Little Wizard Stories of Oz

A delightful read for your children - especially if they loved the Wizard of Ox. I highly recommend it.

L. Frank Baum first wrote these 6 short stories separately in their own volumes, with the title of each book bearing the names of two characters (see the 'Books of Oz' site). Later they were reprinted, but this time into 1 volume, with the former book titles now as chapters, shown here. I bought this book along with Roger S. Baum's "Dorothy of Oz" book (see my review) and Greg Hildebrandt's (abridged) illustrated edition of "the Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (I would like to review that). The pictures are excellent. The chapter-title images are black-and-white, and the rest of the pictures are in full-page colour, sometimes taking over two pages. I liked how the Lion was drawn walking on 2 legs and once wearing a pair glasses on a string. The following chapters (once individual book titles) are as follows: 'The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger' are tired of constantly being known for their cowardliness/hunger and therefore not being feared, so they decide to go out and make themselves be feared. But Tiger refuses to eat a baby who has lost its mother, and Lion refuses to hurt a mother who hurts herself while trying to save her baby, so they change their minds. 'Little Dorothy and Toto' take a walk through Oz (despite the Wizard's disapproval of concern) and result in getting captured by the Giant Crinklink and are taken to his castle. Toto saves Dorothy and reunites with the Wizard. 'Tik-Tok and the Nome King'. Tik-Tok's machinery needs a few extra springs and the Wizard suggests for him to go to the Nome King, who unfortunately is in a bad mood and accidently destroys Tik-Tok. But Kaliko, the Chief Steward, fixes Tik-Tok up. His reappearance scares the Nome King (that was funny!), but Tik-Tok explains the situation and he returns to Oz, with jewels for Princess Ozma by the Nome King. 'Ozma and the Little Wizard' go through Oz making sure everything is fine, and come upon three mischievous Imps (named Olite, Udent and Ertinent) who are constantly causing trouble. The Imps take on enchanted forms and constantly attack Ozma and Wizard, until he overpowers them, with a plan to stop them from making further trouble. 'Jack Pumpkinhead and the Saw-Horse' are sent by Ozma to rescue 2 children lost in a forest. They find the children, but the Squirrel King refuses to let them go. As Jack sets the children free he looses his head, but the Saw-Horse manages to get them out and the Wizard gives Jack a new pumpkinhead. 'The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman' ride in a little boat along a forest stream, but Nick Chopper falls into the bottom of the sea, so Scarecrow does whatever he can to get his friend out, even with the help of some mischievous crows. Once they're out of the water, the Wizard appears to give them a helping hand. I found the story of the Lion and the Tiger very helpful because it made me realize and understand the Lion's "Cowardly" term, as many times I wondered why afterwards he couldn't be called the 'Courageous Lion'. I loved read

L. Frank Baum's spectacularly illustrated Little Wizard Stories Of Oz, written for a younger audience than the books in the official Oz series, are the perfect introduction to Baum's utopist fairyland. Containing characters not only from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz but from the second and third titles, The Marvelous Land Of Oz and Ozma Of Oz, the 169-page volume is composed of six short pieces, each teaming two of Baum's most popular Oz inhabitants. While the stories are delightful and comic, a subtle lesson in common sense or ethics subtly underscores each. At about 24 pages a piece, these narratives make excellent bedtime stories; each moves quickly and can be reread over and over (adults can read the entire book in about an hour). Readers already familiar with the other Oz titles will find that the Little Wizard stories fit right into the fairyland's established history and continuity. John R. Neill's extraordinary talent as an illustrator has rarely been put to better use than it has been here; his drawings are brightly colored and full of atmosphere, detail, and humor. In The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, the two talking beasts, tired of passively guarding the never-threatened Ozma at her throne, decide to competitively test their animal natures. In Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse, Jack, who lives in a pumpkin patch so he can easily replace his head as needed, finds himself in the Winkie country disastrously without a spare. In The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, the later topples overboard while the two are out adventuring in a giant corncob boat. The Scarecrow, stuffed with straw, tries to reach his comrade but finds he can only float on the surface. Each of the six stories contains an element of threat to which the primary or secondary characters react with fear or dismay. `Little Dorothy' and Toto, carelessly straying too far from home, are kidnapped by the size-shifting giant Crinklink; Tik-Tok the Clockwork Man finds his metal body broken to pieces by a blow from the angry Nome King's mace; and Ozma and the `Little Wizard' find themselves beset by three mischievous, seemingly undefeatable goblins. In typically clever fashion, Baum quickly disarms those elements which might frighten younger children or be a cause of concern for adults. The Hungry Tiger decides he wants to eat a `fat baby' to prove his bestial nature, and the Cowardly Lion, not to be outdone, says he's going to `rip a person to shreds,' but no baby-devouring is ever accomplished. At their first sight of a little lost girl, the Tiger and Lion compete over who can come to her aid first and best, their original boasting intentions entirely forgotten. The book's humor is dry and the outright jokes well-paced to about one a story. The Tin Woodman, for instance, lying helpless on the bottom of a lake and waiting to be rescued, says to the frustrated Scarecrow and their bird helpers, "Hurry up, please. You've no idea how damp it is down here." The Little

We reserve 5 stars for a very few books, but this book was much loved by my eight year old, who enjoyed how it contains things which relate to the other books in the series. I found it a definite pleaser as well, as books which allow children to enjoy being a child and actively use their imagination are very rare these days (as opposed to the more recent trend which aims at a precocious sophistication for a "miniature adult" audience).If you like the tone of this and other books in the Oz series you should also check out these books: * "Mother West Wind" book series by Thornton W. Burgess; * Selma Lagerlof's "The Wonderful Adventure of Neils"; * "7X7 Tales of a Seven Sleeper" by Hanna Johansen; * "The Seven Year Old Wonder Book" and "King Beetle Tamer" by Isabel Wyatt; * "The Uncle Wiggley Story Book" by Howard R. Garis; * "The Never Ending Story" and other books by Michael Ende; * Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" series; * Astrid Lindgren's "The Brothers Lionhearted" (her best, better than Pipi by miles!); * and of course the classic fairy tales - our favorite is "The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales" Pantheon Edition with an introduction by Padraic Colum and commentary by Joseph Campbell, ISBN 0-394-49414-6 and 0-394-70930-6.

All the Books of Wonder Oz books are fantastic recreations of the originals with all their color plates and cover art. Even the typeface and page counts are the same. If you're a collector and can't afford to drop $300 on a beat-up copy of the original, this series is a must! Little Wizard Stories also is a rare find... I've never seen an original and was delighted when Books of Wonder produced this collection.