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Oz #13
The Magic of Oz
In this witty and imaginative tale, the “Royal Historian of Oz,” L. Frank Baum, takes young readers back across The Great Sandy Desert for more exciting adventures in the wondrous Land of Oz. Old friends such as Dorothy, the Wizard, and the Cowardly Lion reappear, along with endearing new characters — the Glass Cat, the Hungry Tiger, Little Trot, Cap’n Bill, the Lonesome Duck, and others.
Seeking special birthday presents to express their devotion to the wise and beautiful Princess Ozma, the friends venture beyond the Emerald City and into unknown territory. Little Trot and Cap’n Bill find themselves stuck — literally! — on an enchanted island, while Dorothy and the Wizard uncover a treasonous plot. It seems that Kiki Aru, the foolish son of a magician, and Ruggedo, the evil King of the Nomes, intend to recruit an army of forest-dwelling beasts, overthrow Princess Ozma, and enslave the citizens of Oz. Can Dorothy and the Wizard foil the conspirators’ plans and rescue their stranded comrades? You’ll find out in the pages of this exciting story.
Graced by a wonderful array of original black-and-white drawings by John R. Neill, as well as 12 captivating full-color plates, this spirited tale will thrill readers of all ages.
Seeking special birthday presents to express their devotion to the wise and beautiful Princess Ozma, the friends venture beyond the Emerald City and into unknown territory. Little Trot and Cap’n Bill find themselves stuck — literally! — on an enchanted island, while Dorothy and the Wizard uncover a treasonous plot. It seems that Kiki Aru, the foolish son of a magician, and Ruggedo, the evil King of the Nomes, intend to recruit an army of forest-dwelling beasts, overthrow Princess Ozma, and enslave the citizens of Oz. Can Dorothy and the Wizard foil the conspirators’ plans and rescue their stranded comrades? You’ll find out in the pages of this exciting story.
Graced by a wonderful array of original black-and-white drawings by John R. Neill, as well as 12 captivating full-color plates, this spirited tale will thrill readers of all ages.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1919
About the author
L. Frank Baum
2,812 books2,525 followersalso wrote under the name Edith Van Dyne, Floyd Akers, Schuyler Staunton, John Estes Cooke, Suzanne Metcalf, Laura Bancroft, Louis F. Baum, Capt. Hugh Fitzgerald
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author, actor, and independent filmmaker best known as the creator, along with illustrator W. W. Denslow, of one of the most popular books in American children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, better known today as simply The Wizard of Oz. He wrote thirteen sequels, nine other fantasy novels, and a plethora of other works (55 novels in total, 82 short stories, over 200 poems, an unknown number of scripts, and many miscellaneous writings), and made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen.
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author, actor, and independent filmmaker best known as the creator, along with illustrator W. W. Denslow, of one of the most popular books in American children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, better known today as simply The Wizard of Oz. He wrote thirteen sequels, nine other fantasy novels, and a plethora of other works (55 novels in total, 82 short stories, over 200 poems, an unknown number of scripts, and many miscellaneous writings), and made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 255 reviews
December 7, 2018
Not the best Oz book but not the worst, either. The plot is a little scattershot and it's difficult to care much about the protagonists' goals (finding a birthday present for Ozma). It also peters out a little at the end.
There's still plenty of the usual Oz magic on display, though, and I did enjoy it, despite its flaws, so I don't want to be too harsh.
There's still plenty of the usual Oz magic on display, though, and I did enjoy it, despite its flaws, so I don't want to be too harsh.
March 19, 2012
This is a good classic Oz story. There is some wandering around, an overarching (though ludicrously unimportant) goal (really? you wrote a whole book about looking for birthday presents for Ozma?), my favorite villain (Ruggedo all the way! although I really enjoy Kaliko's three trial rooms in Rinkitink), jungle animals, and a really really cool plant. Plus more of the Glass Cat! (Although, as I remembered, her pink brains are back; Baum seems to have [conveniently?] forgotten that he had the Wizard replace them with transparent brains to make her more humble.)
I wish Trot and Cap'n Bill retained more of their old character from Scarecrow in Oz; they've been subsumed a little into the sort of general spunky-but-nondescript-human-in-Oz persona, which is too bad. But I still enjoyed my time with them!
But as for who I liked best in this book, that's an easy one. Not the silly unicorn or old favorites Trot and Cap'n Bill or even Ruggedo. No, my favorite character, far and away, is the Lonesome Duck.
The Lonesome Duck does not actually appear for very long, but it is so delightfully crabby - and it has such a great house! - that it will forever have a special place in my heart.
P.S. It is pretty weird and kind of asshole-ish of Dorothy and the Wizard to decide to put 3-inch high monkeys (who in Oz are sentient and speak human language) into a cake and train them to dance? Definitely asshole-ish when the Wizard refuses to change the monkeys back into monkeys from giants unless their leader agrees to allow several of them to be shrunk and sent to be Ozma's entertainment. It seems really demeaning for them, actually, although Baum does throw in towards the last minute that they were eager to go because they were so grateful.
P.P.S. Pyrzqxgl!
I wish Trot and Cap'n Bill retained more of their old character from Scarecrow in Oz; they've been subsumed a little into the sort of general spunky-but-nondescript-human-in-Oz persona, which is too bad. But I still enjoyed my time with them!
But as for who I liked best in this book, that's an easy one. Not the silly unicorn or old favorites Trot and Cap'n Bill or even Ruggedo. No, my favorite character, far and away, is the Lonesome Duck.
The Lonesome Duck does not actually appear for very long, but it is so delightfully crabby - and it has such a great house! - that it will forever have a special place in my heart.
P.S. It is pretty weird and kind of asshole-ish of Dorothy and the Wizard to decide to put 3-inch high monkeys (who in Oz are sentient and speak human language) into a cake and train them to dance? Definitely asshole-ish when the Wizard refuses to change the monkeys back into monkeys from giants unless their leader agrees to allow several of them to be shrunk and sent to be Ozma's entertainment. It seems really demeaning for them, actually, although Baum does throw in towards the last minute that they were eager to go because they were so grateful.
P.P.S. Pyrzqxgl!
January 2, 2023
Definitely suffered a bit being read directly after The Emerald City of Oz, in my estimation one of the series' strongest, as this late installation—one of the few I'd never read before—felt particularly weak. Bonus points for the a generous helping of the prickly Glass Cat (as an adult I'm clearly drawn to the more cantankerous of Baum's creations), but substantial points detracted due to Kiki Aru, one of the most unlikable characters in the Oz universe—from early on I was rooting for the Gnome King to off that little sh*t once & for all.
June 29, 2019
A delightful romp with the Oz characters, as they have fun working on exciting surprises for Princess Ozma's birthday.
It's a great journey to be a part of -- even if some of the story is a little cheesy. There are some fun elements in the plot.
COYER Read a book with a Talking Animal: 3
It's a great journey to be a part of -- even if some of the story is a little cheesy. There are some fun elements in the plot.
COYER Read a book with a Talking Animal: 3
August 27, 2021
This one was a pretty fun adventure with a bunch of different plot lines happening and fun twists of the story with plenty of familiar characters to keep it fun.
Ozma birthday is coming up and a party must be thrown! Meanwhile a couple of baddies are trying to turn the whole forest of wild beasts against Ozma’s rule and take over Oz as new rulers, so as you can imagine this story is full of adventure.
I’ve got to admit, though that I am getting a bit burned out by the Oz stories and am secretly happy there are only 2 left to go. I’ll most likely jump over to the modern retelling like Maguire’s “Wicked” series and “Dorothy Must Die” but I highly doubt I’ll continue reading Oz stories variety of writers wrote between 1950’s and 2000’s.
I never realized how many there were. (There are way more then you probably think there are. Google it, it’s mind boggling).
Nothing is wrong with the stories, so I’d say if you’re still loving them, have at it. There are plenty.
I’m just eyeing my “To Read” list and it’s grown almost beyond manageable, and some tough choices have to be made :)
I will definitely finish the ones Baum wrote. I’m certainly committed to that much!
Roman
Ozma birthday is coming up and a party must be thrown! Meanwhile a couple of baddies are trying to turn the whole forest of wild beasts against Ozma’s rule and take over Oz as new rulers, so as you can imagine this story is full of adventure.
I’ve got to admit, though that I am getting a bit burned out by the Oz stories and am secretly happy there are only 2 left to go. I’ll most likely jump over to the modern retelling like Maguire’s “Wicked” series and “Dorothy Must Die” but I highly doubt I’ll continue reading Oz stories variety of writers wrote between 1950’s and 2000’s.
I never realized how many there were. (There are way more then you probably think there are. Google it, it’s mind boggling).
Nothing is wrong with the stories, so I’d say if you’re still loving them, have at it. There are plenty.
I’m just eyeing my “To Read” list and it’s grown almost beyond manageable, and some tough choices have to be made :)
I will definitely finish the ones Baum wrote. I’m certainly committed to that much!
Roman
September 25, 2022
Pushing through the Oz stuff, I won't say this is the best. In my opinion it's neither good nor bad. At least it wasn't that long.
In a way I'm happy Frank decided to write about the beasts of Oz. There's not much written about them in the last books. There were lots of weird creatures along but very very few beasts. I think I like the Kalidahs the most. They seem to be pretty beasty unlike the panther and the dragons in Tin woodman of Oz.
This is one Oz book that was linked pretty well. I would've liked if the repetitions were left alone, I mean everyone knows who the glass cat is, everyone knows the girls of Oz, everyone knows who Ruggado is, everyone knows the setup of the Emerald city, so why repeat them all over? That's the tedious part of it. I still can't digest this blingy parties of the Emerald Palace. Does every book have to end with a bang and blast?
