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The Patchwork Girl of Oz (Oz #7)

by L. Frank Baum, John R. Neill (Illustrator)

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 3,426 ratings · 117 reviews

In this dazzling tale, L. Frank Baum proves once again his power to delight and enchant readers of all ages. Follow the adventrues of a charming new band of characters as they explore the wondrous land of Oz and discover that you learn more by traveling than by staying at home.

Hardcover, 346 pages

Published March 15th 1995 by Books of Wonder (first published 1913)

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Feb 01, 2013 Jason Koivu rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Patchwork Girl of Oz is not about the Patchwork Girl of Oz, but rather is the story of a little munchkin boy and his motley assortment of followers journeying across the land of Oz in search of items that will create a magic capable of saving the boy's beloved uncle. However, one of those motley followers is the Patchwork Girl and she absolutely steals the show! Her goofy optimism is infectious. Perhaps some might find her to be a Jenna Elfman-sized annoyance, but for my part I thoroughly en...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile

Let me tell you, dear readers...not all Oz books are created equal. I am deep into my mission to read all of the the Oz books (at least, all the volumes credited to Mr. Baum himself) and if anyone should try to follow suit, he or she had better do as the great Bette Davis once suggested and buckle their seat belts, 'cause guess what? It's going to be a bumpy read.

In the Patchwork Girl of Oz the miraculous Powder of Life makes another appearance as a character called the Crooked Magician (nearly...more Let me tell you, dear readers...not all Oz books are created equal. I am deep into my mission to read all of the the Oz books (at least, all the volumes credited to Mr. Baum himself) and if anyone should try to follow suit, he or she had better do as the great Bette Davis once suggested and buckle their seat belts, 'cause guess what? It's going to be a bumpy read.

In the Patchwork Girl of Oz the miraculous Powder of Life makes another appearance as a character called the Crooked Magician (nearly as literally named an Oz character gets) mixes up a potion in his kitchen to whip up a servant girl for his wife out of a rag doll made from a patchwork quilt. By now, Oz readers know that any magic with a whiff of ill motives or humbuggery will ultimately go awry, and predictably this experiment is no exception. Although the girl is brought to life, she's a little more than the recipe bargained for, and in the process of her creation, a few dramatic magic misfires result that need a quest to sort out.

Several new characters are introduced, though most of these are quite annoying. The Patchwork Girl herself is goodhearted but sadly, is about as much of a Frankenstein monster in personality as she is physically (I dare you to find an edition of this that *doesn't* have an absolutely terrifying cover. Seriously, go on...I'll wait). She has an unfortunate habit of sporadically launching into bad rhyme and arbitrary looniness, and the fact that her travel companions are just as horrified by the quirk doesn't help it go down any better. The glass cat falls along the lines of one of those broken record Oz characters that can't talk without skipping back to its signature refrain (in this case, its fascination for its own appearance), and don't even get me started on the amorphous (and fairly useless) Woozy. The only saving grace for this particular scrap in the quilt we know as the Oz saga is the appearance of the Shaggy Man, who truly must be charmed by the love magnet, because he seems impervious even to the taint of these tedious travel companions and Ojo, the boy who launches the magic quest, because he feels like a authentic kid at least, even if he may be a bit of a Tip retread.

For readers who like the framework of the road trip/quest, there are books in the Oz series that do it better with less annoying characters. Pass on this one.
(less)

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Nov 07, 2012 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Making Oz invisible did nothing for the stories leaking out. Apparently Ozma didn't have any more control over the media than other rulers. But I liked this one. There is a plot besides Dorothy getting lost and wandering around until she manages to get to Oz, plus some new characters of reasonable weirdness.

Ojo is a young Munchkin lad, raised in isolation by a very taciturn uncle (Unc Nunkie - I wouldn't talk much either). The leave their isolated forest - food isn't plentiful and there is no on...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Shoshana rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people looking for the best books in the series

Shelves: classics, fantasy, old-favorite

This is actually a 4.5. I would have maybe given it a five except for I was so mad that once again Glinda came in and fixed everything. Glinda often comes in and fixes everything at the end of these books, rendering the entire previous quest moot and tying everything off with a wave of her hand. I mean, come on. Why don't they just ask her BEFORE they go on giant quests? Oh, because then there wouldn't be a book. But so then why can't Baum let them figure out how to get out of their problems on...more This is actually a 4.5. I would have maybe given it a five except for I was so mad that once again Glinda came in and fixed everything. Glinda often comes in and fixes everything at the end of these books, rendering the entire previous quest moot and tying everything off with a wave of her hand. I mean, come on. Why don't they just ask her BEFORE they go on giant quests? Oh, because then there wouldn't be a book. But so then why can't Baum let them figure out how to get out of their problems on their own? Argh. That's probably why I liked Ozma of Oz so much - no outside intervention! They got themselves out of their own troubles!

