Practically everyone knows about Dorothy Gale’s journey to the Emerald City with the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion. But few people today know that Dorothy returned to Oz many times after her first visit and had several more adventures, beginning with Baum’s third Oz book, Ozma of Oz (1907).
A New Fairyland
While traveling with her Uncle Henry aboard a ship set for Australia, Dorothy Gale is thrown overboard by a storm and floats away in a chicken coop along with a talking yellow hen she names Billina. After a harrowing night, the travelers find themselves in a new fairyland called Ev.
In Ev, Dorothy and Billina befriend Tik-Tok, a clockwork man who can think, talk, and move as long as his mechanisms are wound up. Tik-Tok protects Dorothy from the Wheelers, wild creatures with wheels instead of hands and feet, but runs down before he can stop Princess Langwidere, a vain woman with thirty heads, from locking Dorothy in a tower – with the intention of swapping one of her spare heads for Dorothy’s own.
The Nome King
Fortunately for Dorothy, travelers from Oz, including the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion, and Princess Ozma – the new ruler of Oz – come to Ev and rescue her. After reuniting with her friends, Dorothy learns that Ozma is on her way to the subterranean kingdom of the Nome King, who has imprisoned the Land of Ev’s rightful rulers. Eager for another adventure, Dorothy joins Ozma’s group.
Once in the Nome King’s domains, however, Ozma learns the king is a magician who has transformed Ev’s royal family into ornaments for his collection. To free them, Ozma and her friends must guess which of the ornaments are people – but must also agree to be turned into ornaments if they guess incorrectly. Soon, only Dorothy, Billina, and the Scarecrow are left untransformed. Can they free their friends and return to Oz safely?
Beyond Wizard of Oz Videos
Considered by many to be the Harry Potter books of their day, the Oz series once sold in the hundreds of thousands, with many parents buying Oz books as an annual Christmas gift for their children. Even today, new editions of Baum’s books, with full-color illustrations, are available through bookstores such as Books of Wonder and are eagerly read by new Oz fans.
Those who only know about Oz through Wizard of Oz videos like the 1939 MGM The Wizard of Oz movie starring Judy Garland will find Ozma of Oz introduces them to a different version of Oz. Oz is not a dream here, but a real place that Dorothy, Toto, and others can regularly visit. Dorothy also does not look or act like Judy Garland, but is a blond, courageous pre-teen as depicted by Baum and his illustrator John R. Neill.
Most of the villains in the Oz series are also not as frightening as those in The Wizard of Oz DVD. Despite the grotesqueness of being able to exchange her head with thirty extra ones, Princess Langwidere is such a comically vain character that she comes across more like a bossy older sister than a witch. Likewise, for all his powers, the Nome King is prone to childlike tantrums and humorous phobias that make him a favorite villain among Oz fans.
Once readers get past these differences, however, they will find this original version of Oz has its own special magic. Many will be delighted that they can follow Dorothy’s adventures in eleven other Oz books by Baum as well as an ongoing Oz series continued by other Royal Historians of Oz. New Oz fans will also want to check out Baum’s second Oz book, The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), which tells the story of how Ozma became Oz’s new ruler.
Baum, L. Frank. Ozma of Oz. NY: HarperCollins, 1989 (orig. 1907). ISBN: 978-0688066321
Do you like fairy tales with strong girl heroes, lots of action, and humor? Then check out reviews of Rapunzel's Revenge, Once Upon a Curse, and The Legend of Holly Claus.
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