Anyway, there was lot of magic in the book. I liked the magic flower. I can't stop thinking whether Stephen King's rose came from this magic pot....
Book #53 of 2022.
Book #13 of Oz series
In a way I'm happy Frank decided to write about the beasts of Oz. There's not much written about them in the last books. There were lots of weird creatures along but very very few beasts. I think I like the Kalidahs the most. They seem to be pretty beasty unlike the panther and the dragons in Tin woodman of Oz.
This is one Oz book that was linked pretty well. I would've liked if the repetitions were left alone, I mean everyone knows who the glass cat is, everyone knows the girls of Oz, everyone knows who Ruggado is, everyone knows the setup of the Emerald city, so why repeat them all over? That's the tedious part of it. I still can't digest this blingy parties of the Emerald Palace. Does every book have to end with a bang and blast?
Anyway, there was lot of magic in the book. I liked the magic flower. I can't stop thinking whether Stephen King's rose came from this magic pot....
Book #53 of 2022.
Book #13 of Oz series
March 13, 2024
This books was ok. Not my favourite within the series
July 2, 2016
Another cute Oz story, but not at all my favorite. The plot was thin (thinner than usual - the "main plot" was Dorothy and Trot going on a quest to find a birthday present for Ozma.) The subplot had more potential - a selfish Munchkin boy who gets ahold of a magic word of transformation, and he reluctantly teams up with the Nome King on a quest to conquer the Emerald City. While that plot had more potential (and had some really clever and suspenseful moments), the Munchkin and Nome were vanquished almost accidentally, cheapening the whole thing.
Again, Baum's cleverness with inventing fun creatures and new magical ideas is strong in this book, but with such a flimsy plot, it's not an Oz tale that I would re-read.
Again, Baum's cleverness with inventing fun creatures and new magical ideas is strong in this book, but with such a flimsy plot, it's not an Oz tale that I would re-read.
May 29, 2013
I was obsessed with all things Oz while I was growing up.
I wasn't allowed to watch the film for years, so in the meantime I wrote stories about what I thought Oz would be like.
Finally I watched the film at age seven, and then I also read the first book.
The book is very, very different from the film!
After reading the first book, I would scour the Borders shelves for more Oz books. I was fascinated by how many there were!
Usually fiction depressed me, because often there is only one story and it doesn't continue into a series.
But luckily for me, there are many Oz books!
During a recent trip to the library, I found The Magic of Oz.
I read it in two days.
My favorite character is the Glass Cat, and it was what kept me going when the beginning started to drag.
Their description is so cool:
"This astonishing cat was made all of glass and was so clear and transparent that you could see through it as easily as through a window. In the top of its head, however, was a mass of delicate pink balls which looked like jewels but were intended for brains. It had a heart made of a blood-red ruby. The eyes were two large emeralds. But, aside from these colors, all the rest of the animal was of clear glass, and it had a spun-glass tail that was really beautiful."
"It was made by a famous magician named Dr. Pipt before Ozma had forbidden her subjects to work magic. Dr. Pipt had made the Glass Cat to catch mice, but the Cat refused to catch mice and was considered more curious than useful."
Isn't that cute? And all of their illustrations are beautiful too.
The beginning introduces a character called Kiki Aru, from a land of people called Hyups. They're called 'Hyups' because they live at the top of Mount Munch of Munchkin County. Get it...'High Up'.... (:
Kiki's father is a sorcerer, and one day, Kiki finds his father's hidden secret spell on a piece of paper hidden beneath the floorboards. The spell is a word, difficult to pronounce, and it can transform the speaker and anyone the speaker wishes into anything.
I was willing to be sympathetic towards Kiki, since as the reader I was being forced to follow him, but I disliked him as soon as the end of Chapter Two.
"No, I didn't know I was being wicked," said Kiki, "but if I was, I'm glad of it. I hate good people. I've always wanted to be wicked, but I didn't know how."
That just turned him into a stupid, one-dimensional character. His only purpose in the story is to provide a moral, which is the same-old basic warning to kids; "Don't break the rules. Be a good person, JUST BECAUSE."
His conflict started out that he was an unhappy person because he always wanted to explore beyond the Hyups' land at the top of the mountain, but after that dialogue, it turns out that he also wants to be evil.
That's completely different and changes his character completely.
And any sympathy I had vanished.
Now, the reason why Kiki Aru suddenly wants to be evil is because he joins with the Gnome King, simply because the Gnome King (now "Ruggedo") promises to help him become king of Oz, and also because Ruggedo helps Kiki learn about Oz. But the only reason Kiki needs to learn about/go to Oz is because of Ruggedo! Kiki himself had planned to go to a place called The Rose Kingdom, which I think would have made a cooler story.
I don't know why Kiki tolerates Ruggedo, who is always trying to get his secret spell. Ruggedo is obviously untrustworthy and I don't know why Kiki puts up with him. It is the weakest part of the book.
So the plot switches to Dorothy and her friend, a girl named Trot that I haven't read about in the other books yet. Trot has a friend named Cap'n Bill, an old sailor. He is described "with one wooden leg and one meat leg." The description of his real leg as "meat" is repeated throughout the book and I hated it, it sounds so gross. It reminds me of a scene in The Fifth Element, where Korben is questioned on whether he is a human being and he replies, "Negative, I am a meat popsicle."
I hated the character of Cap'n Bill. I thought his relationship with Trot was inappropriate and unnecessary. Exactly why is Baum writing about an old man being friends with young girls? What is the purpose?
It's stupid and doesn't serve anything. I hate that period in history where children especially young girls were actually encouraged and taught to trust old men. Stupid.
This element was particularly stupid when Trot and Cap'n Bill are
The basic plot of the book is that Princess Ozma has a birthday coming up, and Dorothy and Trot want to give her special gifts. Cap'n Bill tells Trot about a Magic Flower that only the Glass Cat knows about.
The characters find the Glass Cat, who finally agrees to help them find the Magic Flower (with some persuading from Dorothy). I really liked how Dorothy treated the Glass Cat. She is a very compassionate character and I like that example for children.
The problem I do have with her character is her own idea for Ozma's present. Dorothy consults Glinda, who tells Dorothy to give Ozma a cake. I had a problem with this part too, because Glinda is drawn as a young female human, much like the film character. But when I read the first book, I distinctly remember Glinda being described and drawn as an old witch.
Perhaps this is just a difference in illustrators, or maybe I missed something since I haven't read the other books in consequential order.
Anyway, Dorothy tells the Wizard that she wants to make Ozma a cake that is hollow inside, with three inch monkeys inside that come out and dance.
I thought that idea isn't quite the level or standard of magic and whimsy that Oz should have. I do understand why Baum wrote it that way though, because it does tie into the story...it was still anti-climatic for me though. It just felt too 'real-world'.
When Cap'n Bill and Trot reach the lake shore, they encounter a creature called a Kalidah. I hated this part of the book, because Trot and Cap'n Bill are so cruel to it! Read how stupid this is:
"As the Kalidah sprang toward him [Cap'n Bill] he stuck out his wooden leg and the point of it struck the beast between its eyes and sent it rolling upon the ground. Before it could get upon its feet again the sailor pushed the sharp stake right through its body and then with the flat side of the axe he hammered the stake as far into the ground as it would go. By this means he captured the great beast and made it harmless, for try as it would, it could not get away from the stake that held it.
Cap'n Bill knew he could not kill the Kalidah, for no living thing in Oz can be killed, so he stood back and watched the beast wriggle and growl and paw the earth with its sharp claws..."
Did you catch that? "No living thing in Oz can be killed"...so WHY are Cap'n Bill and Trot even afraid?! The Kalidah couldn't even hurt them then! That is just a really contradictory part, and doesn't add up to the Oz universe.
And I also hate that part because later on, this Kalidah frees itself from their cruel trap...it is described as not being angry at the humans anymore!
"This one was not very revengeful, and now that his late foes were in danger of perishing, his anger against them faded away."
Faded away, eh? Well, you can be cruel to animals, kids, because they'll still always feel sorry for the poor humans.
And then the next part describes the Kalidah with the holes in its body from the stake!
"Our own Kalidah King", he reflected, "has certain magical powers of his own. Perhaps he knows how to fill up these two holes in my body."
Those cruel humans gave him holes in his body, but yet we're supposed to feel sorry for THEM? This just gives such a bad message of basically advocating animal cruelty. Again, "Don't worry kids, that animal will just find some magic to heal the wounds you gave it."
STUPID.
The next element I will talk of is the character of the Lonesome Duck. It is introduced when Trot and Cap'n Bill are still on the island. It is described beautifully as being multi-colored, and living in a diamond palace.
"The bird swam swiftly and gracefully toward the Magic Isle, and as it drew nearer its gorgeously colored plumage astonished them. The feathers were of many hues of glistening greens and blues and purples, and it had a yellow head with a red plume, and pink, white and violet in its tail."
The problem with this part of the plot is the part I hated the most about the book: the Lonesome Duck is 'lonesome' because it has no family or relations nor friends. And Trot and Cap'n Bill, being their likeable selves, are mean to the duck, and no one tries to make friends with it, even when it saves their lives with its magic!
Baum made the humbug into a real wizard, the Cowardly Lion brave and a king, the Scarecrow with a brain, the Tin Man with a heart...WHY couldn't he have given a lesson in friendship with the poor Lonesome Duck?!
