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A review by katykelly
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
5.0
So different from the film, but held my son rapt!
I'm trying to mix in some classics at bedtime, alongside David Walliams, Horrid Henry and other contemporary works. AS we'd watched the film, my six year old was happy enough to read the book with me, though I wondered if he'd stay attentive for the young girl protagonist and slightly old-fashioned style of writing.
It actually didn't sound too quaint and out-of-date - there were very few words and phrases that we had a problem with (I was reading to him), though the book differs greatly from the classic MGM movie.
Dorothy does, of course, end up going to Oz in a cyclone with her little dog Toto. She accidentally kills a witch and tries to return home by visiting the Wizard of Oz, and picks up several friends along the journey, each of whom wish to ask for things they are 'missing' from themselves.
The book has a feel of Alice Through the Looking Glass, with different colours in different lands. There are scenes and characters that feel unfamiliar from the film, but that build up a bigger picture of the land.
I liked the style of the story, including Toto's point of view regularly, which feels unusual for a book of this period. Every main character gets a good role as well, with each playing hero at times, not reliant on magic. Only the Wizard and Witch of the West gets anything similar.
It took us a few weeks to finish at bedtimes, and my son was keen every night to continue. I'm hoping this means we can read other classic works over the next couple of years and I can show my son how they have been adapted for the screen but work as source material separately.
Definitely one that will never go out of date - a tale of friendship and the need for a home.
Could be read solo from around age 8, fine for listeners aged 5 or 6 and above.
I'm trying to mix in some classics at bedtime, alongside David Walliams, Horrid Henry and other contemporary works. AS we'd watched the film, my six year old was happy enough to read the book with me, though I wondered if he'd stay attentive for the young girl protagonist and slightly old-fashioned style of writing.
It actually didn't sound too quaint and out-of-date - there were very few words and phrases that we had a problem with (I was reading to him), though the book differs greatly from the classic MGM movie.
Dorothy does, of course, end up going to Oz in a cyclone with her little dog Toto. She accidentally kills a witch and tries to return home by visiting the Wizard of Oz, and picks up several friends along the journey, each of whom wish to ask for things they are 'missing' from themselves.
The book has a feel of Alice Through the Looking Glass, with different colours in different lands. There are scenes and characters that feel unfamiliar from the film, but that build up a bigger picture of the land.
I liked the style of the story, including Toto's point of view regularly, which feels unusual for a book of this period. Every main character gets a good role as well, with each playing hero at times, not reliant on magic. Only the Wizard and Witch of the West gets anything similar.
It took us a few weeks to finish at bedtimes, and my son was keen every night to continue. I'm hoping this means we can read other classic works over the next couple of years and I can show my son how they have been adapted for the screen but work as source material separately.
Definitely one that will never go out of date - a tale of friendship and the need for a home.
Could be read solo from around age 8, fine for listeners aged 5 or 6 and above.