The Wizard of Oz turned out to be a very good children's book, written very simply and with a lot of excitement perfect for young children. The biggest shock for me was that, for the most part, the 1939 movie is a faithful adaptation -- the changes are quite minor, but enough that it makes reading the book worthwhile even if you can recite the film by heart. I had always heard the movie was radically different than the book -- not true.

Actually, I guess by the watered-down standards of many of today's, The Wizard of Oz would be considered too intense as a book for young children -- the origin of the Tin Man is rather grotesque, but not worse than anything kids might see on TV or that they hear about from friends as school.

Not much else to say -- it's short, something you can finish in an evening or two, and enjoyable for anyone who likes a good story well told. Give it a read.

I'm now hunting down book #2 in used book stores.

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The personal opinions expressed on this page are solely those of Ms. Cravens, unless otherwise noted.