All their scenes in the book greatly depressed me and made me upset because I felt so sad for its character.
The last time we see the character, the Lonesome Duck;
"had entered his palace through the door without even saying good-bye."
I would have much rather seen the moral of the story revolve around its plot instead of stupid Kiki Aru. I would have liked more closure and resolve with the Lonesome Duck's character.
The next part of the plot I dislike involves the Glass Cat.
First of all, for the whole first part of the book, the Glass Cat is of an ambiguous gender and is described as either "the" or "it".
Then SUDDENLY alllll the way on page 228 in Chapter Twenty, Baum starts referring to the Glass Cat as . It was very abrupt and took me out of the story. This book should have been edited to have had the Glass Cat referred to CONSISTENTLY as such, instead of throwing that out there at the end of the book. It just wasn't consistent and reminded me, "Oh yeah, you're reading a flawed fictional book written by a human," instead of fully transporting me into Oz.
Next:
The needed three-inch monkeys I mentioned earlier are created by shrinking jungle monkeys with magic (and with their permission). The wizard carries them in a gold cage as the group makes their way back to the Emerald City. Well, the Glass Cat, BEING a cat, starts to play with the miniature monkey's tails, which stick out of the cage.
Well, the monkeys don't like this, and it so happens that the bars of their cage get bent, so at night they come out of their cage and surround the Glass Cat. They force to the banks of a stream where there is thick slimy mud. Then they
"smeared this mud all over the glass body of the cat, filling the creature's ears and eyes with it, so that she could neither see nor hear. She was no longer transparent and so thick was the mud upon her that no one could see her pink brains or her ruby heart."
....
"Dorothy and Trot were horrified, but the Wizard shook his head and said it served the Glass Cat right for teasing the monkeys.
"The Glass Cat deserves to be punished, so I think I'll leave that blue mud-which is as bad as paint-upon her body until she gets to the Emerald City. The silly creature is so vain that she will be greatly shamed when the Oz people see her in this condition, and perhaps she'll take the lesson to heart and leave the monkeys alone hereafter."
....
"This is only part of your punishment," said the Wizard, severely. "Ozma will laugh at you, when we get to her palace, and so will the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman, and Tik-Tok, and the Shaggy Man, and Button-Bright, and the Patchwork Girl, and-"
"And the Pink Kitten," added Dorothy.
....
"I s'pect she's gone somewhere to clean herself," said Dorothy.
"Never mind," replied the Wizard. "Perhaps this glass creature has been punished enough, and we must not forget she saved both Trot and Cap'n Bill."
WE MUST NOT FORGET SHE SAVED BOTH TROT AND CAP'N BILL.
Oh, YOU THINK???!!!
NOT TO MENTION, that Trot and Cap'n Bill also would never have FOUND the Magic Flower which THEY give to Ozma and take the credit for, if it weren't for THE GLASS CAT! Who told them of the Magic Flower AND showed them the way IN THE FIRST PLACE!
And as for the DESPICABLE HUMBUG, OH I MEAN "WIZARD":
THE GLASS CAT FOUND HIS MAGIC BLACK BAG! When he was stupid and just kept it out right in the open as he strode into the forest and then got transformed.
THE GLASS CAT SAVED EVERYBODY, NOT JUST STUPID TROT AND CAP'N BILL, AND THIS IS HOW IT IS THANKED?
And listen how Baum ties up this issue:
"The Glass Cat did not join the party of travelers. She was still resentful, and they moved too slowly to suit her, besides. When they arrived at the Royal Palace, one of the first things they saw was the Glass Cat curled up on a bench as bright and clean and transparent as ever. But she pretended not to notice them, and they passed her by with no remark."
THEY PASSED HER BY WITH NO REMARK. NO APOLOGY OR THANKS WHATSOEVER!
AND that is how Chapter Twenty ENDS.
That's where any interest or delight in this book "severely" ended for me. Just as abrupt as the mention of the Glass Cat's gender.
This ridiculous cruel plot with the Glass Cat together with the lack of resolve with the Lonesome Duck RUINED the book for me.
After that, I didn't care about Ozma's stupid monkey cake or stupid Kiki Aru and the "moral" of the story.
There just wasn't enough magic, or heart.
And the Glass Cat and the Lonesome Duck were PERFECT characters to give magic and heart to this story!
But instead Baum dismissed them and focused on the simple, cruel and un-magical characters of the humans and humanoids.
Now, this is interesting to note; at the end of my library book there is an Afterword by Peter Glassman.
In it is mentioned that Baum was suffering from an illness while writing The Magic of Oz, and he eventually passed away from it months before its publication. He didn't get to see its success.
So, this was really the last Oz book that he wrote.
Since I am still a fan of all things Oz, I would recommend this book for that reason, and also for the descriptions of the Glass Cat and the Lonesome Duck. They are great characters and deserve their own books!
The Afterword says, "It may seem surprising that despite his illness Baum could continue to write upbeat stories about an enchanted fairyland where no one ever grew old or sick. Perhaps it was his vision of a place where he could be whole and healthy and where everyone was as happy as they could wish to be that sustained him."
I think that is very fascinating, although as you can tell from my review, I DO think that some darkness made its way into this book.
Another interesting point:
"But perhaps the most important shift in the Oz series introduced in The Magic of Oz is Baum's expansion of the use of magic.
Prior to this book, magic is used by the Wizard, Ozma, and Glinda sparingly and only when necessary. But in The Magic of Oz, magic spells and enchantments become almost commonplace."
The best point the Afterword makes is this:
"Filled with adventure, intrigue, and lots of magic, L. Frank Baum's thirteenth Oz book-The Magic of Oz-is one of his best plotted and most enchanting stories. Maintaining two, sometimes three, plots at one time, Baum successfully crafted a tale of yet another threat to Ozma's beloved kingdom by the wily Nome King-certainly the land of Oz's most tenacious and resilient foe-heroically thwarted by Dorothy and her friends."
Now, Baum DOES manage multiple plots in this book well, and ties them together well, too. And this is still a very entertaining book, with enough magic in it, which is why I give it three stars.
I wasn't allowed to watch the film for years, so in the meantime I wrote stories about what I thought Oz would be like.
Finally I watched the film at age seven, and then I also read the first book.
The book is very, very different from the film!
After reading the first book, I would scour the Borders shelves for more Oz books. I was fascinated by how many there were!
Usually fiction depressed me, because often there is only one story and it doesn't continue into a series.
But luckily for me, there are many Oz books!
During a recent trip to the library, I found The Magic of Oz.
I read it in two days.
My favorite character is the Glass Cat, and it was what kept me going when the beginning started to drag.
Their description is so cool:
"This astonishing cat was made all of glass and was so clear and transparent that you could see through it as easily as through a window. In the top of its head, however, was a mass of delicate pink balls which looked like jewels but were intended for brains. It had a heart made of a blood-red ruby. The eyes were two large emeralds. But, aside from these colors, all the rest of the animal was of clear glass, and it had a spun-glass tail that was really beautiful."
"It was made by a famous magician named Dr. Pipt before Ozma had forbidden her subjects to work magic. Dr. Pipt had made the Glass Cat to catch mice, but the Cat refused to catch mice and was considered more curious than useful."
Isn't that cute? And all of their illustrations are beautiful too.
The beginning introduces a character called Kiki Aru, from a land of people called Hyups. They're called 'Hyups' because they live at the top of Mount Munch of Munchkin County. Get it...'High Up'.... (:
Kiki's father is a sorcerer, and one day, Kiki finds his father's hidden secret spell on a piece of paper hidden beneath the floorboards. The spell is a word, difficult to pronounce, and it can transform the speaker and anyone the speaker wishes into anything.
I was willing to be sympathetic towards Kiki, since as the reader I was being forced to follow him, but I disliked him as soon as the end of Chapter Two.
"No, I didn't know I was being wicked," said Kiki, "but if I was, I'm glad of it. I hate good people. I've always wanted to be wicked, but I didn't know how."
That just turned him into a stupid, one-dimensional character. His only purpose in the story is to provide a moral, which is the same-old basic warning to kids; "Don't break the rules. Be a good person, JUST BECAUSE."
His conflict started out that he was an unhappy person because he always wanted to explore beyond the Hyups' land at the top of the mountain, but after that dialogue, it turns out that he also wants to be evil.
That's completely different and changes his character completely.
And any sympathy I had vanished.
Now, the reason why Kiki Aru suddenly wants to be evil is because he joins with the Gnome King, simply because the Gnome King (now "Ruggedo") promises to help him become king of Oz, and also because Ruggedo helps Kiki learn about Oz. But the only reason Kiki needs to learn about/go to Oz is because of Ruggedo! Kiki himself had planned to go to a place called The Rose Kingdom, which I think would have made a cooler story.
I don't know why Kiki tolerates Ruggedo, who is always trying to get his secret spell. Ruggedo is obviously untrustworthy and I don't know why Kiki puts up with him. It is the weakest part of the book.
So the plot switches to Dorothy and her friend, a girl named Trot that I haven't read about in the other books yet. Trot has a friend named Cap'n Bill, an old sailor. He is described "with one wooden leg and one meat leg." The description of his real leg as "meat" is repeated throughout the book and I hated it, it sounds so gross. It reminds me of a scene in The Fifth Element, where Korben is questioned on whether he is a human being and he replies, "Negative, I am a meat popsicle."
I hated the character of Cap'n Bill. I thought his relationship with Trot was inappropriate and unnecessary. Exactly why is Baum writing about an old man being friends with young girls? What is the purpose?
