5/5 Stars
The Wizard of Oz is a book that I have been meaning to read for such a long time and has been recommended to me by so many people. So when I was taking my usual stroll through Waterstones and saw the prettiest cover of the book I’d ever seen I just had to pick it up. I have to say this book did not disappoint. Wizard of Oz is a pocket size book of pure magic and happiness.
The Wizard of Oz follows the story of a young girl named Dorothy who, after being swept away in a cyclone, finds herself in the wonderful world of Oz. Her and her new friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, all make there way down the yellow brick road the Emerald City to see the great Wizard of Oz and ask him to help them each get what they need.
I wasn’t expecting to like the book quite as much as I did but I was pleasantly surprised. I absolutely loved it. If you love books such as The Chronicles of Narnia then I would definitely recommend this book to you. It had that aspect of Alice falling down the rabbit hole to it, except in Dorothy’s case she was basically eaten by a hurricane. Although I’ve read this kind of story before: a young girl being whisked away to a magical land (Wendy going to Neverland, Lucy going to Narina, Alice going Wonderland and Coraline going to the Other World to name a few), it still somehow managed to feel fresh and original, it didn’t feel as though it was a story being regurgitated.
The one thing I absolutely loved about this book was how short it was. Being a children’s book it was such an easy read, although don’t let the word ‘children’ put you off as it can be enjoyed by adults just as much as it can be enjoyed by children. It didn’t take very long to read at all and would be ideal for a train ride. The one thing that made me extremely happy though was it’s short chapters. I hate long chapters. To me it is a sin to leave a book half way through a chapter. If you do this you are a monster and you need to explain to me at once how can do this. However if you are like me this book will give you a pleasure greater than any book pleasure you’ve ever experienced. The chapters are so short and so sweet and it made me immensely happy that I never once thought a chapter was too long. Yay for short chapters!
My copy of the book was particularly sweet. I got a ‘Puffin Chalk’ edition of the book and it was so adorable. It meant that the book was accompanied with cute little chalk drawings, from the illustrator Dana Tanamachi, and they were put in the book to “echo the whimsy of childhood”. They were absolutely beautiful ( as you can see in the image below) and were such a nice accompaniment to the book. If you are going to buy this book of course these drawings are not a necessity in order for you to like it, but they do add a little bit of extra magic to your reading.
The thing I was most surprised about was how little I compared this book to the film. Apart from obvious differences, such as the shoes being silver not ruby and the Wicked Witch of the West hardly being in the book at all, I found myself making few comparisons to the film. This really is a book in its own right and absorbs in the magic of Oz.
I had to give this book 5 stars as really there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. It was such a lovely, magical little book, and could cheer anyone up on a gloomy day. I know I haven’t really gone into detail with what was good or bad about the story or the characters but I promise you I’ve done that intentionally. I think that if you read this book you should find the wonderful story and brilliant characters on your own, so I beg you to please trust me with this one and go read the book. The Wizard of Oz is a must read for everyone in their lifetime so I urge you to pick up this book and head down the yellow brick road with Dorothy.
I’ve been lacking on blogs lately but I’ll be blogging more now I’ve finished exams. The next four reviews I should do are the four graphic novels that I’m reading for my history dissertation, as I’ve decided to study how graphic novels have represented the holocaust. So if this interests you then I am pleased to tell you that you are in for a big ol’ treat. Otherwise I am planning to do more Disney blogs and maybe Harry Potter. So yanno get all excited for that. Maybe. Or like, you know do what you want.
Bethan O'Brien 