My rating:

add to my books

more photos (1)

read book

The Magic of Oz (Oz #13)

by L. Frank Baum

3.90 · rating details · 1,193 ratings · 29 reviews

While searching for special birthday presents for Princess Ozma of Oz, Dorothy, the Wizard, and the Cowardly Lion discover a treasonous plot. In addition to familiar faces from previous Oz stories, this exciting and amusing tale introduces a host of new characters. 101 black-and-white drawings plus 12 full-color plates.

Paperback, 284 pages

Published January 30th 1998 by Dover Publications (first published 1919)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes

The Moon And Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham

Jungle Tales of Tarzan (Tarzan, #6) by Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Year 1919

9th out of 14 books — 4 voters

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Return Of The King by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Best Books about Elves or Faeries

254th out of 330 books — 499 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 2,198)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Mar 24, 2010

Tamra rated it

I've always wanted to read an Oz book, so when I saw this at the library, I had to check it out.

It's fun. In the early chapters of the book, I was unconvinced. The world is bizarre. Even more bizarre than the movie, but that may just be how it comes across in book form. Anyway, it doesn't matter, because by the end of the book I was completely sold and ready to live in Oz myself. (And, seriously, I need a Glass Cat.)

According to the Afterward in the edition I had, this...more

· see review

Dec 12, 2011

Danns rated it

While ferreting out the order of the books I happened upon the fact that this was one of the darker books of the Oz series, and I must agree. Now granted, darker is a bit subjective here, and it's not "King" or "Barker" dark, but for a children's book, it can get a somewhat grim. The story starts off with Kiki Aru stealing away some magical secrets put to rest by his family and using his new found transformation magic to run off and explore the world. He meets up with Ruge...more

· see review

Feb 13, 2010

Allison rated it

Shelves: kids-books-read

Ruggedo makes another appearance in this story, as do Cap'n Bill, Trot, and the Glass Cat. Young Kiki Aru is an interesting character--early in the book he says "I didn't know I was being wicked, but if I was, I'm glad of it. I hate good people. I've always wanted to be wicked, but I didn't know how." Yikes. He is eerily emotionally detatched from his role in Ruggedo's plans to take over Oz, though he agrees to them without much persuasion. He has great power with his knowledge of th...more

· see review

Feb 20, 2012

Renae rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, ebook

I'd have rated this one higher, but Baum's tendency to plot inconsistencies is starting to bug me.

At the end of The Patchwork Girl of Oz, the Glass Cat ("I've got pink brains--you can see 'em work.") was humbled and given transparent brains and became much more agreeable. I guess those pink, see-'em-work brains grew back. And that conceited personality which was supposedly fixed? Back with a vengeance and a critical plot-driving element in this book.

And trans...more

· see review

Mar 29, 2009

Kathryn rated it

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, children, classic, fiction

Wow. And I thought the first book in this series was an acid-trip. Here's the shortest summary I can think of: an accidental magician-boy meets up with the Gnome King and the two plot to take over Oz with giant soldiers made from monkeys. MEANWHILE, the Wizard of Oz and Dorothy travel with the Glass Cat, the Cowardly Lion, and a Tiger (who's name I can't remember) to the Jungle to convince a tribe of Monkeys to be shrunk to miniature size so they can pop out of the cake at Queen Ozma's birthday ...more

· see review

May 25, 2011

Krys rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, own, third-person-narrative, witches-wizards-magic-themed, fairy-pixie-themed, revenge-drama, read-in-2011, intermediate-middle-grade

Here's another blue book down, this one coming from L. Frank Baum. For the record, I love the Oz series. The Magic of Oz, however... not my favourite. It was ok, but I grew weary. Here goes.

The Oz-ian citizens are preparing the celebration of Princess Ozma's birthday, and everyone is scrambling to get something for her that she does not already have. Meanwhile, in another part of Oz a boy named Kiki Aru has learned a magic word that gives him the power to hold sway over Oz... and has...more

· see review

Jan 24, 2010

Jason Pettus rated it

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally. This review covers all 14 of the Baum Oz books, which is why it's found on all 14 book pages here.)

I think it's fairly safe by now to assume that nearly everyone in Western society is familiar with The Wizard of Oz, most of us because of the classic 1939 movie adaptation; and many realize...more(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally. This review covers all 14 of the Baum Oz books, which is why it's found on all 14 book pages here.)