It's stupid and doesn't serve anything. I hate that period in history where children especially young girls were actually encouraged and taught to trust old men. Stupid.
This element was particularly stupid when Trot and Cap'n Bill are
The basic plot of the book is that Princess Ozma has a birthday coming up, and Dorothy and Trot want to give her special gifts. Cap'n Bill tells Trot about a Magic Flower that only the Glass Cat knows about.
The characters find the Glass Cat, who finally agrees to help them find the Magic Flower (with some persuading from Dorothy). I really liked how Dorothy treated the Glass Cat. She is a very compassionate character and I like that example for children.
The problem I do have with her character is her own idea for Ozma's present. Dorothy consults Glinda, who tells Dorothy to give Ozma a cake. I had a problem with this part too, because Glinda is drawn as a young female human, much like the film character. But when I read the first book, I distinctly remember Glinda being described and drawn as an old witch.
Perhaps this is just a difference in illustrators, or maybe I missed something since I haven't read the other books in consequential order.
Anyway, Dorothy tells the Wizard that she wants to make Ozma a cake that is hollow inside, with three inch monkeys inside that come out and dance.
I thought that idea isn't quite the level or standard of magic and whimsy that Oz should have. I do understand why Baum wrote it that way though, because it does tie into the story...it was still anti-climatic for me though. It just felt too 'real-world'.
When Cap'n Bill and Trot reach the lake shore, they encounter a creature called a Kalidah. I hated this part of the book, because Trot and Cap'n Bill are so cruel to it! Read how stupid this is:
"As the Kalidah sprang toward him [Cap'n Bill] he stuck out his wooden leg and the point of it struck the beast between its eyes and sent it rolling upon the ground. Before it could get upon its feet again the sailor pushed the sharp stake right through its body and then with the flat side of the axe he hammered the stake as far into the ground as it would go. By this means he captured the great beast and made it harmless, for try as it would, it could not get away from the stake that held it.
Cap'n Bill knew he could not kill the Kalidah, for no living thing in Oz can be killed, so he stood back and watched the beast wriggle and growl and paw the earth with its sharp claws..."
Did you catch that? "No living thing in Oz can be killed"...so WHY are Cap'n Bill and Trot even afraid?! The Kalidah couldn't even hurt them then! That is just a really contradictory part, and doesn't add up to the Oz universe.
And I also hate that part because later on, this Kalidah frees itself from their cruel trap...it is described as not being angry at the humans anymore!
"This one was not very revengeful, and now that his late foes were in danger of perishing, his anger against them faded away."
Faded away, eh? Well, you can be cruel to animals, kids, because they'll still always feel sorry for the poor humans.
And then the next part describes the Kalidah with the holes in its body from the stake!
"Our own Kalidah King", he reflected, "has certain magical powers of his own. Perhaps he knows how to fill up these two holes in my body."
Those cruel humans gave him holes in his body, but yet we're supposed to feel sorry for THEM? This just gives such a bad message of basically advocating animal cruelty. Again, "Don't worry kids, that animal will just find some magic to heal the wounds you gave it."
STUPID.
The next element I will talk of is the character of the Lonesome Duck. It is introduced when Trot and Cap'n Bill are still on the island. It is described beautifully as being multi-colored, and living in a diamond palace.
"The bird swam swiftly and gracefully toward the Magic Isle, and as it drew nearer its gorgeously colored plumage astonished them. The feathers were of many hues of glistening greens and blues and purples, and it had a yellow head with a red plume, and pink, white and violet in its tail."
The problem with this part of the plot is the part I hated the most about the book: the Lonesome Duck is 'lonesome' because it has no family or relations nor friends. And Trot and Cap'n Bill, being their likeable selves, are mean to the duck, and no one tries to make friends with it, even when it saves their lives with its magic!
Baum made the humbug into a real wizard, the Cowardly Lion brave and a king, the Scarecrow with a brain, the Tin Man with a heart...WHY couldn't he have given a lesson in friendship with the poor Lonesome Duck?!
All their scenes in the book greatly depressed me and made me upset because I felt so sad for its character.
The last time we see the character, the Lonesome Duck;
"had entered his palace through the door without even saying good-bye."
I would have much rather seen the moral of the story revolve around its plot instead of stupid Kiki Aru. I would have liked more closure and resolve with the Lonesome Duck's character.
The next part of the plot I dislike involves the Glass Cat.
First of all, for the whole first part of the book, the Glass Cat is of an ambiguous gender and is described as either "the" or "it".
Then SUDDENLY alllll the way on page 228 in Chapter Twenty, Baum starts referring to the Glass Cat as . It was very abrupt and took me out of the story. This book should have been edited to have had the Glass Cat referred to CONSISTENTLY as such, instead of throwing that out there at the end of the book. It just wasn't consistent and reminded me, "Oh yeah, you're reading a flawed fictional book written by a human," instead of fully transporting me into Oz.
Next:
The needed three-inch monkeys I mentioned earlier are created by shrinking jungle monkeys with magic (and with their permission). The wizard carries them in a gold cage as the group makes their way back to the Emerald City. Well, the Glass Cat, BEING a cat, starts to play with the miniature monkey's tails, which stick out of the cage.
Well, the monkeys don't like this, and it so happens that the bars of their cage get bent, so at night they come out of their cage and surround the Glass Cat. They force to the banks of a stream where there is thick slimy mud. Then they
"smeared this mud all over the glass body of the cat, filling the creature's ears and eyes with it, so that she could neither see nor hear. She was no longer transparent and so thick was the mud upon her that no one could see her pink brains or her ruby heart."
....
"Dorothy and Trot were horrified, but the Wizard shook his head and said it served the Glass Cat right for teasing the monkeys.
"The Glass Cat deserves to be punished, so I think I'll leave that blue mud-which is as bad as paint-upon her body until she gets to the Emerald City. The silly creature is so vain that she will be greatly shamed when the Oz people see her in this condition, and perhaps she'll take the lesson to heart and leave the monkeys alone hereafter."
....
"This is only part of your punishment," said the Wizard, severely. "Ozma will laugh at you, when we get to her palace, and so will the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman, and Tik-Tok, and the Shaggy Man, and Button-Bright, and the Patchwork Girl, and-"
"And the Pink Kitten," added Dorothy.
....
"I s'pect she's gone somewhere to clean herself," said Dorothy.
"Never mind," replied the Wizard. "Perhaps this glass creature has been punished enough, and we must not forget she saved both Trot and Cap'n Bill."
WE MUST NOT FORGET SHE SAVED BOTH TROT AND CAP'N BILL.
Oh, YOU THINK???!!!
NOT TO MENTION, that Trot and Cap'n Bill also would never have FOUND the Magic Flower which THEY give to Ozma and take the credit for, if it weren't for THE GLASS CAT! Who told them of the Magic Flower AND showed them the way IN THE FIRST PLACE!
And as for the DESPICABLE HUMBUG, OH I MEAN "WIZARD":
THE GLASS CAT FOUND HIS MAGIC BLACK BAG! When he was stupid and just kept it out right in the open as he strode into the forest and then got transformed.
THE GLASS CAT SAVED EVERYBODY, NOT JUST STUPID TROT AND CAP'N BILL, AND THIS IS HOW IT IS THANKED?
And listen how Baum ties up this issue:
"The Glass Cat did not join the party of travelers. She was still resentful, and they moved too slowly to suit her, besides. When they arrived at the Royal Palace, one of the first things they saw was the Glass Cat curled up on a bench as bright and clean and transparent as ever. But she pretended not to notice them, and they passed her by with no remark."
THEY PASSED HER BY WITH NO REMARK. NO APOLOGY OR THANKS WHATSOEVER!
AND that is how Chapter Twenty ENDS.
That's where any interest or delight in this book "severely" ended for me. Just as abrupt as the mention of the Glass Cat's gender.
This ridiculous cruel plot with the Glass Cat together with the lack of resolve with the Lonesome Duck RUINED the book for me.
After that, I didn't care about Ozma's stupid monkey cake or stupid Kiki Aru and the "moral" of the story.
There just wasn't enough magic, or heart.
And the Glass Cat and the Lonesome Duck were PERFECT characters to give magic and heart to this story!
But instead Baum dismissed them and focused on the simple, cruel and un-magical characters of the humans and humanoids.
Now, this is interesting to note; at the end of my library book there is an Afterword by Peter Glassman.
In it is mentioned that Baum was suffering from an illness while writing The Magic of Oz, and he eventually passed away from it months before its publication. He didn't get to see its success.
So, this was really the last Oz book that he wrote.
Since I am still a fan of all things Oz, I would recommend this book for that reason, and also for the descriptions of the Glass Cat and the Lonesome Duck. They are great characters and deserve their own books!
The Afterword says, "It may seem surprising that despite his illness Baum could continue to write upbeat stories about an enchanted fairyland where no one ever grew old or sick. Perhaps it was his vision of a place where he could be whole and healthy and where everyone was as happy as they could wish to be that sustained him."
I think that is very fascinating, although as you can tell from my review, I DO think that some darkness made its way into this book.
Another interesting point:
"But perhaps the most important shift in the Oz series introduced in The Magic of Oz is Baum's expansion of the use of magic.
Prior to this book, magic is used by the Wizard, Ozma, and Glinda sparingly and only when necessary. But in The Magic of Oz, magic spells and enchantments become almost commonplace."
The best point the Afterword makes is this:
"Filled with adventure, intrigue, and lots of magic, L. Frank Baum's thirteenth Oz book-The Magic of Oz-is one of his best plotted and most enchanting stories. Maintaining two, sometimes three, plots at one time, Baum successfully crafted a tale of yet another threat to Ozma's beloved kingdom by the wily Nome King-certainly the land of Oz's most tenacious and resilient foe-heroically thwarted by Dorothy and her friends."
