Tik-Tok of Oz [Mass Market Paperback]

L. Frank Baum (Author), John R. Neill (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 1985

Book 8 in L. Frank Baum's immortal OZ series, in which Betsy Bobbin and Hank the Mule are shipwrecked on the coast of Oz, meet up with the invading army of Queen Ann of Oogaboo, and help the Shaggy Man rescue his brother from the evil Nome King.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Can the queen of Oogaboo, a small country in an isolated corner of Oz, take over all of Oz? Talking roses, Shaggy Man and Betsy from Oklahoma are but a few of the unusual characters in Tik-Tok of Oz, the eighth Oz novel by L. Frank Baum, and the first to bring a girl other than Dorothy to that enchanted land. This facsimile edition features 12 color plates and nearly 80 black-and-white drawings by Oz artist John R. Neill. Apr.)
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (October 12, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345334353
• ISBN-13: 978-0345334350
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,945,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Baum's funniest works, November 14, 2003

By 

Blake Petit "Novelist, columnist & reviewer" (Ama, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tik-Tok of Oz (Dover Children's Classics) (Paperback)

Growing up, reading the Oz books, I found "Tik-Tok of Oz" to be one of my favorites. Rediscovering them now, as an adult, I find it still delights me more than most.

The plot, I must admit, is quite reminiscent of "Ozma of Oz" -- a girl and a mortal animal wash up on the shores of some fairyland, encounter the man Tik-Tok and find themselves trapped in a battle with the king of the Nomes. It has been said,in fact, that the plot of this novel came when Baum converted "Ozma" into a stage play, then converted the stage play back into a novel.

However, the book itself is still quite delightful. We don't meet too many really interesting new characters in this book -- not as many as most Oz books, in fact -- but it no longer follows the tired "someone tries to get to the Emerald City and meets interesting creatures along the way" formula that began in the very first book and crippled several books after "Ozma."

Tititi-Hoochoo and Quox the Dragon stand out as the new characters, and it is the sequences featuring them that I find most entertaining. Kaliko and Ruggedo in the Nome Kingdom again draw a grin from me, and the final few pages have a laugh-out loud moment that must have come when someone pointed out an inconsistency in the Oz books that Baum had to suddenly explain away.

"Tik-Tok of Oz" may not be the best of the Oz books, but it's probably the funniest, and it's certainly one of my favorites.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great fun to read, April 28, 2002

By 

F. Orion Pozo "Orion Pozo" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tik-Tok of Oz (Books of Wonder) (Hardcover)

Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Books of Wonder edition)

Tik-Tok of Oz is a delightful book with an interesting story of how it came to be. A small Editor's Note by Peter Glassman on page 10 of this book tells the story. There had been two successful stage plays based on the first two Oz books and Baum wanted to write a play based on the third, Ozma of Oz. However, he found out he couldn't use many of the characters because he had already sold the stage rights to them. He took the plot of the third book and changed Dorothy and Ozma into two new characters Betsy Bobbin and Queen Ann Soforth. Then he used the popular Shaggy Man who was introduced in The Road to Oz and changed many of the incidents in the story to create a new script for the stage that he called The Tik-Tok Man of Oz. The play was a success so he then rewrote it into this novel.

If you have read Ozma of Oz, you will indeed see the similarities. Once again an army of one soldier and many officers is led by a girl leader in an attack against the Nome King. This time it is Queen Ann Soforth from the smallest and poorest kingdom in Oz. She is young and tired of her tiny kingdom and wants to seek adventure. When her sister jokingly suggests that Ann raise an army and conquer Oz, Ann likes the idea. She convinces all but one of the eighteen men of her kingdom to join her army and they set out. However, the sorceress Glinda, learns of her plans and magically transports Ann and her army across the Deadly Desert and out of Oz entirely.

Meanwhile Betsy Bobbin, like Dorothy in Ozma of Oz, is lost at sea in a storm with her companion Hank the Mule. They are cast up on shore of the Rose Kingdom where they meet up with the Rose Princess, the Shaggy Man and Polychrome, the Rainbow's daughter. This group goes on a quest with the Shaggy Man who is seeking his lost brother, a prisoner of the Nome King. They meet up with Queen Ann's army and Tik-Tok. This large group decides to go in search of the Nome King together.

Their quest leads them to the fairy kingdom of the great Jinjin, Tititi-Hoochoo where they meet a young dragon named Quox. Their encounter with the Nome King is terribly amusing and their search for the Shaggy Man's brother has a remarkable outcome.

What starts out as a reworking of another story takes on a life of its own to become an entertaining and amusing story. The John R. Neill illustrations are wonderful and there are 12 full-page color plates. The end papers present the first published map of the land of Oz.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tik-Tok of Oz: The Best Oz Book, February 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Tik-Tok of Oz (Books of Wonder) (Hardcover)

I read Tik-Tok of Oz, and I thoght it was a wonderful tale. It begins when Ann Soforth, queen of Oogaboo decides to conquer Oz. When she sets out with her army towards the Emerald City, Glinda finds out immeadiately about it in her book of records. She then changes the army's road direction, over the deadly desert over to the Nome King's Dominions. Meanwhile, a girl named Betsy Bobbin and her mule Hank are shipwrecked on the shores of the Rose Kingdom after their ship sinks. They go to a nearby greenhouse, where a bunch of female roses cast them out. Then who should come crashing through the roof than the Shaggy Man. He and Betsy pick a rose princess, and proclaim her the new ruler of the Rose Kingdom. However, the roses don't wan't the rose girl, whose name is Ozga, as their ruler, so he to is cast out of the Rose Kingdom. They then travel over a bridge to the Nome Kings Dominions, where they find Tik-Tok crashed in a well. Then Queen Ann's Army comes along and tries to capture the party. The private then resigns, and Tik-Tok takes his place. Then the two parties band together, and go to conquer the Nome King, because they have to rescue Shaggy Man's brother from Ruggedo, the King of Nomes. Then................................, well I'll leave you to read th book and fin out what happens. Anyways, this book is he greatest, and should be greatly praised.