fantasy book reviews science fiction book reviewsThe Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum children's fantasy audiobook reviewsThe Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Emerald City of Oz is L. Frank Baum’s sixth OZ book. Here we find Dorothy Gale back at home in Kansas. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em are about to lose their farm and they despair of what will happen to their niece Dorothy since they can no longer support her. The three decide that Dorothy should go live in Oz with her friend Princess Ozma who has often tried to get Dorothy to move there. But sweet little Dorothy can’t leave Uncle Henry and Aunt Em living lives of hard labor back in Kansas, so she gets permission to bring them to Oz, too.

Thus, Dorothy gets to give her aunt and uncle a tour of Oz (oh no!) and introduce them to all her friends — Cowardly Lion, Hungry Tiger, Billina, Sawhorse, Wizard, Pumpkinhead, Scarecrow, Woggle Bug, etc, etc, etc. On her tour she also runs into several strange inhabitants of Oz that she’s never seen before such as the people who are made out of puzzle pieces, the paper doll people, the people who are kitchen utensils and speak in bad puns, the people who are bakery items, the people who are afraid of unlikely disasters (the Flutterbudgets), and (my favorite) the people who can’t say anything succinctly (the Rigmaroles).

Meanwhile, the Nome King is regretting that he let Dorothy win his magic belt from him long ago. He is stuck under the mountain and unable to do magic. So he calls together his army and gets some allies to help him attack Oz. The Whimsies (who cover their small heads with big pasteboard heads so they’ll appear smarter), the Growleywogs (cruel giants), and the Phanfasms join up, but each has their own treacherous plans.

I mentioned in my review of the last OZ book, The Road to Oz, that these stories are starting to feel like little tours of Oz that L. Frank Baum quickly threw together to satisfy his legions of pint-sized Oz fans. They’re like a trip to Disney World — every time you go (please keep in mind that I have lived only an hour or two away for most of my life and I get Florida resident discounts), you see the same happy people and the same happy places and you do the same happy things. Much of The Emerald City of Oz is like that and all the imaginative races that Baum introduces made me feel like I was watching a Disney parade. Or sampled way too many products at the Disney candy shop. Or rode on the Tea Cups for too long. Or sat through It’s a Small World ten times in a row. To say it plainly: it’s just too much too fast and it’s hard to enjoy the frenetic pace of STUFF TO SEE coming at you. It’s sensory overload and I missed all the cleverness Baum expressed in the first few Oz books.  (It’s clear that he’s just writing for the children now.)

This was probably my last OZ book. I own the rest on audio and I hate to leave them languishing in my Audible library, but it’s just not fun anymore. This one was nicely narrated by Ron Knowles for Regent Press.

The Wizard of Oz — (1900-1920) Ages 9-12. Publisher: One of the true classics of American literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has stirred the imagination of young and old alike for over four generations. Originally published in 1900, it was the first truly American fairy tale, as Baum crafted a wonderful out of such familiar items as a cornfield scarecrow, a mechanical woodman, and a humbug wizard who used old-fashioned hokum to express that universal theme, “There’s no place like home.” Follow the adventures of young Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, as their Kansas house is swept away by a cyclone and they find themselves in a strange land called Oz. Here she meets the Munchkins and joins the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion on an unforgettable journey to the Emerald City, where lives the all-powered Wizard of Oz.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz The Road to Oz The Emerald City of Oz The Patchwork Girl of Oz Tik-Tok of Oz The Scarecrow of Oz Rinkitink in Oz The Lost Princess of Oz The Tin Woodman of Oz The Magic of Oz Glinda of Oz Little Wizard Stories of Oz L. Frank Baum John R. Neill

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  • Kat Hooper

    KAT HOOPER, who started this site in June 2007, earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience and psychology at Indiana University (Bloomington) and now teaches and conducts brain research at the University of North Florida. When she reads fiction, she wants to encounter new ideas and lots of imagination. She wants to view the world in a different way. She wants to have her mind blown. She loves beautiful language and has no patience for dull prose, vapid romance, or cheesy dialogue. She prefers complex characterization, intriguing plots, and plenty of action. Favorite authors are Jack Vance, Robin Hobb, Kage Baker, William Gibson, Gene Wolfe, Richard Matheson, and C.S. Lewis.