Oz. She meets some interesting friends along the way such as the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. They face many adventures and dangers in this wonderful book. You may think "why read the book? I've seen the movie!" Well it's my all time favorite movie too but the book's better! Once you read it I'm sure you'll be hooked on Oz!

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Summary: Oz! A Magnificent Story for all Ages
Review: Forget the venerable motion picture with Judy Garland for a moment. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is a glorious fantasy adventure that has truly become our first American fairy tale. Written in 1900, every reader will be delighted by the author's ingenuity about how he captured the enthusiasm and optimism of America. Overnight, he replaced the princes and princesses of Europe by introducing entirely new characters representing a fresh set of ideals and virtues.

Wisdom and love, courage and virtues in the characters comes from within. But for me, the greatest lesson I learned is "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." To the scarecrow, "If Oz will not give you any brains, you will be no worse off than you are now." For parents, here is a rare opportunity to reach out to their children and regain the delicate balance between brain, heart and courage.

Baum was adamant about his belief that hard work should be properly rewarded thus further developing the premise of a free market. "In this country, everyone must pay for everything he gets." For children, here is a rare opportunity to reach out to their parents and learn the basics.

In an excellent perspective by Peter Glassman (1987), in the traditional fairy tale, "the young maids or poor shepard lads are unaware of their royalty, only to discover it in the course of their adventures. But, instead of unknown royalty, Baum give his characters unrealized virtues."

Finally, according to Peter Glassman (1987), "the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion each want what they believe will make them a better person, but Dorothy simply wants to go home. "No matter how dreary and gray our homes are...there is no place like home."

Buy this special edition and prominently display it. Then, devour the Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz.

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Summary: The Wonderful Wizard - A Wonderful Classic & Must Have Book!
Review: From the time I learned to read until my preteen years my favorite books were L. Frank Baum's Oz Books. I was an extremely avid reader but, for me, no other stories could compare with the magical world that Baum created. His characters and their adventures fueled my childhood fantasies like no others. In turn, these books became favorites of my daughter's. And this book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is the one that started it all.

As most folks know, an enormous cyclone suddenly hit young Dorothy Gale's home in Kansas, resulting in the extraordinary transportation of said home, girl and dog across time and space to the wondrous land of Oz. The house fell on a wicked witch and killed her, with dire future consequences for Dorothy and Company. Dorothy is directed to travel to the Emerald City to ask the Wizard of Oz to help her return to Kansas. On the way, she meets and befriends a Scarecrow (who desires brains), a Tin Woodman (who craves a heart), and a Lion (who wants to possess courage). And thus the famous adventures begin, which have been translated into many languages for children around the world. If there was ever a classic children's book - this is it.

Baum's narrative honors the ideals of home, heart, intellect, and courage. He introduces the reader to wizards, witches, winged monkeys, the Munchkins, and the beloved characters who have become cultural icons: Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. This edition features W. W. Denslow's illustrations, the original art that graced Baum's books, and my favorites.

This is a wonderful, non-abridged edition of one of the best stories ever told. Highest recommendations!
JANA

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Summary: A great edition of a true classic
Review: I cannot imagine anyone shopping for this book being unfamiliar with the story, so before I concentrate on this particular edition let me just say this: This is one of the greatest children's books ever written, and you will be doing yourself and your kids a favor if you don't limit yourselves to the movie.

The 100th Anniversary Edition is wonderful. From over one hundred beautiful original illustrations to small details, like foil edging and durable hardcover binding, to children friendly type (isn't it amazing how many children's books these days have unreadable tiny fonts?) -- they thought of everything. This is the one you want to get.

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Summary: The ORIGINAL Wizard of Oz is Published
Review: I don't own THIS particular Edition, but I will soon, and as soon as I saw it in Dymmocks, I looked through it and thought "I've really gotta get this book!" And this is why . . . .
I'm sure that there are those of you who have the annotated Wizard of Oz and/or the Dover editions of the Wonderful/Wizard of Oz (Dover has made different copies in publishing it in different ways). the Annotated Wizard of Oz may have the pictures in full-colour, but the colour plates are in 1 whole place, in the middle of the book, and that goes the same for the recent Dover Edition of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (where dorothy is wearing a pink dress, talking to her friends, all waering the Green glasses). The other Dover editions of this story have the pictures in black-and-white (sometimes all, other times, a few of them) with the colour-plates in their own chapter but in black-and-white.
THIS EDITION - the 100th Anniversary Edition - is one everybody should have. It has all the pictures in colour-and-black lined with the FULL-COLOUR-Plates in their OWN PROPER CHAPTER place, e.g. "She caught Toto by the ear" in THE CYCLONE, "I am the Witch of the North" in THE COUNCIL WITH THE MUNCHKINS, etc. It even has the picture of Dorothy and Toto back in Kansas on the very final page on the book in the backboard. And when you pull off this picture-cover (the one that you see now), the actual cardboard-leather-bound cover has the EXACT SAME ORIGINAL Cover Angela Lansbury shows in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic", where the Cowardly Lion is wearing the Green glasses on the Front cover, Toto is on the spine and the back has the faces of Dorothy, the Scarecrow and (Nick chopper) the Tin woodman in circles.
Hope you enjoyed my descriptive review. watch out for my other Oz and Digimon reviews (by Sam A. Milazzo).

