Customer Reviews

Halloween in Oz

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am writing as a poet who, for whatever reason, has read little
fantasy-based prose. When a friend gave me a copy of this book, I
asked myself whether I should read it or simply set it aside.I'm glad
I chose to read it.
It's a nicely plotted piece of work and well crafted throughout,
replete with delightful tension and surprise -- most enjoyable.
Edward Nauss

The summer after fourth grade, I spent one Saturday reading three of L. Frank Baum's sequels to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Tik-Tok of Oz, Rinkitink in Oz, and The Scarecrow of Oz. Reading Leo Moser and Carol Nelson's marvelous book, Halloween in Oz: Dorothy Returns, brings all of those memories back.

Moser and Nelson wrote their own sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in a Halloween story featuring Dorothy Gale, an orphan living with her aunt and uncle on a remote Kansas Farm in 1900. The eleven-year-old blond is lonely, and her only friend, Tim Gault, along with her aunt and uncle, thinks she shouldn't do things "girls" don't normally do. Dorothy is rebellious, and believes with a new century, girls should be able to do anything boys do.

Dorothy is particularly lonely since she lost her only picture of her parents in her trip to Oz. Suddenly, she starts to dream about that picture, and her parents telling her she needs to return to Oz, because it's Halloween, and trouble in brewing. The unusual purple and silver ribbons found by Tim allow Dorothy and Toto to return, only to run into a boy who resembles Tim, a boy named Mitt who tends pigs for an old woman named Salmanta who is trying to gather magic during the thirteen days of Halloween in Oz.

Readers will recognize some of the characters in this book, Tin-man, Scarecrow and Glinda, the Good Witch. Other characters will be familiar to readers of Baum's books, Punk N Hedd, the pumpkin who becomes a man, and Tik-toc. This is a comfort read for anyone raised on L. Frank Baum's books.

However, nothing is comfortable in Dorothy's adventures. As in all good fantasy books, Halloween in Oz is a story of good versus evil. Dorothy and Mitt must gather than friends, and rally the troops for a large battle of the good animals and people of the land opposing Salmanta's magical forces. Moser and Nelson have written an exciting story that keeps the reader turning pages to see how Dorothy will deal with the wicked woman and her magic. The humorous touches relieve the anxiety. Mitt himself is funny at times, as are some of Dorothy's other friends, such as Punk N Hedd, with his fear of rotting or being eaten. In Oz, Dorothy argues with Mitt, instead of Tim, about a girl's ability to do anything a boy can do.

Just as Baum did, Moser and Nelson leave questions unanswered that allow room for sequels. Anyone who enjoys the fantasy stories that preceded C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, will appreciate Halloween in Oz: Dorothy Returns.

a very good book with a upbeat plot and some clever bits.
i very much enjoyed all the interesting tid-bits about the different worlds and such

I just loved the book. Dorothy is so much more real a person here than in any of the other stories that I have read, or in the movie too. In the movie all Dorothy wants to do (beyond singing and dancing) is get home to Kansas, where she was totally totally bored. I can relate more to the Dorothy in this new book. I love the Kradakas and how they explain why that bucket of water dissolved the Wicked Witch.

Growing up, I loved the Wizard of OZ and this book takes me back on another adventure with amazing characters and a fantastic story of friendship and courage. It's a journey the whole family will love!

This is the first of the Alpimar Books Oz series by Leo Moser and Carol Nelson, and published by Whitfield & Dodd Publications. This is a direct followup to the original Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, although it is technically an extended retake on Marvelous Land Of Oz. Taking place about a year after Dorothy first went to Oz, she tries to convince her friends that Oz is real, but at the same time she keeps having dreams about her dead parents speaking to her through a photo of them she believes she left in Oz. After finding some magic ribbons, she ends up in Oz(a second time)where she learns that its Halloween which lasts 13 days there. At this point, it basically becomes Land Of Oz, but all the new characters' names are changed. Tip is Mitt(who also resembles a boy Dorothy knew from Kansas), Jack Pumkpinhead is Punk N. Head, Mombi is Salmanta, Jinjur is Ginger, and Sawhorse is Stubs. A few other characters who weren't in Land Of Oz show up here too, like "Fearless" Lion and the Good Witch of the North. There's a bit of a different ending as to who turns to be Princess Ozma(or "Esmera" here). But, if you really enjoyed Land Of Oz then you might enjoy this version of it, even if its not around Halloween.

For enjoyment, I've given it 3 stars, but I should have knocked one star off for poor editing. Please learn the difference between 'loose' and 'lose.'

Anyway, this book is a reimagining of Baum's second Oz book (The Marvelous Land of Oz.) In this retelling, Dorothy is along for the fun (she was not actually present in Baum's book). For some reason, all the Oz characters except for Dorothy & Glinda and the other characters from the first book have been renamed (Jack Pumpkinhead is now Punk N. Hedd, and so on). One of Baum's major plot points (the hiding of Princess Ozma) was significantly altered, and Dorothy's history was slightly changed to allow for a revelation about her parents and Oz. Other than these changes, the outline of this book is interchangable with that of The Marvelous Land of Oz.

Still, as I said -- I didn't hate it. I'll give the second book in the series a chance, just to see if the authors really do succeed in taking the series in a different direction. Hopefully the next book will be an actual new story and not another retelling.

I'd also hope that the swearing (admittedly only 'Hell') will be eliminated, as it is historically inaccurate and completely unnecessary. I would like to see less feminist ranting from Dorothy -- in the Baum books she managed to be the equal of every boy without the tiresome blathering about it. Finally, I'd like to see an end to the written dialect -- IE: 'gonna' istead of 'going to.' Baum's Dorothy was a bit prone to this also and I didn't like it from her, either. And in this book, they all used this shorthand and I really found myself hating it.