The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Okay, just to be clear: This is about the book by L. Frank Baum, not the Judy Garland movie. The movie is great, but the book is better. Published in 1900, it was four years before a sequel would be written; Baum didn't realize at first just how popular the book was until he started getting letters. Lots and lots of letters, from kids wanting more stories about Oz.

The book is short by today's standards of fantasy writing; even with copious illustrations, the book is only 190 pages long. But it packs a LOT into those 190 pages. There are twenty-four chapters, only a few of which are more than five or six pages long. There is an economy of words here, and a lot happens in those twenty-four chapters. Baum gets to the point, and does so in a very entertaining way.

If you've seen the movie, you know about two-thirds of the plot. Dorothy is in Kansas, cyclone hits, house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East, good witch sends her to Oz, yellow brick road, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion, poppies, go kill the Witch of the West, flying monkeys (did you understand that reference?), bucket of water, return to Oz, Wizard is a humbug, balloon, magic shoes, there's no place like home.

However, there's quite a bit more than that in the book, believe it or not. Not only do the companions have a lot more to do besides sing and dance through the forest, but the return journey to Oz from the witch's castle takes a couple of chapters itself instead of being skipped over to get to the finale. And Dorothy doesn't leave right after the Wizard's balloon takes off without her; she has to go on yet another journey to the Good Witch of the South to find out how her silver (not ruby) shoes work. And that doesn't include the encounters with the Queen of the Field Mice, the stork, the Hammer-heads, and China Town (not that kind of China, the plate kind). All bursting with imagination and wonder, and all within a single book.

I mentioned the book is illustrated. There are at least a hundred illustrations in this book by William Denslow. Here are a few examples; many of them are in full color in the original publication.

She might be a good witch, but she ain't a beauty queen.

Shirley Temple might have been a better fit for the character, at least age wise; Judy Garland was sixteen years old, whereas Dorothy in the book is about seven.

Those are called Kalidahs, with the body of a bear and the head of a tiger. Nasty critters that would make a great addition to a fantasy role-playing game. Better than an owlbear, anyway.

This was the only Oz book illustrated by Denslow; the remainder of the Baum Oz books were illustrated by John O'Neill. I like both artists, but there is definitely something magical in Denslow's work. Even though our cultural identification of the characters is defined by the movie, Denslow's art is evocative and memorable enough to challenge the dominant images of Garland, Ray Bolger, and Margaret Hamilton.

This is a book every child should read. It is one of the all-time classics of children's literature, incredibly imaginative and still inspiring people 122 years later.

But, you know what? The sequel is actually better.