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Summary: The Correct Order of all 14 Books in the series !!
Review: I know you're all wondering, "how does she know the correct order?" Is she over 100yrs old? Well, I know because my grandmother, gone for 34 yrs now, had each and every book bought hot of the presses. Inside each book, except the first, are the previous books in order. Also a couple of the names have changed a bit since they were first written but I have the Books of Wonder titles in this list.

So, here they are in correct order.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Marvelous Land of Oz

Ozma of Oz
Dorthy and the Wizard in Oz
The Road to Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Patchwork Girl of Oz
Tik-Tok of Oz
The Scarecrow of Oz
Rinkitink in Oz
The Lost Princess of Oz
The Tin Woodman of Oz
The Magic of Oz
Glinda of Oz

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Summary: a book for all ages..........
Review: Several years ago I was on a trip with my mother.....one day we happened to stop at a small town in St. George Utah (we were doing the SW national parks) and while she looked for something in a drugstore I found a small bookstore.....It was summer time and they had a stack of those cheap paperback classics. I picked up three.....One of them was THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ.....When I was younger my mother and my grandmother read to us, however we had never heard Frank Baum's tales of OZ.
That night I began to read it and simply could not believe how truly 'wonderful' Dorothy's adventures were in the 'Land of OZ'.....it brought back memories of many things from my childhood......but mainly the enchantment and inquisitiveness of it all.....
This is not only a charming and thoroughly enjoyable book for people of all ages.......but for all ages to come.

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Summary: Saw the movie, then the "Wicked" musical & book, now this!
Review: So this is the legendary source material for an increasing large portion of our popular culture.
This is what is called the first true American Fairy tale.
What I found it to be, in my particular experience, is a fascinating artifact...almost like finding an elusive Egyptian papyrus or something.
My initial exposure to the story of Dorothy and friends came, as most of us since 1939, from the classic film. The differences between the two keep the book continually surprising, or if not totally surprising, let's just say "fresh".
It has a nagging episodic quality, but about half of the episodes were new to me, so I didn't care.
Discounting the Broadway and film versions of the musical "The Wiz", my next contact with Oz came from the breathtaking Broadway musical, "Wicked". That show knocked me for a loop, and I wept as the curtain fell. It's a terrific show.
I sought out the source book for THAT show, Gregory Maguire's novel of the same name, and found a masterpiece. Much darker and deeper than the musical, it's a head-spinning "back story" to the Wicked Witch that explores themes like totalitarianism, racism, and the true nature of evil. It's not a casual read...with Dickensian detail and difficult concepts, it is one of the more rewarding reading experiences I've had in a long, long time.
Which brings me to the thing that started this whole thing over a hundred years ago.
For me, this was a pretty cool way of being exposed to the Oz universe, because I (perhaps erroneously) feel like I know "the whole story." The characters have more depth than the book offers, and I feel I know things, say, about the minor character Boq or the Winged Monkeys, that readers didn't know at the turn of the last century.
It's a great reading experience if you get the hardcover with all the original illustrations and typesets, as that will transport (just like the tornado did Dorothy...) you back to when a book was your only window into a wonderful universe.
One great thing about this is that there are many more books to seek out...can't wait to get more of the story!

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Summary: love it!!!
Review: this story really lets you have an interest in the land of oz, and really appreciate what it stands for. this lavish replica of the original book tells the story of a little girl named dorothy who travels all the way to oz in a tornado, she meets some new friends and runs into some nasty enemies, and has many adventures, if you want to find out how it ends, i suggest you buy this book, you'll be so glad you did!!

P.S. this is also a beautiful book to keep sitting on your shelf

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Summary: We're Off to READ the Wizard!
Review: Well what can I say about this incredible book. This story started it all. It was a huge success when it was published in 1900 and an even bigger success today. While reading this book, you're sure to notice more than a few changes and omissions compared to the wonderful 1939 movie classic. Baum weaves us into his magic spell of imagination, excitement, and adventure as we land in Munchkin Country, walk to the Emerald City, battle a Wicked Witch in Winkie Country, and finally make our way to Quadling Country. Never has an assembly of so many fantastical characters come together than in THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ. Hailed as the FIRST true American fairy tale, it will bring hope, joy, and magic into every person's life from ages 2 to 92. Don't miss out on the book that brought you the 1939 movie. You will feel as one with Dorothy and Toto and sympathize with the plights of the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion. Don't forget to read Baum's other Oz books....he wrote more than one ya know!