The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Glinda of Oz

Oz #1, 14

by L. Frank Baum

In the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a huge cyclone transports the orphan Dorothy and her little dog Toto from Kansas to the Land of Oz, and she fears that she will never see Aunt Em and Uncle Henry ever again. But she meets the Munchkins, and they tell her to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City where the Wonderful Wizard of Oz will grant any wish. On the way, she meets the brainless Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion. The four friends set off to seek their heart's desires, and in a series of action packed adventures they encounter a deadly poppy field, fierce animals, flying monkeys, a wicked witch, a good witch, and the Mighty Oz himself.



In Glinda of Oz, the last of the original 'Oz' books, Dorothy and Princess Ozma seek the help of Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, when they find themselves in peril on the Magic Isle of the Skeezers.

Genres: Classics, Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens

301 pages, Paperback

Published July 4, 2012

About the author

also wrote under the names:
* Edith van Dyne,
* Floyd Akers,
* Schuyler Staunton,
* John Estes Cooke,
* Suzanne Metcalf,
* Laura Bancroft,
* Louis F. Baum,
* Captain Hugh Fitzgerald

Lyman Frank Baum was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, part of a series. In addition to the 14 Oz books, Baum penned 41 other novels (not including four lost, unpublished novels), 83 short stories, over 200 poems, and at least 42 scripts. He made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen; the 1939 adaptation of the first Oz book became a landmark of 20th-century cinema.
Born and raised in Chittenango, New York, Baum moved west after an unsuccessful stint as a theater producer and playwright. He and his wife opened a store in South Dakota and he edited and published a newspaper. They then moved to Chicago, where he worked as a newspaper reporter and published children's literature, coming out with the first Oz book in 1900. While continuing his writing, among his final projects he sought to establish a film studio focused on children's films in Los Angeles, California.
His works anticipated such later commonplaces as television, augmented reality, laptop computers (The Master Key), wireless telephones (Tik-Tok of Oz), women in high-risk and action-heavy occupations (Mary Louise in the Country), and the ubiquity of advertising on clothing (Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work).

Reviews

[Kyriakos Sorokkou]

DTProject2017 | Supplementary Text 2


The last part of Stephen King's 4th book of The Dark Tower series called Wizard and Glass is filled with references to L. Frank Baum's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with names like, Oz, Kansas, Green Palace (Emerald City) etc.
So I thought it was a good opportunity to read Baum's book before diving into King's book in order to get all the references I probably didn't get back in 2012 when I read it for the first time.

This Wordsworth Edition though, includes another story from the Oz Canon. The 14th and last book Glinda of Oz. The last character to appear in the 1st book (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) is Glinda the Sorceress of the South. The 1st character that appears in the last book is. . . Glinda the Sorceress of the South. I wasn't sure whether I would have liked this addition but it turned out fantastic. Of course since it's the last book in the series it left many things unexplained like:

*But I thought Oz disappeared in a hot air balloon never to come back; how and when did he return to the Land of Oz?
*Dorothy's uncle lives in the Land of Oz? Did something went wrong in Kansas?
*Why Dorothy's 1st friends: the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion don't show any intimacy towards her. They were like all the other new (to me characters) like the PumpkinHead Jack, the Patchwork Girl, the Shaggy Man etc. Cold and distanced.
But other than that I liked it. It was an adventurous and enjoyable book/part.

Now concerning the 1st book it starts similarly with Alice in Wonderland.
A bored girl is transformed into a magical Land and meets bizarre creatures and is engaged in extraordinary adventures and in the end she returns home.

Baum influenced by Alice's creator Lewis Carroll acquired Carroll's belief that children's books should have many pictures and be pleasurable to read. Carroll rejected the Victorian-era ideology that children's books should be saturated with morals, instead believing that children should be allowed to be children. Building on Carroll's style of numerous images accompanying the text, Baum amalgamated the conventional features of a fairy tale (witches and wizards) with the well-known things in his [American] readers' lives (scarecrows and cornfields).

P.S. 1
Now, I feel an urge to read all the remaining books between the 1st and the last book something that will probably happen in November during my Children's Literature Marathon.

P.S. 2
It's a pity that the last book didn't have any illustrations like the 1st book.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out my reviews on the main versions of each book.

