The Marvelous Land of Oz (Books of Wonder) Reviews

• Agreed: The Best of Baum's Oz Books

  
  By A2H2AVM0SFVV1X on 2002-01-09
  Although he was never to enjoy the success he had with his first Oz book, Baum sure tried hard with this one (the second in the series). I like this far better than the first, more famous work. It starts off, if I remember from reading it 30 years ago, with Tip living in a cottage deep in a forest in Oz. The witch who keeps him is set on turning him into stone, so Tip must escape. This sets up a whole series of wonderful adventures and interesting characters. The Pumpkinhead character is my favorite. If only someone like Tim Burton would get a hold of this and turn it into a film, then maybe the whole Baum Oz series would get as much recognition as say the Potter series is now getting.
  
  

• The Best of the Oz Books

  
  By on 1999-01-26
  Of all the books in the Oz series I think that this one was by far and away the best. Wonderful reading for any age.
  
  

• This is the one that will reel you in to the series

  
  By A37XE43JR03AFN on 2002-04-11
  We have all grown up with the Wizard of Oz movie, book one, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is basically the same story as the movie with some slight differences. Marvelous Land of Oz, the second book of the series is the one that will reel you in and have you wanting to read more. I just finished reading this one, a chapter each night, to my preschool age son. He loved it, especially the surprise ending which I won't spoil for you. Jack Pumpkinhead, the Woggle Bug and a mean witch named Mombi are all new characters, even more colorful than some of those from book one. I loved it, Jonah and I are really looking forward to starting the Ozma of Oz after we finish Black Beauty which we will begin tonight. I hope you will fall in love with the Oz series like we have. It will provide you with a great opportunity for some quality time reading with your children or grandchildren. I think that I look forward to reading time as much as he does.
  
  

• Not the best Oz book

  
  By ASECXJBCQR8RT on 2004-11-03
  I just finished reading this to my 4-year old son after we finished the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He loved both, but I had problems with this one. The story isn't very compelling, and the writing seems somewhat stilted. And the sexism! I realize the book is 100 years old and reflects its times, but parts of it were quite offensive to this (male) reader in the 21st century. We've moved on to the next book, Ozma of Oz, and are enjoying it a great deal more than Marvelous Land of Oz.
  
  

• A Fabulous Followup

  
  By on 1999-07-24
  The first sequel to The Wizard of Oz shows how the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman are inseperable... showing that a heart and brain need one another. The story is told of the discovery of the true ruler of the Land of Oz,and you'll be amazed when the discovery takes place.
  
  
• One Of My All Time Favorites
  By on 2001-09-15
  This book has a special place in my heart since it was the first Oz book I ever read. The book was so exciting and fun to read that it started me on a wonderful journey through the many other delighful books in the series. Tip is a great character and his life with the witch Mombi still make me feel anxious just thinking about it. I read this to my neice and she loved it so much that she now asks me to read another Oz book just about every time I see her.
  
  
• Magical gender
  By A79D8YU49JEV6 on 2005-05-20
  What is wonderful about this book, is that the main character, Tip, the young boy protagonist, is actually a girl, transformed in infancy into a boy, by magic. All children should have an opportunity to exercise their imaginations in this way. The book goes to show how little difference there really is between the spirit of male and female. All the OZ books do this, in an innocent and joyous way, but this one does it the best.
  
  
• Disappointed
  By on 2001-08-22
  I'm slogging through this book with my 5 year old and it's got to be the most boring thing I've ever read. I realize he was writing for a different culture and time period, but that's no excuse for such bland, clunky prose. Interesting stuff happens - the Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse have marvelous potential, and General Jinjur and Baum's take on feminism should be a riot. Instead, their antics are described in such dry style that I have to re-read paragraphs to recognize the attempts at humor. I had high hopes for reading this series, but I think we're giving up and going back to Moomintroll.
  
  
• Baum's second best Oz book
  By A2PDC6SESC021Q on 2002-02-24
  This book is Baum's second best. It has such strange creatures and it has every thing the Wonderful Wizard of Oz lacked. Baum is a genuis and this book proves it.
  
  
• The Marvelous Land of Oz
  By A2PDC6SESC021Q on 2002-09-02
  This is the second novel in the wonderful Oz series. It's about a young boy named Tip. Tip's guardian is a witch. Tip is threatened to be turned in to stone, so Tip tries to run away. He builds a Scarecrow that comes to life. Thus begins an awesome book. It's very funny, the chracters are great. This is a classic. just as good as the first.
  