Now, Baum DOES manage multiple plots in this book well, and ties them together well, too. And this is still a very entertaining book, with enough magic in it, which is why I give it three stars.
May 1, 2020
En este aparecieron algunos personajes que no me gustan mucho, como el ex Rey de los Nomos, Ruggedo, que siempre quiere hacer mal a la gente de Oz, y eso, en general, me exaspera.
En esta ocasión se alía con un niño Munchkin que es muy amargado, y deciden conquistar Oz.
Lo que rescato de esta entrega, es que no hubo tantas ridiculeces como en otros, es del promedio para arriba, ya que conocemos nuevos lugares de Oz pero muy choros. El Bosque de Gugu donde viven las bestias fue interesante de ver y me gustó su leve ideosincrasia, eso sí, la ridiculización del Unicornio fue too much.
Me encantaron parte de los escenarios, como la Flor Mágica y la participación del Gato de Vidrio. También cómo Dorothy participa más en este libro que en los anteriores, aparte la mostraron muy clever. Me gusta cuando en los libros de Oz aparece Dorothy porque me recuerda el principio de todo, de verdad que cuando en los libros dicen que Dorothy es muy querida, eso traspasa la historia.
Por último, el cumpleaños de Ozma estuvo muy bonito, porque volvimos a ver a muchos de los personajes que tanto conocemos, me encantó recordarlos a todos, aunque algunos me gustan más que otros, no diré que estuve feliz de ver al Wogglebug, pero me encantó saber que sus alumnos tampoco lo aprecian tanto, jajaja.
En esta ocasión se alía con un niño Munchkin que es muy amargado, y deciden conquistar Oz.
Lo que rescato de esta entrega, es que no hubo tantas ridiculeces como en otros, es del promedio para arriba, ya que conocemos nuevos lugares de Oz pero muy choros. El Bosque de Gugu donde viven las bestias fue interesante de ver y me gustó su leve ideosincrasia, eso sí, la ridiculización del Unicornio fue too much.
Me encantaron parte de los escenarios, como la Flor Mágica y la participación del Gato de Vidrio. También cómo Dorothy participa más en este libro que en los anteriores, aparte la mostraron muy clever. Me gusta cuando en los libros de Oz aparece Dorothy porque me recuerda el principio de todo, de verdad que cuando en los libros dicen que Dorothy es muy querida, eso traspasa la historia.
Por último, el cumpleaños de Ozma estuvo muy bonito, porque volvimos a ver a muchos de los personajes que tanto conocemos, me encantó recordarlos a todos, aunque algunos me gustan más que otros, no diré que estuve feliz de ver al Wogglebug, pero me encantó saber que sus alumnos tampoco lo aprecian tanto, jajaja.
July 20, 2019
Kids, learn this word: "Pyrzqxgl!" It's right up there with "xyzzy" in importance. I can't tell you how to pronounce it since I've never heard it spoken, but keep trying different ways and you might suddenly hit on it. (If you do, kindly drop me a message and let me know.)
I think my favorite secondary character in this book is the Lonesome Duck. He's arrogant, selfish, and misanthropic, but I kind of like him. Also I really want that Magic Flower.
As a nice side note, Baum dedicated this particular Oz book to "the Children of our Soldiers, the Americans and their Allies, with unmeasured Pride and Affection."
I think my favorite secondary character in this book is the Lonesome Duck. He's arrogant, selfish, and misanthropic, but I kind of like him. Also I really want that Magic Flower.
As a nice side note, Baum dedicated this particular Oz book to "the Children of our Soldiers, the Americans and their Allies, with unmeasured Pride and Affection."
April 3, 2018
Well, this one wasn’t a favorite. I enjoyed it in 6th grade when I read it the first time, but by and large I’d rate it on par with DotWiz. While there are parts of the book, particularly those segments focused on the Magic Isle and the Magic Flower, that are wonderful...there’s a lot of recycled stuff, such as our good friend Ruggedo and the party at Emerald City that just makes me feel blah.
September 1, 2022
This is one of my favorite OZ books. Full of adventures and follies.
April 11, 2017
I could've sworn I read all of Baum's original Oz books as a kid, but "The Magic of Oz" was too unfamiliar for this to be true.
Not great literature, but a few creative elements -- the Lonesome Duck, the magic flower, the Glass Cat -- move this a bit above OK.
2.8/5
Available on Gutenberg.
Not great literature, but a few creative elements -- the Lonesome Duck, the magic flower, the Glass Cat -- move this a bit above OK.
2.8/5
Available on Gutenberg.
July 1, 2020
I read this out loud to my kids.
February 13, 2010
Ruggedo makes another appearance in this story, as do Cap'n Bill, Trot, and the Glass Cat. Young Kiki Aru is an interesting character--early in the book he says "I didn't know I was being wicked, but if I was, I'm glad of it. I hate good people. I've always wanted to be wicked, but I didn't know how." Yikes. He is eerily emotionally detatched from his role in Ruggedo's plans to take over Oz, though he agrees to them without much persuasion. He has great power with his knowledge of the unpronouncible magic word, but he uses it casually, almost without regard to consequences. Was Baum commenting on the problems of disaffected youth? The unpronouncible magic word was fun to try to read out loud, by the way--sent us into laughter more than once.
Want to read
October 14, 2015Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
March 17, 2020
So the birthday of the girl Ruler of Oz, Ozma was drawing near and all her friends thought of the most wonderful presents to give her. In order to get those presents, they needed to go on yet another adventure, and found themselves in some troubles along the way, as is always the case.
This time we were introduced to Kiki Aru, a naughty boy who was selfish and meant mischief. We again met the evil ex-Nome King Ruggedo.
Unlike all of Baum's previous books, this one was truly short. I guess he had fallen ill by the time he was writing the story. Even then the book was still interesting and colorful. I enjoyed it a lot. It just saddened me a little to know that this was the second last book of his in this marvelous Oz series.
This time we were introduced to Kiki Aru, a naughty boy who was selfish and meant mischief. We again met the evil ex-Nome King Ruggedo.
Unlike all of Baum's previous books, this one was truly short. I guess he had fallen ill by the time he was writing the story. Even then the book was still interesting and colorful. I enjoyed it a lot. It just saddened me a little to know that this was the second last book of his in this marvelous Oz series.
February 21, 2022
The Glass Cat saves the day! This book felt a bit chaotic, but I love the Glass Cat, and I'm glad she got a major role here. Yet more transformations - I wonder what Baum would have liked to be transformed into? He must have thought about it.
I do enjoy the cats in the Oz series: the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger, Eureka the Pink Kitten, and the Glass Cat. They are lovable and have a veneer of civilization, but just beneath that we see the independent predator. Unlike other Oz heroes, they are comfortable with killing and violence. They are, after all, cats. Dorothy and friends don't approve of this, but as long as they restrain themselves, it is accepted as part of their nature.
I do enjoy the cats in the Oz series: the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger, Eureka the Pink Kitten, and the Glass Cat. They are lovable and have a veneer of civilization, but just beneath that we see the independent predator. Unlike other Oz heroes, they are comfortable with killing and violence. They are, after all, cats. Dorothy and friends don't approve of this, but as long as they restrain themselves, it is accepted as part of their nature.
December 28, 2023
Ozma's birthday is coming up so all of our main characters are on the hunt for the perfect memorable present for our girl ruler of the Land of Oz. Meanwhile we have Ruggedo (the deposed troll king) taking up with Kiki Aru, who hails from the land of Mount Munch, to overthrow Ozma and take over Oz. Of course we all know that only the Wizard and Glinda are allowed to practice magic in Oz but our intrepid Kiki stole the magic word for transformation from his father. With this ability Ruggedo is going to wreak havoc on everyone and then betray Kiki when he's done with using him......OK you've gotta read the book to find out how Dorothy and Ozma stop those two not so bright bad guys from ruling the Emerald City
April 14, 2024
*audio book*
Unlike the other tales, this one follows the villains a little more closely. It's a lovely tale about a little boy who becomes evil by accident, and has a lot of fun trying his best at seeing what might come of him and his magic. He runs into a past villain and they come up with a scheme
Unlike the other tales, this one follows the villains a little more closely. It's a lovely tale about a little boy who becomes evil by accident, and has a lot of fun trying his best at seeing what might come of him and his magic. He runs into a past villain and they come up with a scheme
March 10, 2024
I wish for these wonderful adventures to never end— Pyrzqxgl!
Nowadays, Kiki Aru would be the regular teenager with a social communication disorder, or maybe some Asperger... but with little desires for power and wickedness.
Nowadays, Kiki Aru would be the regular teenager with a social communication disorder, or maybe some Asperger... but with little desires for power and wickedness.
February 1, 2019
This had 2 little plots going through it. One with the magic flower and the glass cat, and the other with the naughty boy with the magic word. I liked this story especially.
September 27, 2020
I just love the Oz universe and all its inhabitants. By the way, happy birthday, Ozma!
Read
February 22, 2022Getting really tired of these
May 26, 2017
Doma Publishing's Wizard of Oz collection has taken me several years to read with my son at bedtime. It was interesting revisiting the texts that I read swiftly through my youth, as I was about his age when I read them and remembered little beyond some of the characters that don't appear in any of the books. I picked up a copy of this version since, for 99c, I could have the complete series along with "All the original artwork by the great illustrator W.W. Denslow (over 1,000 classic illustrations)", and to read the complete 14-book text at bedtime with all original color illustrations on my Kindle Fire knowing that there would be cross-linked tables of contents and no layout issues, it was worth my buck rather than taking them all out of the library. We read these books before bed at home and under the stars by a campfire in the forest, in a hotel in Montreal and in a seaside cottage in Nova Scotia, on a boat and in a car. We read it everywhere, thanks to the Kindle's mobility.