I think it's fairly safe by now to assume that nearly everyone in Western society is familiar with The Wizard of Oz, most of us because of the classic 1939 movie adaptation; and many realize as well that author L. Frank Baum ended up penning a whole series of sequels, because of the original book's astounding success back at the turn of the 20th century when it was first published -- 13 sequels altogether, before his death in 1919, which after the movie's success twenty years later became a literal merchandising empire, spawning hundreds more official sequels by various authors and hundreds more unofficial ones once the characters moved into the public domain. And like many others, I've always been interested in what these 14 "canonical" Oz books have to say; and that's why I decided this winter to sit down and read them all in a row for the first time, easy to do because of them being available for free at both Project Gutenberg and the email subscription service DailyLit (which is how I myself read them, and in fact is how I read many of the older books you see reviewed here; I'm a big fan of theirs, and highly recommend them).

But of course, to even approach these books with the right mindset, it's important to understand that like so many other one-hit-wonders, Baum was not only eluded by success in most of his other endeavors but was an active failure at them -- in the 1870s, for example, he unsuccessfully tried his hand at breeding fancy poultry (a national fad at the time), then in the 1880s opened his own theatre and became one of the first-ever Americans to produce modern-style stage musicals, apparently a little too ahead of its time, then in the 1890s moved to the Dakota Territory and opened a dry-goods store that eventually failed, as well as starting a newspaper that folded too. So it was sort of a case of random lightning in a bottle when he decided in the late 1890s to try his hand at children's literature, and ended up with his very first title being the most popular kid's book in America for two years straight, and no surprise that Baum then spent the rest of his life desperately trying to figure out how to bottle that lightning again. Because now that I've read it myself, I can confirm that the original Wonderful Wizard of Oz is astonishingly great, a sort of miraculous combination of traits that makes for an almost perfect children's story; and although most of it follows the same storyline seen in the '39 movie, there are also significant differences, making it worth your while to sit and read the book version if you have the interest. (And by the way, for some really interesting reading, check out the academic analysis that was done of this book in the 1960s, arguing that most of its details symbolically correspond almost exactly to various political and economic issues of the late 1800s, including the yellow brick road representing the much-discussed gold standard of that age, the scarecrow representing the then-hot Populist Party, Toto representing the teetotaler [prohibitionist:] movement, and a lot more.)

But of course, there are a couple of details about this book that have been forgotten over the decades too, which also help explain its record-shattering success -- it was an unusually lavish book for its time, for example, with two-toned illustrations on every page and several full-color plates, and let's also not forget that Baum himself mounted a Broadway-style musical of Oz just two years after the book was published, a huge hit which toured nationally for a decade and that was even more insanely popular than the book itself (including making national stars out of vaudeville performers Fred Stone and David Montgomery, playing the Scarecrow and Tin Man; the stage production left out the Cowardly Lion altogether, which is why he is also barely seen in any of the 13 canonical sequels). And so that's why when Baum attempted starting up other fantasy series in the wake of Oz's success, hoping to turn all of them into lucrative franchises like the original, the audience mostly responded with yawns; and that's why Baum eventually went back to writing more and more Oz books as the 20th century continued, because by now the strength of the brand far outweighed the relative writing skills of Baum when it came to any particular volume.

That's why, at least to adults, it's perhaps actually the introductions to each book that are the most fascinating thing about them; because to be frank, most of the books follow a pretty familiar formula, with a danger-filled quest involving various kooky characters that is usually finished about two-thirds of the way through, followed by a massive parade or party that lets Baum trot out the growing number of main characters added to this universe with each title. (And by the way, prepare yourself for Baum's unending love of the deus-ex-machina plot device; over half the books end along the lines of, "And then our heroes took possession of a super-duper magical device, which they waved in the air and all their troubles went away.") In fact, for those who don't know, that's why the official map of Oz and its surrounding lands eventually grew so large, because Baum still hadn't given up on his dream of having a whole series of kid-lit cash cows out there generating revenue for him, and so would use many of these Oz sequels to introduce entirely new casts of characters who live in entirely new lands, "just over the mountains" or "just past the desert" of Oz itself. By the end of the original 14 books, in fact, Baum had built up a virtual aristocracy of licensable characters, all of whom would have to be dragged out for a cameo at some point in each book to remind the audience of their existence -- not just the cast of the original book and '39 movie but also various other princesses like Ozma and Betsy Bobbin, boy characters like Ojo the Unlucky and Button Bright, adults who help them like the Shaggy Man, Cap'n Bill and Ugu the Shoemaker, and of course a whole litany of quirky fantastical sidekicks, including but not limited to Tik-Tok, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Great Jinjin, Billina the Angry Hen, Scraps the Patchwork Girl, and Polychrome the Rainbow Fairy. Whew! And so did the Great Oz Merchandising Experiment keep limping along for two decades, with each sequel selling less and less and getting lazier and lazier (for example, the tenth book in the series, 1916's Rinkitink in Oz, was actually a non-Oz book written a decade previous, published almost unchanged except for a hasty final chapter full of Oz regulars slapped onto the end); and thus did Baum's bad luck in business come back with a vengeance as well, with three more Broadway productions that were all flops, and even the establishment of a film production company in 1914 that eventually went bankrupt.