  
• imaginative
  By on 2002-09-04
  Interesting work, from an author whose mind must have had dozens of ideas jumping around his brain like popcorn in a popper. Several people have mentioned the "surprise" at the end. It is a doozy (I can't spoil it here)! People who are old enough to read this themselves should be able to handle it (it's not scary, just odd). However, if your kids are young enough to confuse fact and fiction, you may want to make sure you're comfortable with the ending before you start reading aloud.
  
  
• Great Stuff Comparable to Twain or Thurber
  By on 2002-11-12
  Baum wrote 14 'Oz' books in the early 1900s. The movie was made from the first in the series. "The [Marvelous] Land of OZ" is the 2nd in the series, and possibly the best. The short chapter from page 71-81 reaches a level of perfection attained only rarely in the history of literature, and is equal to the best passages of Mark Twain or James Thurber. I can't read that passage out loud to my kids without going into a fit of laughing myself to tears. I wish I could reprint it here.

  You must try if you can to obtain the wonderful hardcover (or sometimes called 'library binding') edition that goes by the ISBN number of 0688054390. It's a stunning and faithful facsimile of the original 1904 edition complete with its beautiful color-illustrated endpapers, original color plates, and black & white illustrations charmingly integrated with the text. I snapped up a dozen and gave them away as birthday gifts for kids age 7 and up. I don't know if there are any left in print, and it's a good bet these will go up in value. Fine first edition OZ books command a pretty penny.
  
  

• It's A Classic
  By A2VSTW399Y6BM1 on 2004-07-25
  I read it a few times . It has more Excitement Then a "super hero " Comic Book! I couldn't keep it down .I even brought it to Work! If Your an Oz fan,this is a must for your bookshelf. Everyone I know has a copy of it somewhere.If you love Oz,you will LOVE this book.
  
  
• Perhaps the Funniest of the Oz series...
  By AF94G1M9N93B3 on 2006-06-19
  I seem to say that every Oz book is my favorite, and I suppose that speaks to the strength of the series. What I really enjoyed about this book as a child is that I had actually read "Ozma of Oz" (second in the series) before this one. So I had no idea that this story would tell us how Ozma arrived on the scene. What a fantastic surprise! Once again, Baum shows us why he is the master of fantasy, with this sequel. In many ways, I enjoy this book much more than "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." The scene when the unforgettable character, Jack Pumpkinhead, enters the court of the Scarecrow will split your belly as if you were the straw man himself. It's a scene of intelligently-written laughs, and I always use this chapter of the book as a model with my creative writing students to demonstrate how to craft humor. Of course, as someone who enjoys puns (especially bad ones), I also relish every line of the Wogglebug in this book. With "The Marvelous Land of Oz", I think Baum established that he was a force to be reckoned with, and I highly recommend this book to all young readers.
  
  
• Good, but not Baum's best
  By A2Z2HSA4M3P7LD on 2003-01-09
  Having read some of the other books, I'm not sure I can share their enthusiasm for this one. It is a very good book, but when ranked with all 14 of Baum's Oz books, I would put this one at twelve, maybe eleven. Baum's writing style is not as developed as in later books, and the plot is not as brilliant as in the first (and some of the laters). The Oz we see here, in fact, contradicts in many ways with the Oz as established later in the series. If you are planning to read the entire series (and if you're not planning to, you should), then read this one as you continue on to the more inspired and better written later volumes. If you are looking to read just one additional Oz book to sample what the series is like, try one of the later books. It will give you a better feel of what Baum is capable of. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz is my personal favorite, but they are all good.

  And if you've read all the Oz books and are looking for other titles that are just as magical and just as inspired, try the Chronicles of Narnia, King Fortis the Brave or Abarat. All will introduce you to other magical worlds that are every bit as fun to visit as Oz.
  
  

• Why "Marvelous Land of Oz" is the best Oz book.
  By A1KDSY8SMZNXR8 on 2005-05-27
  I have always had a silly fetish with Glinda ever since reading the Wizard of Oz, and reading the Land of Oz made it worse. The subsequent books of the series have disappointed me. Ever since, whenever I have assessed another fantasy work, the Land of Oz has always been the yardstick. I know this sounds silly, but I've fallen for anything that has a sorceress in it, lol! He-man, Prydain, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, you name it. If it had a witch in it, I was curious. I came across a Tanith Lee novel that had a "white witch" in it and found it to be disgusting and disturbing, like slash. (That copy is now ashes.) And when I heard about the Harry Potter controversy, I knew instinctively that the critics were bashing a perfectly legitimate fantasy series, and so I had to read them.
  
  Something should be said about Narnia. In it, white was the witch color, but the witch in it was as bad as could be. Jadis at an earlier age and the Green Lady were no better. And I thought, does Lewis have something against female magicians?
  
