It's the Wizard of Oz! What can I say? I have meant to read this book for years. The movie with Judy Garland is of course a favorite that I have seen It's the Wizard of Oz! What can I say? I have meant to read this book for years. The movie with Judy Garland is of course a favorite that I have seen umpteen times ever since it was broadcast on TV every year starting back in the 1960s. Then I just recently read Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts, a very enjoyable fictionalized account of Maud Baum and her marriage to Frank Baum, the author of Oz. I liked it so much that I decided I had to read The Wizard of Oz ASAP! And I'm glad I finally did.
The novel differs in many ways from the movie but the gist of the story remains the same. Dorothy is whisked from Kansas to Oz after she and her house are sucked up into a cyclone. The munchkins are there and direct her to seek out the wizard by following the yellow brick road to the Emerald City where she meets the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion along the way. A few differences are that the wicked witch's shoes are silver, not ruby; the emerald city is not green but appears so because of green spectacles, the wizard changes appearances for each visitor, and Dorothy has some further adventures after the wizard sails off in his balloon. She travels south to seek out Glinda and encounters the city of china where the occupants are small china figures that are able to move but are readily broken. Glinda rules over the Quadlings in the south and the flying monkeys end up being life saving to the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion. But Dorothy is still able to return home by clicking the heels of her silver shoes together three times.
I really enjoyed this for what it is, a fable from the imagination of Baum written for children. He went on to write many more Oz books which I probably will never read but this one should really be read and enjoyed by all....more
I took a few hours and read Spiral Bridge last night. This volume had my name and date (1966) inscribed on the front endpaper so I must have purchasedI took a few hours and read Spiral Bridge last night. This volume had my name and date (1966) inscribed on the front endpaper so I must have purchased this when it was first published that year. I believe by 1966 (I was 16 then) I had lost interest in the Hardy Boys and moved on to other books and authors such as Edgar Rice Burroughs but I must have still bought the Hardys as new books came out. I think Spiral Bridge may have been the last I bought as a youngster (although I now have a complete collection up until the digests started). I don't think I had ever read this one (as is the case with most of the later books) so reading the monthly Spotlite Books is an incentive to read some of these. Anyway, I thought "Spiral Bridge" was quite a good story. Unlike "Jungle Pyramid" the interior artwork was very good and I really like the cover as well. I thought the plot had a lot of similarities to "Wildcat Swamp" with the boys' getting involved with a gang whose motives are not as they seem. As usual, Chet's interest (this time shot-putting) played a key role in saving the day towards the end of the book. And of course Chet always having food on hand helped as well. Early on in the book, the boys catch one of the gang who was trying to retrieve a nylon rope he had left tied to the Hardy house when he earlier broke into their attic � (the thief must have really cared for that rope � risking capture to get it back!). Joe decides the rope might come in handy so keeps it and takes it with him on their adventure at the bridge in Kentucky. Of course the rope did turn out to be useful at the end. The Hardys are always prepared! They also carried a waterproof flashlight and a portable shortwave set that they used to communicate with Sam Radley back in Bayport. This came in handy when Radley was able to dictate to them some prison slang that the boys used to make it look like they were jailbirds. I didn't know they put teens in the big house! Overall, an enjoyable Hardy story!...more
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