You can see the progression of all this reflected in Baum's first-person introductions to each book, which like I said is why they might be the most fascinating parts of all for adult readers -- how in the first sequel, for example, he expresses legitimately gleeful surprise and joy at how passionate his fans were, and how thousands of children had literally written to him out of the blue demanding more Oz stories, while with each subsequent sequel his tone becomes more and more snarky, ala "Well, dear and wonderful children, you've yet again demanded another Oz book like the sheep you are, so here it is, you screeching little monsters." In fact, in book six of the series, 1910's The Emerald City of Oz, Baum flat-out states that it's going to be the very last Oz book, and it's no coincidence that many fans actually consider this one to be the best of the original fourteen, because of Baum's extra attention to and enthusiasm for this particular storyline, thinking as he erroneously did that it would be the grand finale of the entire Oz universe; but after his later financial failures forced him back into the Oz business again, the gloves finally come off in his introductions, with most of the rest sounding to today's ears something like, "Well, okay, here again is the sugary teat you all apparently can't get enough of suckling, you infuriating little animals, so open wide and take your medicine." Now, of course, you shouldn't feel too bad for Baum; by the last years of his life, his combined books and plays were generating for him in today's terms roughly a quarter-million dollars a year just in personal royalties.

So all in all, an experience I'm glad I had, reading all fourteen original Oz books in a row, but not something I'd recommend to others; instead, maybe better just to read the first, then skip to the sixth, then skip straight to the 14th, 1920's Glinda of Oz, because of its unusual darkness (probably caused, many scholars agree, by Baum knowing that he was near death). As with many authors I've looked at here at CCLaP, history seems to have correctly adjusted itself in Baum's case, with most of his books now rightfully falling into the obscurity they deserve, even while his one true masterpiece is still rightfully recognized as such. (less)

· see review

Dec 09, 2010

Kena Kump rated it

Shelves: modern-fantasy

The reason why I didn't like this book as much as "The Wizard of Oz" is because I didn't fall in love with the characters. In this book there were too many characters, and I got lost most the time. The ideas of turning people into humans or animals, and being able to transform into other animals, was neat and engaging to read, but overall, it was okay.

· see review

Apr 21, 2011

Mia rated it

I know I'm probably too old to enjoy the "fun" of this book but wow. It's just awful writing, super weird story and insane turns of phrase (and not just because it's old; these sentences never made sense in the English language at any point in history). It was a free ebook from amazon so at least I didn't lose any money on it.

· see review

Oct 24, 2009

Parcoast rated it

Ok, so I wouldn't have read this book except it was on my phone. It wasn't bad for what it was, but I'm the first to admit that my main reason for reading Oz books is nostalgia. The stories are mediocre for this century. Still, not bad for what it was.

· see review

Jun 27, 2011

Joshua Gross rated it

I kind of liked this one. Instead of one long rambling nightmare of an adventure, there's a few smaller ones with interesting characters and interesting story line. While there was a banquet at the end, it was Ozma's birthday party and he breezed over it pretty quick.

· see review

Feb 12, 2009

Wils Cain rated it

A magic word allows some evil fellows to change their form into animals or people or trees, or whatever...and they battle the good people in the land of Oz as everyone is searching for the perfect birthday present for Ozma, the girl ruler. Very fun as always.

· see review

Jan 02, 2009

Nima rated it

It doesn't matter how old you get, there are too many lessons in this book for it be written off as just another children's book. It's a good one to go back and re-read from time to time.

