'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' Book Review

The Wizard of Oz has delighted hearts and minds aplenty since its theatrical release in 1939. It was the first to adopt technicolor, too, allowing for the film’s transition into the Land of Oz to be both seamless and staggering at once. In the best part of a century later, there have to date been a number of sequels of sorts, television shows and many other interpretations – no surprise given that creator L. Frank Baum penned a total of fourteen Oz books.

Turning to the pages of the classic book published in 1900, as the story goes, young Kansas girl Dorothy Gale and her loyal dog Toto are whipped up by a cyclone and dropped in the Land of Oz, home to the Munchkins. Here she meets friendly strangers, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion. Together they set out for the Emerald City, where they hope a great wizard is able to bestow upon each of them what they longingly seek.

Unlike the film, there are some notable differences here. For the most part, it’s familiar territory, but what you might not be so familiar with are the other areas of Oz unseen onscreen, such as China Country and many of the woodland settings where great beasts not so cowardly roam. Many elements of the plot, too, are different, but are best left discovered to a reader who has yet to explore Oz in its purest form.

Perhaps one of the biggest differences, though, is Dorothy herself. In the film, she’s as terrified as a young girl would be in such a dilemma, though firm and more fearless than most nonetheless. On page, however, Dorothy is both fearless and practically-minded. For those looking to draw such parallels between the book and film, there’s plenty of insight into this in the book’s original and new introduction with Signet Classics.

Ultimately, it’s the well-realised and whimsical Land of Oz that enriches this story, along with of course Baum’s deliciously-timeless storytelling and the ingeniously-witty interplay between the characters. In the film, Dorothy steps out from her black-and-white Kansas farmhouse into the wildly-colourful Land of Oz. For you to do the same, all you need to do is simply turn over the first page of this book.