Anyway, other than that, I freaking love this book. I know it's called The Patchwork Girl of Oz, but I kept thinking of it as Ojo of Oz (although I think that one comes later), because it's really about Ojo and his chance to explore a country he's only seen about ten feet of and his quest to save his uncle and his moral dilemmas along the way. I love Ojo. I think Ojo is genuine and resourceful has every right to pick that gosh darn freaking clover, especially given what he's been led to believe about his chances of saving Unc Nunkie. So there. I also love the Woozy. The Woozy is one of my favorite characters in all of the Oz books, and I actually don't think he ever returns, regrettably enough. I love that he gets furiously angry when anyone says "Krizzle-Kroo" to him. I mean, what? Baum just has this specific kind of absurdism that emerges semi-regularly in these books that really hits the spot for me.

Scraps - the Patchwork Girl - is fine. I do really enjoy the scene where Ojo gives her extra brains. The way the different kinds of brains are made of different kinds of powder reminds me of Aimee Bender's story in My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me (I can't remember the name of the story, but it was my favorite in the whole anthology and I highly recommend it). The glass cat is amusing, although if I remember correctly, Baum forgets in later books all about the part at the end where the Wizard makes her humble by giving her clear brains in place of her pink ones ("you can see 'em work!").

I would really like a garden with "bun-trees, cake-trees, cream-puff bushes, blue buttercups which yielded excellent blue butter and a row of chocolate-caramel plants." Just saying.

I really enjoy the connection to The Land of Oz, with Dr. Pipt having given Mombi the Powder of Life. I find it irritating that we never discover anything about the Voice who gives Ojo, Scraps, and the Glass Cat a place to sleep for one night. What is the point of setting up a mystery of then you leave it hanging?

Anyway, that's all I've got. I love this one.(less)

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Aug 03, 2009 Allison rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-books-read

This is my favorite Oz book so far! I just finished reading it to Elijah, and I can't believe I have never read it before. The Patchwork Girl is wonderful---funny, spunky, sassy, and not afraid to speak her mind and love herself. Of course, the others keep telling her she is crazy, which is how self-confident women are often viewed! I love her---she is now my favorite Oz character! The main hero in this book is a young boy named Ojo, who must journey to find a list of ingredients to make a magic...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: children

Recommended to Eric by: self

It was apparent in the previous Oz book of the series that Baum had gotten to a place where he no longer wanted to tell stories about the land of Oz, so he tried to end the series, but he kept getting letters requesting further stories. The result of these numerous requests is that two years after "The Emerald City of Oz" Baum created this new book. This book feels far superior to the previous work only because it appears Baum has gotten to a peaceful place with telling these fantastical stories...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Ottery StCatchpole rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What is there to say about the 7th book in the Oz series, that hasn't already been said? Probably a lot as these books, as dear as they are to me, have never been popular outside of a few thousand readers in the states I suppose. I'm sure people have heard of them, and come across them but did you know there are over 40 some Oz books written by different writers? L. Frank Baum only wrote the first 13 or so, and then he appointed someone else to take over for him and while a lot of these books a...more What is there to say about the 7th book in the Oz series, that hasn't already been said? Probably a lot as these books, as dear as they are to me, have never been popular outside of a few thousand readers in the states I suppose. I'm sure people have heard of them, and come across them but did you know there are over 40 some Oz books written by different writers? L. Frank Baum only wrote the first 13 or so, and then he appointed someone else to take over for him and while a lot of these books are still in print, no small thanks to Books of Wonder's reprints, and Del Rey's trade paperbacks, they are not exactly flying off the shelves. I don't think I've ever found them at a bookstore I frequent and I frequent many bookstores. The exception being Half Price books where I occasionally find them in the rare books section. But onto the review.
Sadly, the books have never been as popular as the 1939 film version, and while everyone on the planet has probably seen that movie and knows it was based on a book, I doubt very many know that Dorothy's adventures continued afterwards. I discovered these books when I was a kid, at the local library, where the beautiful illustrations of John R. Neill caught my attention and the wonderful, whimsical, writing of L. Frank Baum captured and still owns my heart.
By now I'm sure you've realized this is a good review. I loved the books back then, when as a child I read them and marveled at the wonder of 'modern' fairy tales. These stories being less than a hundred years at the time I was reading them, and far younger as fairy tales go than Alice in Wonderland and the books of the Brothers Grimm. I found the stories delightful because they had more modern ideas and they weren't as medieval as the Grimm stories or those of Perrault which I had searched out as well.
Somehow or other though, L. Frank Baum managed to keep the books from growing boring, despite the fact that the stories all take place in Oz, and the magical fairy land has borders and four countries. Every book is a delight and The Patchwork Girl of Oz is no different because like all the other books it introduced us to new characters, in this case Scraps, the patchwork girl, Ojo the Unlucky, a delightful if somewhat mischievous boy hero, and the glass cat.
Having read other Oz books by Baum its easy to spot his soft spot for female protagonists, and I'm not surprised to find that a large cadre of the more important characters in the book are women or young girls, so it was nice for a change to see a young male protagonist in the series take on a quest. Half way through the book however, like in other Oz books, we find ourselves back in the company of familiar friends: Dorthy, Ozma, the scarecrow and Nick Chopper the tin woodsman. It is, in my opinion, one of the better pleasures of reading the Oz books in that we are always coming back to our old dear friends, who all live close by to the royal palace or somewhere in Oz.
The book too contains some quaint philosophical meanderings which I'm sure my young mind would have missed, but nothing that burdens the story or becomes too self-reflective, and a lot of fun puns, which I sometimes caught as a kid and I still find cute now that I'm grown. All in all it was a wonderful trek back to Oz and to familiar characters, a book that doesn't need to be read in the order it was meant (this is book 7), but which you would do good to read after having come to it from the other six. I love Scraps, Ojo, and the glass cat and I can't wait to read their further adventures as I trek through the other Oz books. A marvelous book for boys or girls of any age. Full of innocence and whimsy like you don't see too often outside of great classics like this, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. I heartily recommend this book.(less)

