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Greg O'Driscoll

Lions and Tigers and Bears (Kalidahs combine two of the three)! Oh my!

THE WIZARD OF OZ

by L. Frank Baum


I haven't read this one since I was a kid. Happily, years later, I still find it very enjoyable. All the Oz books, and especially this first one, employ a certain dreamlike logic only found in mythology and folk tales. Baum succeeded in creating a new and somehow distinctly American fairy-tale with this series of books.


If you or someone you love enjoys the classic movie with Judy Garland, give this one a go. It has all the fun and familiar faces of the motion picture. Fans of the film will recognize many lines and scenes, though they do not always happen when the viewer remembers them. Better yet, there book also has all the strange and curious sights of Oz that didn't make it into the movie.


If this is your first time reading Baum's classic, you'll meet the fearsome Kalidahs (creatures with the bodies of bears and the heads of tigers) and the Wicked Witch's evil wolf pack forty strong (and learn how the Tin Woodsman got rid of them). You'll find out what Dorothy does with the magical Golden Cap that controls the Winged Monkeys and float above a tiny porcelain village full of fragile farmers and their breakable livestock. You'll learn why the Emerald City is really emerald (or is it?)and discover the other forms the Wizard takes,


Fun stuff! Artifacts of pure whimsy and imagination, the Oz stories come with my highest possible recommendation.

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