The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz
by L.Frank Baum

First published in 1900.

I love the Wizard Of Oz film.  I watch it again and again and have long discussions about the evil Tin Man - watch the hot air balloon scene again - with my friend Jemma (of her cup of tea).  I sing along, I've attempted the yellow brick road dance and have even dressed up as Dorothy for a university night out.

This is starting to sound like an obsession, I promise it's not.

All of this being true, I have somehow never read the series.  A friend got me this lovely copy for Christmas and I really enjoyed it.  Story aside, the book itself is wonderful.  It is a copy of the first edition, complete with twenty-four colour plates and 130 two colour illustrations, which are interspersed with the text like this...

How beautiful is that?!

If you've seen the film you'll know the basic story.  I was expecting to read the film plot chapter by chapter but there are characters and whole sections in the book which didn't make it to the film.  It's a bit more like a collection of short stories within the over-arcing plot of Dorothy trying to get back to Kansas.

Dorothy is a young girl who ends up in Oz after a cyclone lifts her and her house from Kansas.  She meets the Munchkins and the Good Witch who tell her to go to the Wizard of Oz who will help her get home.  Along the way she meets the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion who decide to go with her to ask the wizard to help them too.  On their journey they come across Kalidahs, who have bodies of bears and heads of tigers, Quadlings who have no arms but necks that extend, and tiny people made of china who break if they fall over.  All in all it's a bit strange but it definitely paints a vivid picture as you read.

One thing that did make me laugh was the amount of washing Dorothy did.  Every time they stopped somewhere she washed herself in a stream or someone's house.  Clearly the author felt a responsibilty to gently tell the readers to look after themselves, and it's not in a lectury way, I just felt that in all the adventure that was going on, it was such a grounded thing to be doing.

The writing is straightforward enough for children but as a (slightly) older reader it didn't feel too simple or patronising.  This is possibly because I saw the film when I was younger so I felt quite nostalgic reading it, but I fully believe in the ability of a book to take you to another world and this one definitely does.

I appreciate this might not be one you'll rush out and buy because you think it's a kids book, but it will remind you of being young and carefree.  If everyone re-read their favourite book from when they were younger once a year I think we'd all be a lot happier.

What's your favourite book to re-read?