You may be reading this review on one of the individual pages for the original books on Goodreads or Amazon, and if so, all I did was cross-link the books along with the correct dates we read the original texts. The only book I did not cross-link with original dates was the Woggle-bug book, which if you know, is short. Instead, I counted that final book as the review for Doma's Kindle version. You may notice that some books have longer reading spans – probably for two reasons. One, I traded off reading with my wife sometimes, and two, sometimes we needed a little Baum break and read some other books. It did get a little old sometimes, and there are fourteen books totaling 3500 pages in their original library printing.
The first thing I think is worth mentioning is that when I first read these books, it was as a child would read them. I remember them being repetitive but familiar. Comforting and revealing. An antiquated adventure, but a serial adventure with recurring characters unparalleled in any other literature. As an adult with an MA in literature (and soon and MFA in fiction), I am actually somewhat unimpressed with the series. Baum wrote a whimsical set of tales, but they are torturously repetitive and would be easy to plug-and-play by replacing characters and moments with a computer to make an entirely new book. But, they are children's books, and we are completely enthralled and comforted by the familiar. Is not Shakespeare the same play-to-play structurally? Are not Pixar or Star Wars movies definitively archetypal in timing, execution, structure, and character so that they can be completely replaced and reapplied to a new story? Even the films – heck, even the trailers - are cut the same, and if you play them all at once, magic happens (see: youtube, "all star wars movies at once").
I suppose where the real magic of these books happens is in their origin. Baum wrote something completely original that took the world by storm and continues to be a whimsical American bellwether for children's fantasy. It is one of the original series specifically for children, spanning fourteen books written almost yearly and gobbled up by a hungry public. It still remains at the forefront of American culture in many revisits in Hollywood (let no one forget the horrific beauty that is Return To Oz) and capitalizing on nostalgia (as recently as six months ago I received a mailing from The Bradford Exchange that was selling original library-bound volumes signed by – get this – Baum's great-grandson... I love an autographed book if only for the idea of the magic it transmits even though it is somewhat meaningless, but maybe someone can convince me where the magic is in having it signed by a probably elderly great-grandchild who likely never met his great-grandfather?).
So, while some of the books were awesome and some of them were difficult to slog through, I have my favorites. I will also say that the introductions that each volume opens with were sweet letters from the author to his fans, and it was easy to tell that he truly, truly loved his job writing for children. He knew his audience, he knew what worked, and he sold books. Furthermore, I imagined with great sentimentality mailbags upon mailbags arriving at his house filled to the brim of letters from children all over the world, and the responsibility he probably felt to personally respond to each of them. For my career, that is the best anyone can hope for.
What follows is my (and my son's) short reviews of the individual books in the series.
The Original and Official Oz Books by L. Frank Baum
#1 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) READ November 26, 2013 – December 1, 2013
My Kid – At first I thought it was crazy, but then it started getting awesome. I remember the movie, but there's a lot of parts that are different.
Me – I mean, classic, right? The book pretty much follows the film almost entirely with few exceptions. In hindsight after finishing the entire series, it is worth nothing that it is considerably one of the best books in the series, while many others are of questionable quality.
#2 The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) READ December 1, 2013 – January 9, 2014
My Kid – It was scary... Jack Pumpkinhead and Tip escaped and it was really cool.
Me – This is one of the books Return to Oz was based from, The Gump and The Powder of Life coming into play to help Dorothy and Jack Pumpkinhead outwit Mombi. An enjoyable book, quite different than the first book but engineered beautifully with plot and characterization. Enjoyed this one. What was most engaging about this text was Ozma and Tip, and what this book says about gender and youth. I think there is a lot that can be examined about gender at birth and the fluidity of gender as a social construct, witch curse or no.
#3 Ozma of Oz (1907) READ January 9, 2014 – February 22, 2014
My Kid – The boat crashes and they have to ride in the box with the chicken... I like TikTok. They saved the Queen.
Me – This is the second book that Return to Oz was conceived from and a very engaging book. This one requires more understanding and construction of the Oz Universe including the transformation of several of our characters into ornaments and the outwitting of the Nome King in order to save our friends. This was one of my final favorites before the quality of the books fell, as far as I am concerned.
#4 Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908) READ February 22, 2014 – August 12, 2014
My Kid – I kinda forgot this one. There was the vegetable people underground and nothing really happened?
Me – Yeah, this one was a bust for me. I think Baum was making some kind of satirical point lost to history... Or maybe the obvious non-referential one, but still, just seemed like the episodic nonsense that didn't have a point most of the time. Keep the beginning, I guess and then skip to the final third, and there's your story.
#5 The Road to Oz (1909) READ August 12, 2014 – February 22, 2015
My Kid – The love magnet was pretty awesome, and Dorothy meets the rainbow girl and Shaggy man... I guess I'll leave off there.
Me – Another one that I thought was a little redundant and repetitive without much of a point. They get lost, they make it back, there are some weird artifacts that help them... Meh. I did like the new characters, however, who make many more appearances in the future books. Shaggy Man and Polychrome are great.
#6 The Emerald City of Oz (1910) READ February 22, 2015 – September 14, 2015
My Kid – The Emerald City was cool and Dorothy was in charge. If I lived there I would sell it all and be rich. There was a war.
Me – This one was pretty good until the end, where everything was buttoned up (apologies, button bright) pretty quickly without there being much of a solid reason. The conflicts were all contrived and there were some more ridiculously ridiculous new characters who never showed up again in the series. A great diversion, but with little substance toward the end.
#7 The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913) READ September 14, 2015 – December 22, 2015
My Kid – It was pretty weird how the quilt doll became a patchwork girl and she was really funny. In the end, it didn't matter that they found all the stuff, so it was kinda crazy and funny.
Me – This was relatively silly. I enjoyed it, and the Patchwork Girl is a character I can really get behind as a foil to some of the other characters and somewhat mischievous. The plot is ridiculous, but the powder of life and the glass cat are somewhat illuminating elements of this text. Scraps made this a fun one.
#8 Tik-Tok of Oz (1914) READ December 22, 2015 – April 2, 2016
My Kid – The whole story of the shaggy man's brother being missing and ugly didn’t make sense, but... there was a war and Tik Tok was rescued. There was a man who was not as evil as the other army general guys. It was weird.
Me – This one was primarily about The Shaggy Man and his adventure to resolve a variety of political and interconnected issues happening surrounding everyone's messing around with the Nome King. There is a huge tube that goes through the center of the earth that everything centers on, and Shaggy is trying to get the Nome King to release his brother the whole time. There are a lot of characterization, detail, and plot errors in this that postdate some facts from the earlier books – which is kind of weird – and the intrigue surrounding the plot is somewhat complicating for kids. What I thought was the coolest element was the character of Quox, who passes more than a coincidental resemblance to Catbus from Miyazaki's Totoro.
#9 The Scarecrow of Oz (1915) READ April 2, 2016 – September 1, 2016
My Kid – First of all, there's a lot of people getting lost. Second, if I was in Jinxland, I think I would rather be back in oz.
Me – This one was interesting as it had little to do with The Scarecrow and was mainly about Button Bright, Cap'n Bill, and Trot. This one is probably the height of the ridiculousness, with little shallow plot item after little shallow plot item heaped upon one another. At the end, The Scarecrow has to (and succeeds) in recapturing Jinxland for Gloria, its rightful ruler, and returns to the Emerald City for a celebration. Eh...
#10 Rinkitink in Oz (1916) READ September 1, 2016 – December 1, 2016
My Kid – All these books have someone wicked in them and it's so crazy. I liked the name Kaliko, and the way Dorothy comes to the rescue of everyone being clever solves the problem. What's with all the problems? I feel like there's thousands.
Me – This one was pretty good, as it seemed to deviate from the regular universe of Oz and focus on a different set of locations and characters. It had a very Tolkienian feel in terms of plot, structure, and internal political commentary. It felt very different from the others, and most elements in the text had a point and a long-term purpose. I enjoyed this one.
#11 The Lost Princess of Oz (1917) READ December 1, 2016 – January 19, 2017
My Kid – First of all, they've gotta be responsible for the diamond pan, and that's why they lost it. They weren't responsible. At the end they searched for the tools and didn't need them and it was useless.
Me – Lost Princess was fun. It surrounded the story of Ozma being kidnapped and the Wizard, Button Bright, Trot, and Betsy Bobbin to go rescue her. Everything in this one felt a little random, but it all ties back together in the end. This one was pretty diversionary but not as bad as some of the others.
#12 The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918) READ January 19, 2017 – March 13, 2017
My Kid – Woot is a weird name, and everyone was changed to animals and monkeys and none of them matched up. It was all pretty weird because they all had their new needs as animals and it didn't match with what they were. The love story was kinda weird since the girl didn't want the tin woodmen anymore and the fact that they left and it was all for nothing didn't make sense.
Me – A lot of randomness in this one as well, but there is a love story at its core as we learn of a twin brother that the Tin Woodman had all along who shares the love of a long lost young lady named Nimee Amee. A lot of diversionary stories, adventures, and one cool twist by the end, and everyone arrives back where they started. Not the best, but entertaining. This one, while random at times, was a quality read.
