I know what you’re thinking. You already know the story of The Wizard of Oz. Well, maybe.
L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was written in 1900. The film musical was released in 1939 to less than favorable reviews and initially a box office bomb. And then, the movie debuted on television in 1956.
Years later, when I saw the movie, The Wizard of Oz, I was inspired to take a ride in a hot air balloon. The Wizard of Oz - Book vs. Movie While the now classic film hits many of the notes from Baum’s book, there’s even more brains, heart, and courage displayed by the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion in the book. (Actually, Tin Woodman in the book). Just as Dorothy has the power all along to defeat the Wicked Witch, the Scarecrow brandishes his brains, the Tin Man reveals his heart, and the Lion shows his courage throughout the journey to The Emerald City. It’s only The Wizard who dares to recognize what these characters have yet to discover about themselves.
What the film keeps from the original book is the sly humor.
Case in point: The house in Kansas is lifted in the air by the cyclone, steering its occupants, Dorothy and Toto, to the Land of Oz where “The cyclone had set the house down, very gently – for a cyclone.” What the movie changes from the book makes sense for a film made in 1939. The Wizard of Oz book has more frightening scenes that may be too much for children.
The book also has more poignancy that may be missed by children.
How did the Woodman become the Tin Woodman? He had loved a Munchkin girl and they were promised to marry. But the Wicked Witch of the East enchanted his axe, so that he first cut off his left leg, then his right leg, and so on. While the tinsmith made new body parts of tin, the cruelest cut was yet to come. The Wicked Witch “made my axe slip again, so that it cut right through my body, splitting me into two halves...I had now no heart, so that I lost all my love for the Munchkin girl.” Why Read The Wizard of Oz Today? There’s another reason to read Baum’s book again or for the first time. Today, you have so many more choices for which book version to read. For me, there are two considerations with children’s books: the story and the illustrations. I’m a fan of illustrators, Alison Jay and Emily Winfield Martin. And now, with this version of The Wizard of Oz, I have a new favorite illustrator, Lisbeth Zwerger.
Lisbeth Zwerger has illustrated more than 30 books, including Alice in Wonderland, Hansel and Gretel, and The Night Before Christmas.
In 1990, at the age of 36, she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal (the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for children’s literature), the highest international distinction given to those who have made a lasting contribution to children’s literature.
See other children’s books from my favorite illustrators:
Lisbeth Zwerger books on Amazon Alison Jay books on Amazon Emily Winfield Martin books on Amazon The Kansas Centennial Edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Do you need another edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz? If illustrated by Michael McCurdy, then yes. Yes, you do.
McCurdy’s stunning black & white wood engravings bring both sharpness and warmth to The Kansas Centennial Edition produced by the University Press of Kansas. Comments are closed.
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