· see review

Jan 09, 2012

Nicolas rated it

· review of another edition

I've enjoyed Baum's later Oz books much more than the earlier entries. This one was well-plotted and interesting. Trot & Cap'n Bill are two of my favorite Oz characters (thought in reality they were imports from one of Baum's less popular series), so it was nice to see them take center stage. Also, it was good to have the Nome King back as the villian.

· see review

Jun 20, 2008

Travis rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: oz

Another of the great Oz books.
Princess Ozma's birthday is coming up. What do you get an immortal, all powerful fairy princess?
Several of the Oz characters, including Dorothy, are having trouble with this one, so several expeditions set out, searching Oz for the perfect birthday gift. One involves monkey's, another a magic tree.
Of course, all the groups run into trouble and once again, the Gnome King shows up just to make this that much more complicated.
Lots of fun and th...more

· see review

Sep 24, 2011

Hpboy13 rated it

Once again, the nefarious Gnome King is up to no good!

· see review

Sep 30, 2008

Jennifer rated it

It feels rather silly to review Oz books--they're mostly just fluff, after all. That said, this one isn't one of my favorites, maybe because the new character introduced, Kiki Aru, is a boy. Baum's boy characters are uniformly either dull or sullen, with the exception of one who's actually a girl in disguise), so following him from one disastrous mistake to another becomes annoying, and it's a relief when he's turned into a hazelnut about 75% of the way through and pretty much forgotten until ...more

· see review

Apr 12, 2011

Thomas rated it

Shelves: books-i-read-by-myself

IT WAS SUPER!!!!!!!!!

· see review

Jun 19, 2010

Widsith marked it as to-read · review of another edition

The Magic of Oz (Books of Wonder) by L. Frank Baum (1999)

· see review

Jul 25, 2011

Samantha rated it

Cute

· see review

Aug 11, 2011

Lady Lioness marked it as keepers · review of another edition

under bed

· see review

Aug 13, 2011

Dianna rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: to-read-2011, 2011-read

One of the best Oz books! The Nome King again tries to conquer Oz, this time through a Munchkin boy who has discovered a magic word that can transform anyone into anything.

· see review

Feb 15, 2011

Amyem added it · review of another edition

Shelves: own

That Fountain of Obilvion sure comes in handy!

· see review

Jan 09, 2010

Alice rated it

Shelves: childhood, fantasy

I don't clearly recollect the later volumes in this series, but I know I ripped through the entire "Oz" shelf at the library.

· see review

Sep 19, 2011

Richard Koshak rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fantasy

Again, Baum produced a solid book in the realm of Oz with a plot that holds together well.

· see review

May 28, 2008

David rated it

· review of another edition

This is the first book that made me stay up late, reading underneath the covers with a flashlight.

· see review

Apr 21, 2008

Karen rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: childrens, fiction

I like the idea of transforming people with a word. Words are more powerful than we think, eh?

· see review

Jan 30, 2011

Roshni rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

There are way too many of these books, all with the same plot

· see review

Feb 27, 2011

Elise rated it

It was'nt very good

· see review

Feb 22, 2012

Becky marked it as to-read

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 73 74 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (60)

More editions...

Genres

Fantasy

106 users

Classics

28 users

Childrens

27 users

Young Adult

11 users

Adventure

10 users

Childrens > Juvenile

7 users

Adult

4 users

Fantasy > Magic

4 users

Sci Fi Fantasy

3 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

3 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

About L. Frank Baum

Lyman Frank Baum was an American author, actor, and independent filmmaker best known as the creator, along with illustrator W. W. Denslow, of one of the most popular books in American children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, better known today as simply The Wizard of Oz. He wrote thirteen sequels, nine other fantasy novels, and a plethora of other works (55 novels in total, 82 short stor...more

More about L. Frank Baum...

Books by L. Frank Baum

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

Trivia About The Magic of Oz (...

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

Groups That Shelved The Magic of Oz

The Golden Age of Young A...

16 members

last activity Jan 27, 2012 10:27pm

shelf: read

title link	preview: The Magic of Oz
avg rating	preview: The Magic of Oz Goodreads rating: 3.90 (1193 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/533690.The_Magic_of_Oz?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328866761m/533690.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/533690.The_Magic_of_Oz?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum[/url]

The Magic of Oz (Oz #13)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Readers Also Enjoyed

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website