#13 The Magic of Oz (1919) READ March 13, 2017 – April 25, 2017
My Kid – I wish you could transform yourself. Like... What if you wanted to turn yourself into a pea shooter from Plants Vs Zombies? I don't even know how to pronounce the word. I never heard of it, this nonsense word.
Me – This one had a funny gimmick in it with a secret word that when spoken could turn anyone into anything. There is a war on, and a secret force is transforming monkeys into superhuman soldiers (and there is a complication that no one in oz can be hurt but what happens when someone is chopped into a hundred living pieces?). This one was enjoyable, but the gimmick is honestly the only thing holding it all together.
#14 Glinda of Oz (1920) READ April 25, 2017 – May 23, 2017
My Kid – This one was kinda like a world of them figuring out what is going on with the big glass house-world under-water. The opposite of everything and they couldn't figure out how to get it back to normal, so what was going on with the war the whole time? Then they fix it. Everything is all set.
Me – This posthumous volume seemed to be pieced together from notes, as there is a clear difference between the tone of prior volumes and this one. The cadence and structure of the language and story is quite different in parts, and I found it takes itself seriously by comparison. Beautiful art and architecture present this journey, and I have to say, the fact that this was in new hands really shows because there is some wonderful structure that is absent in the other volumes, as well as even reintroductions to the characters when they show up. The end was a little too tidy with another deus ex machina, but the fact that it came from something that was surprising and there all along was different.
*BONUS Oz Works by L. Frank Baum, 'the Royal Historian of Oz'
The Woggle-Bug Book (1905) READ May 23, 2017 – May 24, 2017
My Kid – Actually, I don't have a review for my kid... See below.
Me – This book started cute and had a cute premise. When I began reading it at bedtime, the kid had fallen asleep. I tend to keep reading and save our spot, and then pick it up where he fell asleep the next night. Lucky for me, the terrifyingly racist parlance in this book started after he fell asleep. I read through to the end, with no intention of going back with him tomorrow... It was... shockingly indifferent to complete disregard for everyone. From switching between "Oriental" and "Chinaman" and having a character with a dialect that wasn't just a stereotype but also a stereotype of a racist's impression wasn't nearly as bad as the way Baum used the N-word (and had the character as a monkey's monkey). It was offensive and seemed ridiculously gratuitous for even the time it was published. Not a shining moment for his work at all... But it was pretty cool to learn the Woggle Bug was from Boston, anyway. This one was pretty awful.
You may be reading this review on one of the individual pages for the original books on Goodreads or Amazon, and if so, all I did was cross-link the books along with the correct dates we read the original texts. The only book I did not cross-link with original dates was the Woggle-bug book, which if you know, is short. Instead, I counted that final book as the review for Doma's Kindle version. You may notice that some books have longer reading spans – probably for two reasons. One, I traded off reading with my wife sometimes, and two, sometimes we needed a little Baum break and read some other books. It did get a little old sometimes, and there are fourteen books totaling 3500 pages in their original library printing.
The first thing I think is worth mentioning is that when I first read these books, it was as a child would read them. I remember them being repetitive but familiar. Comforting and revealing. An antiquated adventure, but a serial adventure with recurring characters unparalleled in any other literature. As an adult with an MA in literature (and soon and MFA in fiction), I am actually somewhat unimpressed with the series. Baum wrote a whimsical set of tales, but they are torturously repetitive and would be easy to plug-and-play by replacing characters and moments with a computer to make an entirely new book. But, they are children's books, and we are completely enthralled and comforted by the familiar. Is not Shakespeare the same play-to-play structurally? Are not Pixar or Star Wars movies definitively archetypal in timing, execution, structure, and character so that they can be completely replaced and reapplied to a new story? Even the films – heck, even the trailers - are cut the same, and if you play them all at once, magic happens (see: youtube, "all star wars movies at once").
I suppose where the real magic of these books happens is in their origin. Baum wrote something completely original that took the world by storm and continues to be a whimsical American bellwether for children's fantasy. It is one of the original series specifically for children, spanning fourteen books written almost yearly and gobbled up by a hungry public. It still remains at the forefront of American culture in many revisits in Hollywood (let no one forget the horrific beauty that is Return To Oz) and capitalizing on nostalgia (as recently as six months ago I received a mailing from The Bradford Exchange that was selling original library-bound volumes signed by – get this – Baum's great-grandson... I love an autographed book if only for the idea of the magic it transmits even though it is somewhat meaningless, but maybe someone can convince me where the magic is in having it signed by a probably elderly great-grandchild who likely never met his great-grandfather?).
So, while some of the books were awesome and some of them were difficult to slog through, I have my favorites. I will also say that the introductions that each volume opens with were sweet letters from the author to his fans, and it was easy to tell that he truly, truly loved his job writing for children. He knew his audience, he knew what worked, and he sold books. Furthermore, I imagined with great sentimentality mailbags upon mailbags arriving at his house filled to the brim of letters from children all over the world, and the responsibility he probably felt to personally respond to each of them. For my career, that is the best anyone can hope for.
What follows is my (and my son's) short reviews of the individual books in the series.
The Original and Official Oz Books by L. Frank Baum
#1 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) READ November 26, 2013 – December 1, 2013
My Kid – At first I thought it was crazy, but then it started getting awesome. I remember the movie, but there's a lot of parts that are different.
Me – I mean, classic, right? The book pretty much follows the film almost entirely with few exceptions. In hindsight after finishing the entire series, it is worth nothing that it is considerably one of the best books in the series, while many others are of questionable quality.
#2 The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) READ December 1, 2013 – January 9, 2014
My Kid – It was scary... Jack Pumpkinhead and Tip escaped and it was really cool.
Me – This is one of the books Return to Oz was based from, The Gump and The Powder of Life coming into play to help Dorothy and Jack Pumpkinhead outwit Mombi. An enjoyable book, quite different than the first book but engineered beautifully with plot and characterization. Enjoyed this one. What was most engaging about this text was Ozma and Tip, and what this book says about gender and youth. I think there is a lot that can be examined about gender at birth and the fluidity of gender as a social construct, witch curse or no.
#3 Ozma of Oz (1907) READ January 9, 2014 – February 22, 2014
My Kid – The boat crashes and they have to ride in the box with the chicken... I like TikTok. They saved the Queen.
Me – This is the second book that Return to Oz was conceived from and a very engaging book. This one requires more understanding and construction of the Oz Universe including the transformation of several of our characters into ornaments and the outwitting of the Nome King in order to save our friends. This was one of my final favorites before the quality of the books fell, as far as I am concerned.
#4 Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908) READ February 22, 2014 – August 12, 2014
My Kid – I kinda forgot this one. There was the vegetable people underground and nothing really happened?
Me – Yeah, this one was a bust for me. I think Baum was making some kind of satirical point lost to history... Or maybe the obvious non-referential one, but still, just seemed like the episodic nonsense that didn't have a point most of the time. Keep the beginning, I guess and then skip to the final third, and there's your story.
#5 The Road to Oz (1909) READ August 12, 2014 – February 22, 2015
My Kid – The love magnet was pretty awesome, and Dorothy meets the rainbow girl and Shaggy man... I guess I'll leave off there.
Me – Another one that I thought was a little redundant and repetitive without much of a point. They get lost, they make it back, there are some weird artifacts that help them... Meh. I did like the new characters, however, who make many more appearances in the future books. Shaggy Man and Polychrome are great.
#6 The Emerald City of Oz (1910) READ February 22, 2015 – September 14, 2015
My Kid – The Emerald City was cool and Dorothy was in charge. If I lived there I would sell it all and be rich. There was a war.
Me – This one was pretty good until the end, where everything was buttoned up (apologies, button bright) pretty quickly without there being much of a solid reason. The conflicts were all contrived and there were some more ridiculously ridiculous new characters who never showed up again in the series. A great diversion, but with little substance toward the end.
#7 The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913) READ September 14, 2015 – December 22, 2015
My Kid – It was pretty weird how the quilt doll became a patchwork girl and she was really funny. In the end, it didn't matter that they found all the stuff, so it was kinda crazy and funny.
Me – This was relatively silly. I enjoyed it, and the Patchwork Girl is a character I can really get behind as a foil to some of the other characters and somewhat mischievous. The plot is ridiculous, but the powder of life and the glass cat are somewhat illuminating elements of this text. Scraps made this a fun one.
#8 Tik-Tok of Oz (1914) READ December 22, 2015 – April 2, 2016
My Kid – The whole story of the shaggy man's brother being missing and ugly didn’t make sense, but... there was a war and Tik Tok was rescued. There was a man who was not as evil as the other army general guys. It was weird.
Me – This one was primarily about The Shaggy Man and his adventure to resolve a variety of political and interconnected issues happening surrounding everyone's messing around with the Nome King. There is a huge tube that goes through the center of the earth that everything centers on, and Shaggy is trying to get the Nome King to release his brother the whole time. There are a lot of characterization, detail, and plot errors in this that postdate some facts from the earlier books – which is kind of weird – and the intrigue surrounding the plot is somewhat complicating for kids. What I thought was the coolest element was the character of Quox, who passes more than a coincidental resemblance to Catbus from Miyazaki's Totoro.
#9 The Scarecrow of Oz (1915) READ April 2, 2016 – September 1, 2016
My Kid – First of all, there's a lot of people getting lost. Second, if I was in Jinxland, I think I would rather be back in oz.
