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The Wizard of Oz and other Frank Baum books...


Sunshine Mama
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My 8 year old son is completely in love with these books. He's been listening to them from www.librivox.org on his MP3 player. So far, he has listened to:

 

(some are not Oz, but still by Baum)

 

The Emerald City of Oz

The Lost Princess of Oz

Ozma of Oz

Rinkitink of Oz

Tik-Tok of Oz

Scarecrow of Oz

 

Sky Island

The Enchanted Island of Yew

 

And there are many more left. Sometimes he even listens to them more than once.

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The third book, Ozma of Oz is actually my son's favorite. He also loves the Magical Monarch of Mo by Baum which is not an Oz book. I remember hearing the Magical Monarch of Mo as a read aloud in school in 4th grade and absolutely loving it (now I find it rather tedious).

 

Susan

 

ds (7)

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And my boys thought some of the sequels were *better* than the original -- LOL! "Land of Oz" and "Ozma of Oz" are quite good and well worth reading. Just our opinion! : )

 

Well, there you go :-)

 

I think I own Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz but I only read them once, unlike the Wizard, which I have read several times.

 

My mother saw the movie when it was first released and loved it. Seeing that it was based on the book, she went to the library and checked it out. She said she climbed up on her bed and sat cross-legged in the middle, all ready to spend the day reading the book...and was so disappointed, she couldn't even finish it. My dds and I love the movied just as much as we love the book :-)

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My 2nd grade teacher read these aloud to us everyday after lunch. We'd come in tired out from lunch and a long romp on the play ground, and she would invite us to put our heads on our desk, close our eyes and listen. Can you imagine? No standardized curriculum preventing her from following her sound instincts and giving a bunch of 7 year olds what they really needed -- time to rest and instilling the love of a good story and great characters.

 

I loved the books, and I think we got all almost all the way through the series that year. My dad gave me some of the titles for Christmas that year because he had loved them too. Read on!

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And my boys thought some of the sequels were *better* than the original -- LOL! "Land of Oz" and "Ozma of Oz" are quite good and well worth reading. Just our opinion! : )
I agree. Both Marvellous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz are big favourites here. I've never like the first; I found the language to be repetitive and stilted, problems not evident in these two sequels.
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We LOVE the Oz books and I read at least 4 chapters a day to my girls. I read from the Project Gutenberg site (and coincidentally, I'm reading chapter 9 of The Patchwork Girl of Oz at this very moment (well, taking a little break right now, obviously)).

 

http://www.literature.org/authors/baum-l-frank/

 

We have read

 

The language is WONDERFUL, the vocabulary rich, the adventure thrilling and the imagination amazing. I can't recommend them enough.

 

An example from Chapter 9

 

"It is hard to face any savage beast without a sinking of the heart, but still more terrifying is it to face an unknown beast, which you have never seen even a picture of. So there is little wonder that the pulses of the Munchkin boy beat fast as he and his companions stood facing the cave. The opening was perfectly square, and about big enough to admit a goat."

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I agree. Both Marvellous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz are big favourites here. I've never like the first; I found the language to be repetitive and stilted, problems not evident in these two sequels.

 

 

Perfect description of what we didn't care for in the original, and why we did so like the sequels. Thanks nmoira! : )

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I agree. Both Marvellous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz are big favourites here. I've never like the first; I found the language to be repetitive and stilted, problems not evident in these two sequels.

 

And see, I never thought that, at all.

 

Guess I'm gonna have to go read them all again. Oh darn.:D

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thanks so much! they should be read in order of the way they were written, right?

 

I don't think it is absolutely necessary. He will re-introduce characters and give little backgrounds on old characters in many books. And don't miss the Prologues and letters to his little readers. Lovely peek into his mind and the atmosphere at the time.

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thanks so much! they should be read in order of the way they were written, right?
I'd do Wizard of Oz, Marvellous Land of Oz, then Ozma of Oz. After that, it doesn't matter. Reading Ozma first would ruin the surprise ending of Marvellous Land of Oz.
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I'd do Wizard of Oz, Marvellous Land of Oz, then Ozma of Oz. After that, it doesn't matter. Reading Ozma first would ruin the surprise ending of Marvellous Land of Oz.

 

Yes, and the Emerald City of Oz will explain events which are referred to in later books. But after The Emerald City, I think you can read in any order you'd like to.

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