[Marieke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Idk if it's because it's a children's book or because it's so old, but it's just badly written. At no point was I captivated by the story.

[Bryony Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird to put the first book and the 14th book together like this...
Obviously the first book is a stunning children’s classic. The 14th was fine, but without reading the other 12 between it was weird.

[Mina]

The wonderful wizard of Oz: 4⭐️
Glinda of Oz: 3⭐️

[Lirae · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ~ 4 stars
Glinda of Oz ~ 3 stars

[GleeGMJournal · Rating 2 out of 5]

นี่สินะความรู้สึกเมื่อคุณอ่านวรรณกรรมเด็กในช่วงอายุอานามเท่านี้... 😅

หนังสือเล่มนี้เป็นการมัดรวม พ่อมดพิศวงแห่งออซและกลินดาแห่งออซไว้ในเล่มเดียวกัน
ตลกดีที่เพิ่งมีโอกาสได้ตั้งใจอ่านตัวต้นฉบับหลังจากไปดูพวกหนัง/นิยายที่เป็นการยำๆ Oz มาเล่าใหม่อีกทีอยู่หลายครั้ง

ครึ่งแรกเพลินๆ ดี ความแฟนตาซีที่หยิบจับองค์ประกอบรอบตัวแสนแรนด้อมมาเสกเป็นอะไรก็ได้หลุดกรอบความเป็นจริง และฉากโหดที่เอาดีๆก็ดูโหดจนเกินความเป็นหนังสือเด็ก 5555 แต่ถ้าตอนเด็กๆอ่านก็คงไม่เอะใจแหละ เช่น ช่างตัดไม้ร่างดีบุกที่ค่อยๆ โดนตัดหัวแขนขาจนถูกเปลี่ยนชิ้นส่วนให้เป็นดีบุกทั้งตัว แฮ่ ในครึ่งแรกนี้ให้ ★★★ ดาว
พอมาครึ่งหลัง กลินดาแห่งออซ ให้ความรู้สึกเหมือนดูหนังการ์ตูน The Movie ที่ไม่ได้เกี่ยวข้องกับเส้นเรื่องหลัก
มีการรีบูต กล่าวคือใช้ตัวละครชุดเดิมแต่หมุนเป็นเส้นเรื่องใหม่ที่ไม่มีผลอะไรกับเส้นเรื่องหลัก (เท่าที่หาข้อมูลไวๆ เหมือนมันจะเป็นการเอาหนังสือชุด Oz เล่ม 1 กับ 14 มาประกบกัน ใครที่ไม่อ่านเล่ม 2-13 แล้วข้ามมา 14 เลยเช่นเราก็คงงงแหละเพราะเนื้อเรื่องดูไม่ต่อเนื่องเลย) เล่มนี้ดูพยายามที่จะใช้องค์ประกอบแฟนตาซี Young Adult เข้ามาและสงครามการเมืองต่างๆ แต่ว่าไม่สนุกเลยเนี่ยสิ เล่มพ่อมดแห่งออซยังพอบันเทิงๆ เล่มนี้เดินเรื่องด้วยความจอยระดับสุดตะกุกตะกัก เอาไป ★ พอ แต่พอมาเฉลี่ยกับครึ่งแรกมันเลยเป็น ★★

ฟังหนังสือเสียงเอา ให้เครดิตคนพากย์ เพราะพากย์เสียงสิงโตขี้ขลาดได้จนรู้สึกถึงความขี้หงอจริงๆ ชอบ 5555

[Andrey Reshetnikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Baum creates a very colorful world full of fairies and wizards, and witches both good and bad. The fantasy dimension replicates the relations that exist in the real world between governors and their subjects, only much simplified to be within a grasp of a child’s mind.

The quest undertaken by Dorothy has become a classic story. The style is crisp and unburdened making it a very easy read. It is even more enjoyable because of many great adventures that Dorothy and friends have. At the same time, the story is filled with kindness and compassion which we learn from Dorothy.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out my reviews on each individual book on their main pages!