Me – This one was interesting as it had little to do with The Scarecrow and was mainly about Button Bright, Cap'n Bill, and Trot. This one is probably the height of the ridiculousness, with little shallow plot item after little shallow plot item heaped upon one another. At the end, The Scarecrow has to (and succeeds) in recapturing Jinxland for Gloria, its rightful ruler, and returns to the Emerald City for a celebration. Eh...
#10 Rinkitink in Oz (1916) READ September 1, 2016 – December 1, 2016
My Kid – All these books have someone wicked in them and it's so crazy. I liked the name Kaliko, and the way Dorothy comes to the rescue of everyone being clever solves the problem. What's with all the problems? I feel like there's thousands.
Me – This one was pretty good, as it seemed to deviate from the regular universe of Oz and focus on a different set of locations and characters. It had a very Tolkienian feel in terms of plot, structure, and internal political commentary. It felt very different from the others, and most elements in the text had a point and a long-term purpose. I enjoyed this one.
#11 The Lost Princess of Oz (1917) READ December 1, 2016 – January 19, 2017
My Kid – First of all, they've gotta be responsible for the diamond pan, and that's why they lost it. They weren't responsible. At the end they searched for the tools and didn't need them and it was useless.
Me – Lost Princess was fun. It surrounded the story of Ozma being kidnapped and the Wizard, Button Bright, Trot, and Betsy Bobbin to go rescue her. Everything in this one felt a little random, but it all ties back together in the end. This one was pretty diversionary but not as bad as some of the others.
#12 The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918) READ January 19, 2017 – March 13, 2017
My Kid – Woot is a weird name, and everyone was changed to animals and monkeys and none of them matched up. It was all pretty weird because they all had their new needs as animals and it didn't match with what they were. The love story was kinda weird since the girl didn't want the tin woodmen anymore and the fact that they left and it was all for nothing didn't make sense.
Me – A lot of randomness in this one as well, but there is a love story at its core as we learn of a twin brother that the Tin Woodman had all along who shares the love of a long lost young lady named Nimee Amee. A lot of diversionary stories, adventures, and one cool twist by the end, and everyone arrives back where they started. Not the best, but entertaining. This one, while random at times, was a quality read.
#13 The Magic of Oz (1919) READ March 13, 2017 – April 25, 2017
My Kid – I wish you could transform yourself. Like... What if you wanted to turn yourself into a pea shooter from Plants Vs Zombies? I don't even know how to pronounce the word. I never heard of it, this nonsense word.
Me – This one had a funny gimmick in it with a secret word that when spoken could turn anyone into anything. There is a war on, and a secret force is transforming monkeys into superhuman soldiers (and there is a complication that no one in oz can be hurt but what happens when someone is chopped into a hundred living pieces?). This one was enjoyable, but the gimmick is honestly the only thing holding it all together.
#14 Glinda of Oz (1920) READ April 25, 2017 – May 23, 2017
My Kid – This one was kinda like a world of them figuring out what is going on with the big glass house-world under-water. The opposite of everything and they couldn't figure out how to get it back to normal, so what was going on with the war the whole time? Then they fix it. Everything is all set.
Me – This posthumous volume seemed to be pieced together from notes, as there is a clear difference between the tone of prior volumes and this one. The cadence and structure of the language and story is quite different in parts, and I found it takes itself seriously by comparison. Beautiful art and architecture present this journey, and I have to say, the fact that this was in new hands really shows because there is some wonderful structure that is absent in the other volumes, as well as even reintroductions to the characters when they show up. The end was a little too tidy with another deus ex machina, but the fact that it came from something that was surprising and there all along was different.
*BONUS Oz Works by L. Frank Baum, 'the Royal Historian of Oz'
The Woggle-Bug Book (1905) READ May 23, 2017 – May 24, 2017
My Kid – Actually, I don't have a review for my kid... See below.
Me – This book started cute and had a cute premise. When I began reading it at bedtime, the kid had fallen asleep. I tend to keep reading and save our spot, and then pick it up where he fell asleep the next night. Lucky for me, the terrifyingly racist parlance in this book started after he fell asleep. I read through to the end, with no intention of going back with him tomorrow... It was... shockingly indifferent to complete disregard for everyone. From switching between "Oriental" and "Chinaman" and having a character with a dialect that wasn't just a stereotype but also a stereotype of a racist's impression wasn't nearly as bad as the way Baum used the N-word (and had the character as a monkey's monkey). It was offensive and seemed ridiculously gratuitous for even the time it was published. Not a shining moment for his work at all... But it was pretty cool to learn the Woggle Bug was from Boston, anyway. This one was pretty awful.
June 2, 2020
Delightful.
February 11, 2022
The interactions between Kiki Aru and Ruggedo captured my attention the most in this volume, but I also enjoyed Trot and Cap'n Bill returning, as well as the magical flower they try to obtain for Ozma's birthday gift. And I am glad that the Wizard continues to be a part of the series. This one is not as memorable as other Oz stories, but I did not dislike anything in it.
May 12, 2016
In this penultimate L. Frank Baum contribution to the Oz series (his publisher immediately signed someone to continue cranking them out), more errant magic is revealed, and Ozma's friends go to extraordinary lengths to obtain unique gifts for her next birthday party (the last one was featured in Road to Oz).
What fascinates about this one is that the plot of the villains is so easily and abruptly concluded, having been so ineptly carried out by the one-time Nome King and his would-be accomplice, a novice magician in possession of a word, if pronounced correctly, with the ability to transform anyone into anything. That Baum finally concludes the ex-Nome King's dreams of conquest by a second mind-wipe and new residence directly in the Emerald City, so that this time he'll learn a positive new way of life, is a wonderful conclusion to the longest-running plot of the series.
The idea of the magic word itself, and its difficult pronunciation, harkens back to Rumplestiltskin and looks forward to later comic book usage with Captain Marvel's "Shazam" (the word Billy Batson uses to become a superhero) and Superman's arch-foe Mxyzptlk (a hard-to-pronounce name that, when spoken backwards by the imp himself sends him back to the fifth dimension), just to name a few examples I happen to know.
The birthday party, meanwhile, differs from the previous one in that all its guests come directly from the Oz books this time, rather than a mix that included characters from Baum's other books, as he'd done with the last one. This is a wonderful opportunity to remember just how many eccentric characters have appeared in the last twelve books, many of whom hadn't existed when the fifth book was published.
I loved seeing the impish (of a variety different from Mxzyptlk, mind you!) Glass Cat reappear as a prominent character, with her trademark conceit ("you can see 'em work") restored. It's great to know that Baum knew a good thing when he saw it, and not just his readers. There's a common belief that he wrote more Oz books because he had to. But you can see, in a lot of the later books, Baum truly enjoying himself, and I count the return of the Glass Cat, as originally envisioned, as evidence of that.
Yeah, it becomes harder to remember what happened and who appeared where the more you read. A common reader complaint is that there's little variety in the series, but in fact there's an incredible amount of it. The sheer breadth of Baum's imagination, rather, is exhausting, in a good way. Every time you think you have him figured out, or know what's going to happen next, he goes in a different direction, as with the monkeys transformed into giant soldiers and the abrupt end of the threat to Ozma's reign.
Whatever his motives, Baum set about exploring how much magic really could still exist, once he'd established it as the great taboo of Oz and the later books are littered with the heroes slowly cleaning it up, however conveniently they stumble into its usage. But hey, these are fairy tales, even if they reflect Baum's wish that the real world around him could be half as tidy...
What fascinates about this one is that the plot of the villains is so easily and abruptly concluded, having been so ineptly carried out by the one-time Nome King and his would-be accomplice, a novice magician in possession of a word, if pronounced correctly, with the ability to transform anyone into anything. That Baum finally concludes the ex-Nome King's dreams of conquest by a second mind-wipe and new residence directly in the Emerald City, so that this time he'll learn a positive new way of life, is a wonderful conclusion to the longest-running plot of the series.
The idea of the magic word itself, and its difficult pronunciation, harkens back to Rumplestiltskin and looks forward to later comic book usage with Captain Marvel's "Shazam" (the word Billy Batson uses to become a superhero) and Superman's arch-foe Mxyzptlk (a hard-to-pronounce name that, when spoken backwards by the imp himself sends him back to the fifth dimension), just to name a few examples I happen to know.
The birthday party, meanwhile, differs from the previous one in that all its guests come directly from the Oz books this time, rather than a mix that included characters from Baum's other books, as he'd done with the last one. This is a wonderful opportunity to remember just how many eccentric characters have appeared in the last twelve books, many of whom hadn't existed when the fifth book was published.
I loved seeing the impish (of a variety different from Mxzyptlk, mind you!) Glass Cat reappear as a prominent character, with her trademark conceit ("you can see 'em work") restored. It's great to know that Baum knew a good thing when he saw it, and not just his readers. There's a common belief that he wrote more Oz books because he had to. But you can see, in a lot of the later books, Baum truly enjoying himself, and I count the return of the Glass Cat, as originally envisioned, as evidence of that.
Yeah, it becomes harder to remember what happened and who appeared where the more you read. A common reader complaint is that there's little variety in the series, but in fact there's an incredible amount of it. The sheer breadth of Baum's imagination, rather, is exhausting, in a good way. Every time you think you have him figured out, or know what's going to happen next, he goes in a different direction, as with the monkeys transformed into giant soldiers and the abrupt end of the threat to Ozma's reign.
Whatever his motives, Baum set about exploring how much magic really could still exist, once he'd established it as the great taboo of Oz and the later books are littered with the heroes slowly cleaning it up, however conveniently they stumble into its usage. But hey, these are fairy tales, even if they reflect Baum's wish that the real world around him could be half as tidy...
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