Shelf Control #139: The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Wednesday, the 12th of May, and time for Shelf Control once again! Shelf Control is a weekly feature hosted by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. To participate, all you do is pick a book from your TBR pile, and write a post about it–what its about, why you want to read it, when you got it, and such. If you participate, don’t forget to link back to Lisa’s page, and do also leave your links in the comments below as I’d love to check out your picks as well!

This week my pick is as you can see a children’s book, and, more specifically, one of the Oz books, The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The Emerald City of Oz is the sixth of the Oz books; the series has twenty-nine books of which 14 were written by Baum.

When I was a child I had read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which I loved very much, and reread a few times as well. But I had no idea then, and indeed, for a long time, that there were other books in the series. As a child I had also seen an animated series on Oz which wasn’t the original Dorothy story but an adaptation of The Marvelous Land of Oz, with Tip (later Ozma) and Pumpkinhead’s adventures but still didn’t know about the books. Only much later I found that there was an entire series, and found The Marvelous Land of Oz in a second-hand shop, which turned out great fun. Then I decided to try some of the others as well, one of which is this one.

The Emerald City of Oz, first published in 1910, is the sixth of the Oz books. In this Dorothy often speaks of her adventures in Oz to her Uncle Henry and Aunty Em but is disbelieved. When she finds that her uncle and aunt are in trouble because of some debt they incurred as a consequence of the tornado, she decides to take the two to Oz. Here Uncle Henry and Auntie Em meet her friends including the cowardly Lion. Dorothy and her family, accompanied by the Wizard and other friends go on a tour of Oz in a carriage drawn by the wooden sawhorse, and encounter an array of characters from living kitchen utensils, to civilized bunnies, and anthropomorphic jigsaw puzzles. Of course, the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow are there too!

The Oz books (at least the ones I’ve read so far) have been great fun. I love Baum’s imaginative lands like that of the people made of china, and his characters, wicked and good–from the munchkins to the witches (They almost remind me of Enid Blyton’s magical books like the Faraway Tree). From its description itself, with Dorothy and her family taking a journey through Oz and meeting an assortment of interesting characters, one can be sure that there will be lots of fun adventures. There is also a bit of danger in store, for the Nome king whom Dorothy had defeated earlier is planning revenge. I am also very interested in seeing how Uncle Henry and Auntie Em react when they find that Oz is ‘real’ and all that Dorothy has been telling them is true!

Have you read this one? How did you find it? Do you like the Oz books? Which ones have you read and which are your favourites? Looking forward to your thoughts and recommendations!

Lisa’s pick this week is The Last Human by Zack Jordan, described as an ‘oddball space-opera’ (here).

Book description from Wikipedia (here); and cover image from Goodreads (here)

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