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read a compilation which is essentially the first book of a series and then the last by the original author and it does show how his writer and authorship must have grown over time.
Not that Glinda of Oz is the better tale for all its sophistication in comparison to the naivety of the first tale it does actually fall shorter as a tale.
In honesty these books where never on a 'must read' list for me but this was in a charity shop bundle and it being a classic of its type I did decide to give it a read.
Arguably the movie towers above the tale and it's interesting to read not only what they kept but what they changed and it's a enjoyable enough read.
There's not a lot I can say in regard a synopsis it's likely you know the tale even if you know it slightly differently.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a classic. If you have seen my precious posts you’ll know I love wizard of Oz.
This reminded me so much of my childhood. The writing is so good and the storyline will always been something I love.
I also have never read the ‘Glinda of Oz’ part of the story before and I have to say I love it...it’s so different to the first part of the book and I have to say I was way more into the second part of the book but I believe that was because it was new.
I could only give this 4 stars however because I found myself a bit bored reading it.

[Jule Hölzel · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the world and whimsy certainly have their charm, at no point was I captivated by the story. I am not sure if this is because it's a children's book, but I have read other children's books that did not annoy me this much.
It was also very weird to put the first and last of 14 stories together. If this was done to show the author's progress in his craft, it failed. It had the opposite effect.
The magical world really is the strong side of these tales, but the structure and style are lacking for me regarding suspense and variety to keep me interested.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that this is a beloved tale, but I was bored to death while watching the 1938 movie. Yet, it was still better than the “Wicked” 2024 reimagined movie which is why I stumbled into this whole thing. I didn’t grow up with anything Oz related. After this whole fiasco, I was still intrigued and decided to give the book a read. I have to say, there’s nothing like the original. I can hear the magic through the words.

[Suzy Pryor · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book we follow Dorothy who goes on a wonderful adventure to a magical land called Oz. After the little girl arrives in Oz she embarks on a adventure and meets three remarkable characters which I love.

After seeing the film, I decided this was a good time to read thjs. I would definitely recommend this book then the film if you want to relieve the adventure of Dorothy and toto.

[Leonieke · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5/5

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz *5/5
Glinda of Oz *4/5

18/8/21: Read along with the book while listening to the audiobook

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final two stories in The Oz works. Fun, simple and easy reads. Definitely very nice to get to know more characters in Oz.

[Nicol Siemaszkiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book.
Only thing is sometimes I got quite bored with the story so it actually took me longer than expected to finish and it was quite confusing that the first and last book were together

[Aline]

Glinda of Oz was quite boring (and it also felt pointless), especially after The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - which was such a lovely read 🦁 🐶 👧🏽

[Cordelia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The wonderful wizard of Oz ⭐⭐
Glinda of Oz DNF

[Mega Handiyani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the story of Glinda of Oz, taking me to another side of the Oz land.

[Fien · Rating 4 out of 5]

so cute! very lovely. i really liked l. frank baums introduction where he says he wants to write 'modern' fairytales for children to read beside grimm and andersen, and he was right. kids still read it. and i may not be a kid for much longer, but i really liked getting to read it and experience the world known story through it's original book

[Anneleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I’m glad I don’t know everything, Dorothy,
and that there still are things in both nature and in wit for me to marvel at. "

Reading 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', felt a bit like reading the American version of Alice in Wonderland: both about a girl, accidentally ending up in a queer world, sent on a task whilst trying to find her way back to reality. Despite these, and other, similarities, it was an enjoyable read.

But when I got to 'Glinda of Oz', my whole perception changed. It's definitely written in a more mature way, but what an original, creative and funny story!
Content-wise, it blew me away with its hidden lessons of morality, sudden story twists, etc.

They made a great choice putting the first and last novel of the Oz series together, just for comparison.
I liked the last one much better.

[Sarah Zitouni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is considered to children, but in my opinion and as an Algerian reader I do not consider it for children, I was all the time looking for the original verse to this story which is true imaginary and boring for my age, but at the same time it is perfect, I just came back years and years to my childhood when I was reading the summary of this story and watching the film with my brothers, the language is so easy to read and to understand even though there are some difficult words, but you can understand them from the meaning of the idea. The second story was a little bit boring and heavy of events

[filipa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure whether to give it 3 or 4 stars but its a really nice and lovely story and its full of wonderful adventures and happenings so i just went with the 4 stars.

[Kristian Adi nugroho · Rating 4 out of 5]

good reading, for it gives more imagination to children

[Kerrie-ann]

on book 2 glinda of oz. will read when i get to the end of this series of books

[Connie Hardesty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz : 3.5*
Glinda of Oz: 3*