The Emerald City of Oz

The copy we received had a secret compartment cut into the middle!! Someone spent some time cutting and gluing the pages together to fit a tiny box! I thought it humorous but my daughter was horrified! I still would like a copy to read I’m not upset but clearly someone didn’t flip through to check quality.

I don't think you could find any child or adult who has seen the movie or read The Wizard of Oz, who doesn't hold the story in their heart as one of the most delightful of all times. Yet many of us have not read the subsequent books in the series. And that is too bad. The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum is the sixth book in the Oz series. It is delightful and is one of the best of those in the series that I've read. Dorothy, Aunty Em and Uncle Henry experience a serious financial disaster. They've lost all their money and been evicted from their farm so they intend to leave Kansas forever and travel to Oz where they wish to live peacefully in the palace. But alas, peace is not in the cards. An evil Nome King is determined to wreck havoc on quiet and peaceful Oz and that spells disaster for everyone if the danger is not discovered in time. Dorothy meets new friends and is reunited with her old friends, including jack pumpkin, the cowardly lion, princess ozma and my favorite, the tinman. Armchair Interviews says: Children will delight in the story and characters. Their imagination will soar with the possibilities of adventure. Summer is upon us and this is a great choice for those long, lazy days.

I just read The Emerald City of Oz to my little boy, who's almost five (see my earlier review of the book from 2000 which I wrote when he was about a week old!), and he and I both enjoyed it immensely. We're reading all the Oz books in order, and are now on our eighth (Tik-Tok of Oz). My son is a huge Oz fan. One cautionary note to those who wish to read this book to their young children: My little one was actually quite upset and frightened at the prospect of Oz being invaded and possibly destroyed by the Nomes and their ferocious allies. A number of times I had to soothe him by explaining that Ozma was sure to find some way to save her country. Perhaps this is a better book for older children.

This Oz book is one of the more disjointed ones, more a sort of package tour of Ozma's magic kingdom than a quest. But the vignettes are charming and stick with you. The "Rigamaroles" have become part of this family's culture, with my 12 yo son and I occasionally getting into rigamarole competitions, where we go on and on without saying anything. Bunbury and Bunnybury also stuck with me during the six years between reading this to my first son and my second; utensia is ... punny; and the cuttenclips, the fuddles, and the flutterbudgets are all cute and endearing. A great read aloud for the 5 to 10 set.Onr thing, though: The famed metallic ink in the Books Of Wonder edition is just sort of glittery. Nice, but not really any big deal. I don't think that this is the best looking BoW Oz book.

Though I loved the original Wizard of Oz, and have enjoyed all the Oz books for more than 20 years (back to when my mother first read them to me), Emerald City ranks as my all-time favorite. It's full of adventure, suspense and humor. Who could forget the ridiculous roly-poly Nomes and their quixotic plan to conquer Oz with the help of some rather bizarre allies? Or the village where every house and fence (not to mention every inhabitant) was edible? As I write this, my week-old son sleeps in my lap. I can't wait to read him this book when he's old enough to appreciate it.

When I read this book in the fourth grade I was absolutely mesmerized by the story Baum had to offer to his readers. Dorothy's travels through Oz were the most interesting they ever have been. First, Baum brings the beloved Dorothy to live forever in Oz. Then he tells of her(and her friends) journeys in the lands of Utensia, Bunbury, and Bunnyburry (as well as some other places). Readers will be mesmerized when he talks of the beautifully dressed rabbits and hysterical when he discusses Toto's trouble with the delicious Buns of Bunbury. What about suspense and danger? Well, Baum throws in the Nome King for that, as well as some other fearful enemies who plan to capture Oz. This was my favorite Oz book and I absolutely recommend it to anyone who has the imagination to handle this wonderful experience.