I’ve always been a big fan of the Wizard of Oz and reading this book made me like it even more. I’ve read the book several times before, and I’ve also had the book read to me when I was a child, so when we had to read the book for this class, it was a nice refresher for me.
One of the main reasons that I like this book so much is because it just allows your imagination to run free. I talked to my mother the other day and I mentioned that I was reading this book and she began telling me stories that I didn’t even remember about how much I loved the book as a child and how she would read it to me all the time. I guess its one of those books that everyone enjoys, whether you’re a child or not.
The characters in this book also make it very special because you’re following a bunch of different people (maybe not human, but I see then as human) as they embark on this trip to see the Wizard. You kind of grow close to them and feel what they are feeling and you just want to support them and cheer them on. I’ve always liked all of the characters in this book and I think that these characters make the book really special. I mean come on, who doesn’t like the cowardly lion?
Though the book is a little different from the movie (for example, Dorothy has silver slippers in the book, as to red ones in the movie, and how you need to wear goggles when you reach Emerald City, where in the movie you didn’t), I really like the book more then the movie because I grew up on the book and when someone mentions the Wizard of Oz, I think of the book first, and then the movie.
As I mentioned before, this book was amazing and it allowed my imagination to wonder with the colorful characters as they embarked on their journeys. I think this is a wonderful book and it’s a book that I have owned for many years and I would recommend it to anyone, both child and adult readers. I have a feeling that this book will be a book that I will one day read to my kids, and I’m sure they will love it as much as I have.
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3 comments:
I agree, this book was wonderful. I liked it because it was so different from the movie. It was like reading about the Wizard of Oz for the first time and for me it really was. I have seen the movie over and over, being one of my favorites as a child and still today, but have never read the book. I liked how the book was different because for once, my imagination got to wonder. I wasn't thinking back to the movie to paint the picture because certain things were not included in the movie, I got to paint my own picture.
I thought it was much easier to pick out the lessons in the book than it was in Alice in Wonderland. For example, the lesson about how brains are not the best thing in the world. The Tin Woodsman wanted a heart because he believed that was the best thing in the world, but the scarecrow wanted brains. Many lessons can be taken from this. For example, people value different things in life. A second lesson may be how the lion, who is supossed to be scary and full of courage, is just the opposite. The lesson here is that people or things may not always seem to be as they appear. The book puts out a number of simple lessons that are easy to point out. I enjoyed this book and liked that it was a little different from the movie. It was a fun read!
Okay, I’m going to assume Baum was telling the truth that this book was written “solely to pleasure children of today.” I am going to ignore the possibility that he was being ironic in the introduction and that the book was believed to be an allegory. Baum states, that this book “aspires to be a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out.” If I take a superficial look at each of the “scary” events in the book this statement rings true.
Examples:
• Tornado Dorothy’s solution in a life threatening situation is to take a nap. Not so scary.
• Toto is thought to have fallen to his death Dorothy reaches down and saves him.
• No food, going to starve Scarecrow finds berries for her to eat.
• Lion is roaring, over powering, and about to eat Toto Dorothy takes charge and puts the Lion in his place. Lion isn’t so tough after all.
• The tiger bear like creatures are hot on their tales when the Scarecrow thinks of a solution and the fierce creatures fall to their death.
• Lion is going to “sleep forever” Mice come to the rescue and the Lion doesn’t die.
• The mouse is going to be eaten by the large cat Tin man chops the cat’s head off. Threat gone!
• Scary monkeys end up helping Dorothy and her friends
• Wicked Witch of the West Melts when the water is tossed on her.
• Prospect that Dorothy is never going to get home because she has to kill Good Witch fulfills her wish.
The point is whenever there is a threat or something that could hurt the characters, one of them comes up with a solution that keeps them safe. Over and over again, the stress level of the reader goes up, but in the knick of time the threat is extinguished and the reader is relieved and wants to cheer for the four main characters. I think Baum fulfills his statement. There is heart ache and nightmare like events, but there is always a happy ending and the characters always remain safe and saved.
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