  Yet Lewis and Tolkien had something in common with the Land of Oz: the themes of power and responsibility, respect for authority, and establishing the legitimacy of rule. In Narnia, Caspian was told in no uncertain terms that a king does not have the right to abdicate. In Oz, when Ozma is just about to be made Queen, the moral atmosphere doesn't feel any different. Ozma as it were can't simply choose to remain a boy all her life while Oz remains in control of illegitimate rulers. As Glinda would say, the throne of Oz belongs only to its "rightful ruler".
  
  Sad to say, Baum later succumbs to fan pressure and writes to support himself more than for the art of writing. His use of theme grows weaker, he brings Dorothy back into Oz permanently, and his adventures deteriorate into silliness and parody. Consequently, the later Oz books are better suited for light and humorous reading. Alas, I cannot make Baum a good writer any more than one can make him a Christian or make Lewis a feminist.
  
  
• A fun, creative adventure until.....
  By A2FEVMSHH9RLRC on 2007-04-24
  I read this as a fourth grade girl and found it the best of all Baum's Oz books. I loved the character Tip and his relationship with all of his friends and even with his enemies: Mombi, the scary witch who raised him; the Wizard, a complex character of good and evil; Jack Pumpkinhead, son to the child. I loved all of the other delighful characters: the sawhorse, the Woggle-bug, the amazing flyin Gump, and so many others. I loved how real Tip seemed; a sometimes grumpy, mischevious boy who nevertheless had a good heart. Reading the story, I truly was caught up into a world of magic,wonderful characterization, and great adventure. But the ending brought it all crashing down: not only was Tip given little choice in being changed by Glinda, once changed his whole free-spirited, well-rounded personality was lost. Instead of being restored to his "true self," it seemed to me that all he had grown to be and all that he considered true of himself was sacrificed to the status quo (of course I didn't know that word in the 4th grade, but I knew Tip had suffered an injustice). I still love the joy and fun of the first part of the book, but I can't help but feel it ended in tragedy. Bad Glinda!
  
  
• Fun, Good Read, but a little too much satire.
  By on 2002-06-20
  The first book had its humorous moments, but it was clearly a children's fantasy book as well, and a masterful one. That book ranks side by side with its film version and is one of the greatest books ever written.

  This book was very well written and has a great surprise ending, but I found it to have too much satire. Take the scene where the Scarecrow and Jack are so interested in formalities they get an interpreter without realizing they speak the same language. Is it just me, or have the Scarecrow and Tin Woodsman become more clueless in this book after getting what they wanted? Also, the Woggle Bug character poked a lot of fun at snobbish people which I found funny, but I fear a seven year old might not understand the humor.

  As the second part in a long series, maybe it's alright. But judging it as a book complete in itself, I would reccomend it more for older readers who want a good laugh than as a fantasy bedtime story.
  
  

• The Marvelous Land of Oz
  By ABL72RZ0GXZXZ on 2007-02-12
  This is book two in the series and a wonderful read for Children and Adults.
  
  
• Dated but readable
  By ASR3HXPR5TVG0 on 2008-01-28
  It is my understanding that this book links the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (i.e. not meant to be a serial) and the rest of the books in the series (which I have, admittedly, not read yet). If this is the case, it is a worthwhile read. It begins clumsily in comparison to the WWOO, but finds a groove about halfway through the book and becomes another showcase for Baum's fertile imagination. The synopsis included in other reviews is correct, so I will not belabor that point.
  
  One reviewer mentioned the sexism inherent in the book. Despite the fact that the hero(ine) and the protagonist are ultimately female, this is correct. As I read this to my 2-year old son, I found myself laughing at conceits that would never be published today. Like an army of petulant girls armed with knitting needles. My favorite bit is the end, at which time the women of Oz are happy about being 'liberated' from their position as heads of households since they really wanted the chance to cook a good meal! Wow... If you are reading this to anyone over the age of 2, you might want to point out the difference between 1904 and 2004 and beyond.
  
  I would not recommend this to an adult reader (other than a Baum completist), or to a child who was not reading the entire series. However, for anyone reading more than one Oz books to their children, this will be a good purchase. It is my opinion that many children's books these days are creative within the confines of reality, but not necessarily imaginative. This book is definitely imaginative and should therefore be a nice addition to any child's library.
  
  

• Ozma of Oz (Books of Wonder)
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 100th Anniversary Edition (Books of Wonder)
• Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (Books of Wonder)
• The Emerald City of Oz (Books of Wonder)
• Road to Oz, The (Books of Wonder)