Not my favorite of the books but I enjoyed the new characters. that being said I want to know more about several of them. a back story is hinted at for a couple characters but don't come to fruition...

3*

I'm not sure what to say about this one.

Eureka's trial and Ozma's party by the end were more meh than anything else. Button Bright with his "Don't know" replies and just... an overall meh book for me."

- I'm starting to feel like the stories are the same, but with different companions and lands to visit.

- I liked this book, but the ending was a tad boring. Ozma's party was just list after list after list. There was a lot of listing and telling, and I wish I had been more immersed in her party.

- I really wish there was a new illustrator. I'm tired of John R. Neill's pictures.

- L. Frank Baum was very dedicated to his readers. They asked for more Oz, and he delivered. I really enjoy reading his letters at the beginning of each book.

- Button Bright and Polly were kinda useless. I don't know what their purpose was. They didn't add to the story at all. The Shaggy Man was the only one who helped Dorothy along the journey.

- I'm not to the burned out phase yet, but I think I'm getting there. I hope Baum changes up the formula a little in the next books.

I started reading this series with my son when he turned 4. We'd just started reading chapter books and I was looking for great stories without the presence of annoying pop culture. The Oz books were recommended by a trusted friend and I was skeptical at first, especially at his age, but the first book is so much better than the movie, and each subsequent book has been better than the last. After checking a couple different versions out from the library we now make sure to always get the books with the original illustrations by John R. Neill (the Dover 1980s and 90s reprints are the best). I don't know what we'll do when we reach the end of the series!

So it has been a LONG time since my last Oz book. In fact, i read Dorothy and the wizard of oz RIGHT before the pandemic (wrote my review on march 3, 2020). I wanted to get back around to reading the next oz book, but the last one left such a bad taste in my mouth. However, i saw this at a half price books for 99 cents and i was like "ah, the hell with it, why not?" and, well, i can say it was definitely better than the last one.

There's a parallel between the previous book and this one though as it also entails a "going on an adventure towards oz and then party with ozians at the end." the difference with that one and this one though is that the previous book was just flat out dark and mean spirited, while this one was a little more light hearted.

There was only a few minor mentions of death in this one, unlike the last one which was chock full of it. i read oz books for whimsy and fun. not to be depressed.

That being said, i liked the shaggy man in this book (This being his introduction). The rainbow girl was kind of a non-entity but fine, but i can't say i really enjoyed button-bright as all he did was go "i don't know" basically any time someone asked him a question. it got old very fast.

There's no real stakes in this one as dorothy and her group get lost and they have to find their way to oz. and then there's a birthday party. It's a very serviceable book. The side characters were okay, and the story itself was enjoyable enough. i read it extremely fast and actually am looking forward to the next book where dorothy finally moves to oz with her family proper.

If Oz books had such a thing as a filler episode, that's what this one reads like. a filler episode. I still enjoyed it more than the last one though . while i gave both a 3 out of 5, last one was a 2.5 rounded up to a 3, this one is an even 3 out of 5.

After rereading [b:The Road to Oz|179639|The Road to Oz (Oz, #5)|L. Frank Baum|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1172470719s/179639.jpg|1038552], I was tempted to assume that readers in 1909 were less demanding than readers today. I also assumed that there must have been any number of worthier books to purchase in 1909; but 1909 seems to have been a rather low year in publishing. Young readers looking for a continuing series would have done better to try [a:L.M. Montgomery|5350|L.M. Montgomery|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1188896723p2/5350.jpg]'s sequel [b:Anne of Avonlea|77390|Anne of Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables, #2)|L.M. Montgomery|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1305545757s/77390.jpg|63845], or [b:Harding's Luck|176413|Harding's Luck (Fabian Time Fantasies, #2)|E. Nesbit|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348919997s/176413.jpg|2512739] by [a:E. Nesbit|6468260|E. Nesbit|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1349932723p2/6468260.jpg]; otherwise there were only a couple of stories by [a:Beatrix Potter|11593|Beatrix Potter|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1201022492p2/11593.jpg] published that year, and no other enduring classics. So maybe people weren't disappointed by Oz.

