The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1) (L Frank Baum's Oz) (Elite Classics, #17)

by L. Frank Baum and GRANDMA'S TREASURES

Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations. Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as "historical" in the children's library; for the time has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident. Having this thought in mind, the story of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was written solely to please children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out. L. Frank Baum

• ISBN10: 1312875461
• ISBN13: 9781312875463
• Publish Date: 29 January 2015 (first published 9 January 1909)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Lulu.com
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 192
• Language: English

Reviews

[cherryblossommj]

My daughters both love to be read to and in the past year we have really started to incorporate some good read aloud stories. Of course we read aloud picture books and the like, but I'm taking about real chapter books with and without sparse pictures and illustrations. Enough that we can sit together and read and enjoy listening, but also where they can lie in bed and listen to me read to them from the rocking chair. I have a crazy list of books to read, both some I already have and others I'm trying to find. I have a few Grosset & Dunlap Junior Illustrated Library Classics and books that mimic that classic feel are my favorite for us as opposed to just random paperback copies. I want things that will last. Thus, when unexpected The Wonderful Wizard of Oz illustrated in full color by Michael Sieben appeared for review I was ecstatic! We have spent the last few months filling the moments before bedtime snuggling and reading about Dorothy's adventure with her friends.
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While reading I had several updates and thoughts including the fact that this is really full color, "complete" and unabridged. Crazy THICK paper!

Crazy THICK paper! This is the first time I have read this classic and I'm sharing the experience with my preschooler. This particular edition from HarperDesign is very heavy with thick photo type paper but feels good and solid in my hands. I'm unsure what I think about the art, especially the eyes. However the text to art ratio is perfect for us now in attention to longer text storybook reads. I'm really excited.

Enjoying the story and the ratio of text to illustration. These are just bizarre illustrations.

Heavy book for my 3.5 to carry. Really enjoying the story. Might finish before @DisneyOzMovie comes out. (Well that didn't happen, but we did get to watch the movie and she knew a little bit about Oz from Dorothy's story. I think it will spark an interest in going back to read Oz's story and others...)

The Green Lady version of Oz is the first illustration I have actually liked. I'm still with mixed feelings.

Now back to current me. I did enjoy the image of the Green Lady and that of the good witch Glinda. But mostly I thought they were a bit bizarre, but then I'm a calm traditional artist viewer. I love the impressionists, but I cannot stand Picasso. So this falls a bit in between. I love that it is extravagant. I love the it is bizarre and creative for my young daughter to see and really experience someone's interpretation. Actually it was a few days before this one arrived that we had ordered the Sterling Illustrated Classic [a:Robert Ingpen|4055248|Robert Ingpen|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66-e07624dc012f2cce49c7d9aa6500c6c0.jpg] illustrated edition. This one is big and wide, like a lap story book. It is neat to compare the more traditional illustrations to the quirky ones of [a:Michael Sieben|3358647|Michael Sieben|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg].
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I like this book, this specific book. I'm glad we have. While I might not have picked it up at first I'm glad that we did get through it and stop to look at all the pictures. This is a normal trade size book that will fit well on the shelf with any other classics and chapter books. The illustrations are full color and vibrant on schemes of green, red, yellow and orange. There are more than fifty full color illustrations and they really lend to the imagination.

This would make a really good contemporary gift. As I read in the press release, "Folk Art Meets Punk Rock in this Beautiful Edition of a Classic Tale" and that is definitely the truth!

Thanks to HC.