The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum
Classics, Fantasy, Fiction, Young-Adult, Adventure, Middle-Grade
Swept away from her home in Kansas by a tornado, Dorothy and her dog Toto find themselves stranded in the fantastical Land of Oz. As instructed by the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins, Dorothy sets off on the yellow brick road to try and find her way to the Emerald City and the Wizard of Oz, who can help her get home. With her companions the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy experiences an adventure full of friendship, magic and danger. A much-loved children’s classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, first of the fourteen books by L. Frank Baum in the “Oz” series, continues to delight readers young and old with its enchanting tale of witches, flying monkeys and silver shoes.
Recommendations from Common Sense Media
Age Recommendation: 8+
What Parents Need to Know:
Parents need to know that the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, which is full of Hollywood embellishments, has little to do with the spare, classic book by L. Frank Baum, originally published in 1900. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a quite different story, and not to be missed. It has magic, great characters, tongue-in-cheek humor, a good deal of sturdy American self-reliance, good deeds and kindness rewarded, and a cheerful appreciation of hucksterism. There’s some incidental violence (principally when the Tin Woodman and other members of his party lop off the heads of their attackers) that’s startling to many unsuspecting readers. There’s food for thought and lessons galore in a book that adapts its structure from Pilgrim’s Progress, avoids taking itself too seriously, and never forgets that there’s no place like home. There’s a Listening Library audio book version narrated by Brooke Sheilds and Paul Rudd, and an Audible Audiobook narrated by actress Anne Hathaway.
Educational Value: 3/5
While author Baum states in his introduction that his aim is to entertain, not teach in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, kids will learn a bit about cyclones and farm life in 1900 Kansas. Kids can also sharpen their critical thinking skills as they contemplate whether the fact that Oz is a successful, kind ruler balances the fact that he’s a complete charlatan.
Positive Messages: 5/5
The closest thing to an explicit statement in this message-packed but subtle story (aside from Dorothy’s saying, once or twice, “There’s no place like home,” but never while clicking her heels like in the movie) is when Glinda tells Dorothy that she’s had the ability to get herself home to Kansas all the time, if she only knew it. Likewise, long before any wish-granting, the Woodman shows plenty of heart, the Scarecrow plenty of brains, and the Lion plenty of courage — it’s only a matter of recognizing it. There are many instances in the story where kindness is rewarded (as when the Tin Woodman saves the Mouse Queen, whose people come to the travelers’ rescue later) and others where characters are defined as good by their kind behavior. Strong friendship helps the characters solve their difficulties and get out of many a fix.
Positive Role Models: 5/5
Dorothy is an excellent role model: the whole adventure comes about because she rushes to save Toto, and she is almost always kind-hearted in her dealings with others (in the famous scene where she throws water on the Wicked Witch, she is responding to the theft of her shoe and has no idea of the dire effect). Her desire to get back to Kansas is driven in part by her own wish to be home, but also because she’s concerned at how unhappy her Aunt Em will be that she’s gone. In the face of many obstacles, she never loses sight of her goal of getting herself and Toto home, and she’s willing to persevere and work hard to get there. While the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion think they lack brains, heart and courage respectively, their deeds show otherwise. The four friends (and Toto) are good companions and support each other through their difficulties. And other characters, from the Mouse Queen to Glinda the Good Witch, are helpful and generous in their dealings. Even the Wizard himself, though a considerably more mixed bag as a self-admitted fraud, has ruled the Emerald City benevolently and treated its people well, and does his best for Dorothy and her friends.
Violence & Scariness: 3/5
The cyclone famously drops Dorothy’s house on top of the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her, and later the Wicked Witch of the West has that fatal encounter with the bucket of water. In between those incidents, there’s a startling amount of casually narrated violence: The Tin Woodman, it turns out, was once a flesh-and-blood man, but a witch’s curse caused his axe to cut off one part of his body after another until he was nothing but metal replacements; at one point, the Woodman and others kill dozens of attackers of various species by chopping off their heads.
Sex, Romance & Nudity: n/a
Just a slight heads up that the next volume in the Oz series, The Marvelous Land of Oz, features a startling instance of gender-bending as the young male protagonist proves to be Ozma, Queen of Oz, under an enchantment, and is restored to her proper state. If The Wonderful Wizard of Oz leaves your kids wanting more, you may want to know that this is coming.
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Products & Purchases: n/a
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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking: 1/5
One of the hazards Dorothy and her friends face is a field of red poppies whose fragrance puts unwary travelers to sleep until they die.
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