What disappoints me in the fifth volume of [a:L. Frank Baum|3242|L. Frank Baum|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1383720421p2/3242.jpg]'s Oz series is not so much the lack of conflict or coherent plot (though I am disappointed by those) as the continuing watering down and dumbing down of the Oz mythology in general. The first three books in the series make a fantastic trilogy and set up a compelling world--a uniquely American mythology. Along with the classic fairy elements and the humor and friendship, there is danger, there are lots of things in Oz that aren't as they should be, and there are hints of a disturbing historical backstory. This begins to change in [b:book four|179596|Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz A Faithful Record of Their Amazing Adventures in an Underground World And How With the Aid of Their Friends Zeb Hugson,|L. Frank Baum|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1379331591s/179596.jpg|173513], when the Wizard--who up to that point had been a sinister figure (a shameless shyster who arrives in Oz and manipulates the situation to his own benefit; conscripts Oz residents into slave labor to construct the Emerald City, "just to keep them occupied"; abducts the infant heir to the throne of Oz, has her transformed into a boy and hidden away in a remote corner of the north country under the care of a malicious witch; spends decades living in secluded comfort in the palace while continuing to dupe everyone around him; passively allows the outright enslavement of half of the Oz population; and sends a Kansas girl and her friends to what he assumes will be their certain demise)--reappears as a cuddly, friendly old man whom everyone loves. No apologies, no explanations, no reason for the change. Ozma has every reason to abhor this man, but instead he's given a fine apartment in the palace and (along with the nine tiny white piglets--his shtick) becomes a great favorite of all. Book four thus makes it clear that Baum doesn't have the heart to see anything bad happen to anyone (except certain people, for no logical reason; more on that later). The revelation slipped into this book is that there is no natural death in Oz:

   "But I thought nobody ever died in Oz," [Dorothy] said.

   "Nor do they; although if one is bad, he may be condemned and killed by the good citizens," [the Tin Woodman] answered.

What??

Even if other dangers could still be imagined by Baum's "little correspondents," they can rest assured that any injustice that goes unnoticed by Glinda in her magic book of records will surely be caught by Ozma in her magic picture, which she can then right by means of her magic belt.

Another disappointment in The Road to Oz is the shabby way the main characters treat others. The Tin Woodman has already become a vain, self-centered character, but now all the rest of the characters join him. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the company's treatment of the poor musicker. This man has done nothing wrong, other than annoy some of the characters with his constant music-breathing. And yet for this he is mocked and permanently ostracized, even by the charming girlish ruler, Ozma herself. Other characters, on the other hand, have turned our heroes' heads into fox or donkey heads, yet they are quickly forgiven, invited to Ozma's party, and so take their place in the Emerald City inner circle. I'm also disturbed by the horrible defeat of the Scoodlers, who are never given a chance to explain their underlying motivations before our heroes toss the Scoodlers' heads into a deep chasm. Sorry, Scoodlers.

There's never any conflict in this story (and we learn later that even if we'd thought there was confict, no one was ever in any danger whatsoever), but the final chapters are as unconflicted as a book could possibly be. They become a litany of the histories of the characters we've already met before, and the introductions to characters we've never heard of before (and Santa Claus), all of whom are borrowed from Baum's non-Oz "Nonestica" stories. [b:The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus|715058|The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus|L. Frank Baum|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1387732742s/715058.jpg|701311] gives us Santa, the Knooks, and the Ryls. [b:Queen Zixi of Ix|109505|Queen Zixi of Ix|L. Frank Baum|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348037645s/109505.jpg|105529] features the Queen herself, along with Bud and Fluff. Dot and Tot in Merryland brings us Queen Dolly and the Candy Man. And John Dough, though a generic nickname for any gingerbread man, is borrowed from Baum's [b:John Dough and the Cherub|1099578|John Dough and the Cherub|L. Frank Baum|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348730810s/1099578.jpg|1086456]. None of these borrowed characters is interesting or useful in the present story. But that might imply that any of the original characters introduced first in The Road to Oz are. Unfortunately, none of the new characters has any sort of payoff for his or her distinctive character traits. It doesn't matter at all that Polychrome is the Rainbow's Daughter. Button-Bright's innocence doesn't help or hinder the travelers in any way. The Shaggy Man comes the closest to having some kind of character arc, but even he fails to intrigue, after the initial chapters (which I found quite amusing, actually, featuring some of Baum's classic wordplay and oddities).

It's a disappointing book in so many ways, but as I read it aloud to the family for bedtimes, we enjoyed laughing at it; and when I finished, the kids asked me to start the next Oz book right away. Go figure.