Own, but a little abandoned as well. I was so bored by this one--it reminded me a little of Jean Auel losing steam at the end of her books so she could just recount stuff that you already knew about for 34857230957 pages. Baum's books are shorter, at least. I skipped ahead a lot, but this is the first book in a while I wished the touch screen on my phone worked faster. Do not recommend--the characters are grating, the scenarios they find themselves in are grating, and the resolution is illogical.

So THAT'S where Glinda's travel bubbles come from!

This seemed like a connector book. There was no clear plot and no clear thesis to the book, other than to bring back all the old characters back together and to introduce new characters who will be prominent in future works. If you're reading through this series, I don't see much of a point to reading this one, unless you just cant get enough of OZ. There is also the questionable inclusion of Santa Claus, which could only be described as a stretch to inspire more of an idea of a fairy land. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here in the series.

I love to read books about Oz. They're so fun and full of whimsy. It was nice to read this book about Dorothy and her journey to Oz with the Shaggy Man again.

3/5

This just barely got a 3/5. It's not entirely the book's fault but also that it took me so very long to finish the book because i just kept putting off. The truth is... I got bored! I really want to marathon all 15 books and felt that'd be such an accomplishment and a great thing to have done BUT I'm only on book 5 and I'm super bored. L. Frank Baum is clearly only writing to appease his many child fans and whilst that's a fine thing to do, it means the story is getting uber boring and repetitive. I will force myself to read book 6 because apparently that was supposed to be the final book in the series before Baum felt pressured? to keep writing more til he died. So book 6 has an ending... which I will discover when I eventually read it... one day.

This book was just another adventure of Dorothy finding herself on a path to Oz meeting new friends on the way and having strange fun adventures before reuniting with ALL her old friends and having a celebration. What was different was the new people only introduced at the end e.g. Santa Claus and Queen of Merryland who came only for the Celebration of Ozma's brithday.

Things I dogeared to be remembered:

- The line: "All donkeys are born wise so the only school we need is the school of experience. Books are only for those who know nothing, and so are obliged to learn things from other people" LOL
And then Shaggy Man's line "So in other words, the more stupid one is, the more he thinks he knows" AMEN

- This time they again said that the land of Oz consists of North-Gillikins-Purple, East-Blue-Munchkins, South-red-Quadlings, and West-yellow-Winkies. Stop changing!
-People don't die in Oz, interesting
- They finally mentioned the issue of the Cowardly Lion!!! Dorothy introduces the Lion as "The Cowardly Lion who isn't a coward at all, but just thinks he is. The Wizard gave him some courage once, and he has part of it left" HMMM
- Page 349 (Volume 2 of the Complete Collection) the Wizard has 8 piglets and page 372 he has 9 again!!!???
- No real conclusion with Button-Bright. So does Santa know his parents? who are they? HE STILL KNOWS NOTHING NO IMPROVEMENT WHATSOEVER AHHH

I've enjoyed my run - minus this book - but after book 6 that is it. I'm going to pretend it ended there - which is what Baum wanted anyway! This is for kids - not for 20 year olds who like a point to their books!!

Our 7-year-old loved this one, too. We went through the first five Oz books in about two months with me reading some aloud and him reading some to himself. The John R. Neill illustrations are a vital part of the collection we have - they add to the whimsy.

This is my second favorite of the Oz series, right after Ozma of Oz. I love the new characters, the Shaggy Man and Polly especially. I really like that, while there are some challenges in the book, the main goal is a happy one. They're not on the run from anyone, they're all on their way to Ozma's birthday party, where they meet the greatest assortment of colorful individuals. Unlike some of the other books in the series, this one really stays true to the spirit of Oz, with unique but awesome characters like Johnny Dooit and Baum's version of Santa Claus, who is of course close friends with Ozma :) I suppose the only complaint I have is that the chapter titles give away way too much of what's going to happen, but that's the same in all of the Oz books. Again, loved seeing the reunions between many of the characters, even though they have been reuinted in the series already, it's always awesome seeing the original cast of Oz characters together and having fun.

L. Frank Baum really loves characters that embody "no thoughts, head empty" and honestly I love it. you thought the Scarecrow was dumb? Well, let's bring in Jack Pumpkinhead. Oh, you think that's the end of it? Just wait until you meet Button-Bright. Truly an empty-headed boy and I love him. I also liked the Shaggy Man, of course. This book dragged a bit more than some of the others, but I did enjoy myself nonetheless.

L. Frank Baum is an author I have read many times since I first discovered him in second grade. I find that his books stand up to the test of time and they are books that I enjoy re-reading. Some of them are stronger than others but as a whole I quite enjoy both the stories and characters.