Customer Reviews

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 100th Anniversary Edition (Books of Wonder)

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3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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

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 wearing 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.
An Important Note on this story is that it Is Imaginative But it Is Not DARK as some people say. It is not scary nor is it supposed to be attempted that way in any new adaptation, nor should it always be made similar to MGM with constant references or musical scenes. This is an AMERICAN 1900 Story, it is not English/British like J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter, Tolkien's Hobbit/LofR or C. S. Lewis' Narnia - it is its own place!! Oz is a place where animals can talk, there are strange animals who are not mythical and never appeared in any other legends, wicked people are defeated by simple acts, by it accidentally-non-magical or magical, everybody is friends and the ordinary items of our world can have strong but simple magic.
Now matter how much the MGM Musical is loved, reading this book is worth it, because it explains how many of the events in Oz came to be when Dorothy arrived: how did the Tin Woodman come to be? How did and why do the Winged Monkeys obey the Wicked Witch of the West? What became of the Winkies after the WWWitch's death? Did Lion become the King of Beasts again? Naturally the musical is different from the book, but despite the change of the Kansas beginning/ending, the story is basically the same. this book only offers MORE than the movie did.
Hope you enjoyed my descriptive review. Watch out for my other Oz and Digimon reviews (by Sam A. Milazzo).

This book is about a girl named Dorothy. She lives in a farm in Kansas with her aunt Em and her uncle Henry. One day a big cyclone came and with all the wind blowing and the house rocking she closed her eyes and fell asleep. When she woke up, she was not in Kansas anymore. Later on she met three friends. They had amazing adventures.

This book is not like the movie. I like the part when the tin woodsmen cut off the yellow wildcat's head and saved the queen mouse's life. This book is very EXCITING! I recommend it for people of all ages who like exciting, magical stories.

by Clio

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.

The Wizard of Oz
ISBN 0-06-029323-3
By: Zach Godwin


In The Wizard of Oz, a young girl named Dorothy and her dog Toto are sucked up into a cyclone, and sent to a magical land. The land was called Oz, where you could see things out of the ordinary. There were talking animals, witches, and really small people called munchkins.
Dorothy would later find three friends, and they would all travel to the Emerald City to get their wishes granted. For the Tin Woodman a heart, for the Scarecrow a brain, and for the Cowardly Lion, Courage. Dorothy had a different wish. She wanted to return back to her home with her family. But on their way they would encounter troubles. Troubles that may keep them away from their wishes!
If you enjoy exciting books that keep you reading till the very end? Then you will enjoy The Wizard of Oz! You may be saying, "Well I have seen the movie so won't read the book, I don't want to waste my time." WRONG! The movie and the book have major differences, and I guarantee when you read this book you will enjoy it much more then the movie.

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

THE WIZARD OF OZ WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1900, YET STILL RETAINS ALL OF IT'S CHARM AND EXCITEMENT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. THE ADVENTURES OF DOROTHY AND HER FRIENDS ARE FILLED WITH MAGIC. THE BOOK IS SO MUCH DIFFERENT THEN THE MOVIE, AND MUCH MORE EXCITING. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT CHILDREN AND ADULTS ALIKE.

I have seen the movie quite a few times. The book however was a wonderful surprise to read. It was so much more detailed than the movie, it also had a bit of a dark edge to it. I read it to a 4 year old who loved every minute of the book, having never seen the movie. He talks about Kansas all the time now. I am thrilled with this book and will remember our experience reading it together for years to come.

Growing up, I saw the movie, but didn't read this book until I had a son, and he was old enough to sit through a chapter book. This is one of the most captivating OZ books. My son wouldn't let me stop reading the book. We read about half of it in one day.

Though Dorothy spends most of the book travelling through OZ, it is always with purpose (unlike some of the subsequent OZ books).

There are themes that are repeated throughout the book (such as liberation). There is some humerous word play (which goes over my 6 year old's head).

The art work in this edition is fabulous - and undoubtably identical to the original edition. On about half the pages text is printed over what looks like monochromatic wood block prints. Occasionally this makes reading the text difficult, but usually adds another dimension. There are also some single sided color plates.

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!