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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars. A marked improvement over the last installment in terms of plot. This one actually had some semblance of a goal and a journey that made a bit of logical sense. The writing is undeniably creative and the descriptions are still very vivid and fun to read. However, more and more these books are reading like random ideas slapped together with the intent of shipping out a new Oz book rather than a planned set to actually get anywhere relevant.
The characters in this one, though definitely not the worst of the Oz series characters, were a motley crew. Despite the cover illustration, the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and Tin Man play quite minor roles. The primary characters for the journey are Dorothy, Toto, the Shaggy Man, Button-Bright, and Polychrome.
The premise for Dorothy accompanying the Shaggy Man is seriously circumspect and likely teaches children a quite incorrect way for dealing with strangers. Button-Bright drove me absolutely batty. I have never wanted to remove a child character from a book so intensely. He was a dolt and irritated me to no end. And for some reason Dorothy seems a little more insipid in this installment. She has been a vibrant and interesting character in the past, but this time she came off a bit pretentious and really as something of a know-it-all. She was not as charming as she has been in some of the previous reads.
As with the other reads in the series, this was still a quick one to get through and I do appreciate the creativity. It was moderately entertaining.
The characters in this one, though definitely not the worst of the Oz series characters, were a motley crew. Despite the cover illustration, the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and Tin Man play quite minor roles. The primary characters for the journey are Dorothy, Toto, the Shaggy Man, Button-Bright, and Polychrome.
The premise for Dorothy accompanying the Shaggy Man is seriously circumspect and likely teaches children a quite incorrect way for dealing with strangers. Button-Bright drove me absolutely batty. I have never wanted to remove a child character from a book so intensely. He was a dolt and irritated me to no end. And for some reason Dorothy seems a little more insipid in this installment. She has been a vibrant and interesting character in the past, but this time she came off a bit pretentious and really as something of a know-it-all. She was not as charming as she has been in some of the previous reads.
As with the other reads in the series, this was still a quick one to get through and I do appreciate the creativity. It was moderately entertaining.
Another little Oz-Story that brings us back to Dorothy, Toto, Oz and all its inhabitants and also gives us new friends: the Shaggy Man, Button Bright and Polychrome, the Rainbow’s daughter. Nothing to complain about.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Well, at first I was a little apprehensive about the shaggy man. Certainly could have been a very different sort of character. But as I was reading an Oz book, and Baum states in the forward that these books are to be lighthearted children's tales with no hint of what could cause nightmares, I shouldn't have worried.
The scoodlers were super creepy. I did want the truth pond to do a little bit more than just right the heads of the two afflicted characters. And the cast of new characters who attended Ozma's birthday party are, I'm sure, going to appear in future books.
I know Baum continued to write these stories because children wanted to hear about Dorothy, but I want to hear more about the Oz creatures than about how Dorothy gets TO Oz in each book.
On to book 6!
The scoodlers were super creepy. I did want the truth pond to do a little bit more than just right the heads of the two afflicted characters. And the cast of new characters who attended Ozma's birthday party are, I'm sure, going to appear in future books.
I know Baum continued to write these stories because children wanted to hear about Dorothy, but I want to hear more about the Oz creatures than about how Dorothy gets TO Oz in each book.
On to book 6!
I think of the stories so far this is my second favorite. I found a lot of the enemies in this one to be truly menacing, but then it ends sweetly as a fairy tale should.
When I watch films (at home, not in the cinema), I have a rule. If I'm not into it by 40 minutes, I give up. I think I need to start employing a similar rule for books. This was just dire.
This should be named "Don't Do What Dorothy Does" and used as a teaching device for children's stranger awareness. I mean, this character, The Shaggy Man, practically abducts a bunch of children! First Dorothy, who he asks for directions and somehow gets her to show him the way to a specific road, but doesn't actually want to get to the road, he just wants to avoid it. Then Button Bright, who's just crying in the middle of the road, digging, for some bizarre reasons. And then Pollychrome, the daughter of a rainbow man.
But it's their fault they followed him, apparently. Or rather, it wasn't his intention to lead Dorothy away from home and get her lost, and find these lost children along the way. Of course not!
And then we have "the Love Magnet". It's a real magnet, and it makes people fall in love with whoever has possession of it. Right, that sounds completely above board. And then there's Johnny Dooit, who the Shaggy Man wants "real bad", who'll do anything The Shaggy Man asks. Well, Okeedokee then!
But the story is about the odd bunch of travellers AKA, The Shaggy Man and his Abductees, going along trying to find the Land of Oz and Ozma's palace and coming across all sorts of people along their way, in true Baum fashion. And the leaders of all these different groups all want invitation to Ozma's party. Where I come from, it's rude to put people in the position of asking for invitations from a mutual friend, but what do you expect from a land where changing people's heads into animal's heads is acceptable behaviour?
And then we have the senseless animal abuse, and a good allegory on the topic of disability. The Musicker man can't help but make music, it was the way he was born. Think of something like a musical-orientated tourettes. Everybody shuns him and feels sorry for him. Nobody wants to be around him because of the music he can't help making. There's no disguising the lack of acceptance. It's ableism at it's most basic.
I skipped a lot because the formula has well and truly worn thin by now, and the ending was no different. I'm done. I'm absolutely done. Read at your own risk.
This should be named "Don't Do What Dorothy Does" and used as a teaching device for children's stranger awareness. I mean, this character, The Shaggy Man, practically abducts a bunch of children! First Dorothy, who he asks for directions and somehow gets her to show him the way to a specific road, but doesn't actually want to get to the road, he just wants to avoid it. Then Button Bright, who's just crying in the middle of the road, digging, for some bizarre reasons. And then Pollychrome, the daughter of a rainbow man.
But it's their fault they followed him, apparently. Or rather, it wasn't his intention to lead Dorothy away from home and get her lost, and find these lost children along the way. Of course not!
And then we have "the Love Magnet". It's a real magnet, and it makes people fall in love with whoever has possession of it. Right, that sounds completely above board. And then there's Johnny Dooit, who the Shaggy Man wants "real bad", who'll do anything The Shaggy Man asks. Well, Okeedokee then!
But the story is about the odd bunch of travellers AKA, The Shaggy Man and his Abductees, going along trying to find the Land of Oz and Ozma's palace and coming across all sorts of people along their way, in true Baum fashion. And the leaders of all these different groups all want invitation to Ozma's party. Where I come from, it's rude to put people in the position of asking for invitations from a mutual friend, but what do you expect from a land where changing people's heads into animal's heads is acceptable behaviour?
And then we have the senseless animal abuse, and a good allegory on the topic of disability. The Musicker man can't help but make music, it was the way he was born. Think of something like a musical-orientated tourettes. Everybody shuns him and feels sorry for him. Nobody wants to be around him because of the music he can't help making. There's no disguising the lack of acceptance. It's ableism at it's most basic.
I skipped a lot because the formula has well and truly worn thin by now, and the ending was no different. I'm done. I'm absolutely done. Read at your own risk.