Adventures in Oz

by L. Frank Baum

Overview

For generations L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz books have captured and enthralled millions of readers. These stories are as delightful today as they were the day they were written. This omnibus edition contains the first three books: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, and Ozma of Oz! Now you can join Dorothy as an earthquake sends her to the land of Mangaboos and the vegetable people in the Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz; journey with Dorothy and Toto as they meet the Shaggy Man, Button-Bright, and Polychrome in The Road to Oz; and in The Emerald City of Oz, Dorothy brings Aunty Em and Uncle Henry along for the adventure!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781627932349
Publisher:	Start Publishing LLC
Publication date:	07/01/2013
Series:	Unabridged Start Publishing LLC , #2
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	301
File size:	439 KB
Age Range:	6 - 18 Years

About the Author

Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, Aunt Em -- where would our national psyche be without The Wonderful Wizard of Oz? L. Frank Baum, who created a story with an indelible, sometimes haunting impression on so many people, led a life that had a fairy-tale quality of its own.

Baum was born in 1856 to a family that had made a fortune in the oil business. Because he had a heart condition, his parents arranged for him to be tutored privately at the family�s Syracuse estate, �Roselawn.� As an adult, though, Baum flourished and failed at a dizzying variety of ventures, from writing plays to a stint with his family�s medicinal oil business (where he produced a potion called �Baum�s Castorine�), to managing a general store, to editing the Aberdeen Pioneer in Aberdeen, South Dakota. In 1897, following his mother-in-law�s advice, Baum wrote down the stories that he told his children. The firm of Way & Williams published the stories under the title Mother Goose in Prose, with illustrations by Maxfield Parrish, and Baum�s career as a writer was launched.

With the publication of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, Baum gained instant success. The book, lavishly produced and featuring voluptuous illustrations by William Wallace Denslow, was the bestselling children�s book of the year. It also set a new standard for children�s literature. As a commentator for the September 8, 1900 New York Times described it, �The crudeness that was characteristic of the oldtime publications...would now be enough to cause the modern child to yell with rage and vigor...� The reviewer praised the book�s sheer entertainment value (its �bright and joyous atmosphere�) and likened it to The Story of the Three Bears for its enduring value. As the film industry emerged in the following years, few books were as manifestly destined for adaptation, and although it took almost four decades for a movie studio to translate Baum�s vision to film, the 1939 film did for the movies what Baum�s book had done for children�s literature: that is, raised the imaginative and technical bar higher than it had been before.

The loss of parents, the inevitable voyage toward independence, the yearning for home -- in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Baum touched upon a child�s primal experiences while providing a rousing story of adventure. As his health declined, Baum continued the series with 14 more Oz books (his publisher commissioned more by other authors after his death), but none had quite the effect on the reading public that the first one did. Baum died from complications of a stroke in 1919.

Date of Birth:

May 15, 1856

Date of Death:

May 6, 1919

Place of Birth:

Chittenango, New York

Place of Death:

Hollywood, California

Education:

Attended Peekskill Military Academy and Syracuse Classical School

Editorial Reviews

Readers who remember watching The Wizard of Oz for the first time, when Judy Garland as Dorothy opened the door of her black-and-white house to the strange, magical, and extraordinarily colorful vision of Munchkinland, will find that opening Shanower's collection of five new stories about Oz is much like that experience. His comic-book illustrations are saturated in color and detail, whisking the reader into this vividly imagined world. The characters are familiar to those who have read and loved L. Frank Baum's stories or grown up on the famous movie, and Shanower maintains a comforting consistency throughout the stories while adding fascinating and vivid new characters and settings. In The Enchanted Apples of Oz, the sorceress Valynn protects an apple tree that holds the magic that exists in Oz. An entire world lives inside a water spout in The Secret Island of Oz. The Ice King of Oz features the strange people who live in an ice country, and introduces the enchanted Flicker the Candle-Maker. Very little of The Forgotten Forests of Oz actually takes place in Emerald City-the story takes place in the Forest of Burzee and the Troll King's Volcano, with such diverse characters as the exiled fairy Nelanthe, the fearsome and cunning Troll King, and the giant bat Nightshade. The concluding story, The Blue Witch of Oz, is less lighthearted and more emotional, with missing husbands and children and no resolution to their loss. Dorothy plays a crucial role in each story, whether as observer or heroine, and Ozma uses her wisdom and magical powers to resolve much of the conflict. Readers of graphic format literature will thrill to the vibrant and effective illustrations throughout each story,while the imaginative but easily accessible story lines will appeal to the adventurer in each reader.

VOYA - Kathy Starks

Shanower wrote his first Oz story at age 11 and became a cartoonist partly to create his own Oz books-and voil : a fine anthology of stories originally published separately. "The Enchanted Apples of Oz" follows Dorothy and the Scarecrow as they stumble across a threat to the source of Oz's magic. In "The Secret Island of Oz," inventive magical places and creatures complicate Dorothy's quest for a special fish for the Emerald City pond. The chilly monarch of "The Ice King of Oz" yearns for the lovely warmth of Oz's heroines, which nearly leads to disaster. "The Forgotten Forest of Oz" tells of a wood nymph banished from Burzee, only to become Queen of the Trolls. All the stories work as standard Oz adventure plots and more deeply as emotional journeys of yearning, loss, and healing. Child readers will recall the neighbor kid who moved away, teens the unrequited crush, and adults the friendship breached by misunderstanding. The charming, colorful art gets even better as the stories progress. Highly recommended for ages 10+.-M.C. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Gr 5–7
Most children know the story of the Wizard of Oz but they might not be familiar with the land after Dorothy's first adventure. Here, Dorothy returns to the Emerald City to live with the new queen, Ozma. Oz is fully imagined in graphic form, and each page is filled with color and light. The book features five stories. Dorothy must protect an apple tree or Oz will lose its magic, she journeys to a secret island in search of a rare fish, the Ice King steals Ozma off the throne, a young nymph is banished from the Forbidden Forest and forced to marry a troll, and Dorothy sets out to break an age-old enchantment. The stories feature many of Baum's familiar characters but it is the paintings that really capture the true spirit of Oz. While some children may protest a blond Dorothy, Shanower's renderings are so magical that readers will soon forget about braids and gingham dresses. Leaves appear to rustle; Ozma's silk robes seem to shine. The oversize format shows off the rich detail. This volume belongs right beside Baum's Wizard of Oz .
—Sadie MattoxCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal