L. Frank Baum
15 libri
- Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz EnglishYou get Dorothy at her most resourceful here, stranded after a California earthquake and making her way through bizarre underground countries with the Wizard, who is brave in bursts but still a nervous showman. It’s a stranger, more episodic Oz book, best if you enjoy Baum’s odd landscapes more than a tightly shaped adventure.
- Glinda of Oz EnglishYou get Dorothy and Ozma traveling with Glinda into the strange country of the Flatheads, where Baum’s imagination turns geography into play. It’s a gentle, episodic late Oz book, more curious than suspenseful, and especially good when you want the familiar characters in a slightly dreamier, less polished adventure.
- Oz Stories EnglishBaum's short Oz pieces, chiefly the Little Wizard Stories: quick episodes that put Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and company through one neat scrape apiece. Written for younger readers than the novels; small servings with the original voice intact.
- Ozma of Oz EnglishYou’ll enjoy Dorothy’s return to Oz, where a prickly hen named Billina and the wind-up Tik-Tok make wonderfully odd companions. The Nome King’s underground kingdom gives the book a stranger, slightly darker texture than the earlier Oz adventures, while Dorothy remains practical, brave, and refreshingly unimpressed by nonsense.
- Rinkitink in Oz EnglishYou get a funny, slightly odd adventure led by the blustering King Rinkitink, the resourceful Prince Inga, and Bilbil, a famously bad-tempered goat. It spends more time on island kingdoms and captivity than on Oz itself, but the magic pearls and loyal friendships make the detour worthwhile.
- The Emerald City of Oz EnglishYou get a gentler, more domestic Oz here, with Dorothy bringing Aunt Em and Uncle Henry to meet Ozma and settle into an almost utopian life. It’s episodic rather than quest-driven, but the contrast between Oz’s kindness and the Nome King’s threatened invasion gives the book a surprisingly uneasy edge.
- The Lost Princess of Oz EnglishYou get the gentler, dreamier side of Oz here, with Dorothy following a trail of missing objects through strange landscapes and meeting the wonderfully odd Button-Bright and Ojo. It’s episodic and a little slight, but the playful details and affectionate friendships make it easy to settle into.
- The Magic of Oz EnglishYou’ll enjoy this if you like Oz at its most eccentric: Ozma’s birthday brings talking animals, a missing magic dishpan, and Kiki Aru’s dangerously useful transformation spells. It’s a slight, episodic read, but the parade of odd ideas and Baum’s cheerful nonsense still has real charm.
- The Marvelous Land of Oz EnglishNo Dorothy this time, and it hardly matters: you get Tip running away from a witch with Jack Pumpkinhead wobbling beside him, a wooden sawhorse brought clattering to life, and Jinjur's girl army storming the Emerald City. Sillier than the first book, and stranger, in a good way.
- The Patchwork Girl of Oz EnglishYou get a wonderfully odd Oz adventure here, with Ojo’s anxious earnestness balanced by Scraps, a patchwork girl who treats every danger as an excuse for mischief. The journey wanders through Baum’s usual bright strangeness, though its episodic shape suits you better if you enjoy fairy-tale detours over a tightly driven plot.
- The Road to Oz EnglishFair warning, there's barely a plot: Dorothy and the Shaggy Man just wander strange roads picking up strays like Polychrome, the rainbow's daughter, until everyone lands at Ozma's birthday party. If you want stakes, skip it; if you want gentle, dreamy company, it's lovely.
- The Scarecrow of Oz EnglishYou follow Trot and the one-legged Cap’n Bill through a wonderfully odd chain of islands and kingdoms, with Button-Bright making trouble and the Scarecrow appearing in a surprisingly central role. It’s episodic and dreamlike rather than tightly plotted, but the inventions keep rewarding your curiosity.
- The Tin Woodman of Oz EnglishYou get Baum’s odd blend of silliness and melancholy here, especially in the Tin Woodman’s tender concern for Nimmie Amee and his meeting with Captain Fyter. The journey wanders through inventive Oz country, so you’ll enjoy it most when you’re happy to follow whim rather than urgency.
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz EnglishYou probably think you know this from the movie, but the book is stranger and drier, with a Tin Woodman who's oddly tender and a wizard who's basically a nervous con man. It reads fast and light, good for a rainy afternoon or reading aloud.
- Tik-Tok of Oz EnglishYou get Tik-Tok’s wonderfully literal voice, Betsy Bobbin’s practical courage, and a journey that moves from cheerful Oz nonsense into the eerie underground kingdom of the Nome King. It’s more episodic than some Oz books, but the oddness keeps accumulating in a lovely way.