Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Ozma of Oz



Finished Ozma of Oz, the third book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series. Dorothy Gale, who is traveling by boat to Australia with her Uncle Henry, is washed overboard in a storm and finds herself in the Land of Ev. There she meets and frees Tik-Tok, a mechanical man made of copper. They encounter Princess Langwidere, who has 30 heads to choose from in a cabinet. She puts on whatever head she feels like wearing. She decides she likes Dorothy's head, but Dorothy, of course will not give it to her.

It's no surprise that this is a very weird book.

Ozma of Oz learns that the Queen of Ev and her children have been sold to the Nome King by the late King of Ev. She travels over the poisonous desert, with the Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, the Sawhorse, the Hungry Tiger and a small army, upon a magic carpet that rolls out in front and up in back. They are all surprised to see Dorothy in Ev and band together to rescue the royal family from the Nome King.

John R. Neill's illustrations are wonderful. Most in this book are in color. His rendition of the Nome King seems almost Seussian to me.

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