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Aug 03, 2012 Mario rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, childrens, adventure, digital-only

Baum continues with the momentum he built in the Emerald City of Oz writing possibly the best book in the series thus far, which is unfortunately marred by the (view spoiler) ending. Still, very few of the endings of these books have been decent, so it's getting hard to keep deducting points rather than simply ignoring it.

I don't have much to say about the book beyond that, it was fairly typical Oz even though it is much improved, but, seriously, what did Baum hav...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Danns rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another great Oz book and this time with a whole new cast of characters to get acquainted with. Ojo the unlucky, a Munchkin on a quest to save his uncle from a tragic curse is in the company of Scraps the Patchwork Girl, a wonderful counterpart to the Scarecrow. They are joined by the glass cat, who temperment is a haughty as the color of her brains, another creation of the Crooked Magician whose magic is the direct cause of Ojo's Uncle's perdicament.

The quest this time is to find the ingredien...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Николай rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-oz-books

Yet another successful one with a fun bunch of interesting new characters that fit perfectly with the Oz world.

What bothered me though was the character of Ozma. She has been turning more and more into a fascist dictator for the past several books and in this one she reaches new heights. Not only has she made the use of magic illegal in an essentially magical country, except for controlled usage by lackeys of her own regime, but in this book she is actually pictured taking violent action agains...more

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Feb 11, 2011 Lydia Presley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, classics, childhood

I loved this book. I loved the Patchwork Girl, I loved the lesson learned by Ojo the Unlucky, I loved the compassion shown by Ozma and the citizens of Oz. I found the quest Ojo undertakes to be interesting and filled with adventure (and can I just say again that I am in awe with Baum's imagination?).

This book marks about the halfway mark through the Oz books and I still want to continue - which tells me that I'm still having fun and loving visiting with the old friends I've made as much as the n...more

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Jul 23, 2011 PenNPaper52 rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was the first introduction to the land of Oz for me. For years I had heard references to Dorothy from Kansas and the Land of Oz in movies, but I had never ever read the books. The country of Oz divided into colors, the colorful characters, the Tin Man, Woozy, Scarecrow... the vibrant manner in which Baum describes everything is endearing. I don't know if you deem this book as a children's novel, but I found it quite delightful to read. If you wish to get lost into a book, try this one. You...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Gloriavirtutisumbra rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-younger

This is my second time through reading this one, its got a different feel than most of the other Oz books, most likely due to the main characters being brand new ones, and the old favorites like Dorothy and the Shaggy Man only coming in half way through the book. I always feel bad for the living phonograph, he seemed to only get abuse. Perhaps that's it, in this book it shows that not everything is nice in Oz. The wilderness has bad as well as good parts, there are hungry giants, and squabbling...more

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Feb 26, 2011 aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars

this is the seventh book l. frank baum wrote in the oz chronicles and is a type of reset from the first. the sixth book finds ozma closing the borders of oz and it seems that there will be no more stories, however, baum decided to come back to the world the had so endeared itself to children everywhere. this one brings in the characters of ojo, a munchkin boy, scraps, a patchwork girl, and bungle, a glass cat. they find themselves traveling oz in order to save ojo's uncle from petrification. ano...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Cherese Vines rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fairy tale lands, and of course The Wizard of Oz book

Shelves: adventure, audio-book, chapter-book, children, classics, fiction, friendship, magic

I listened to The Patchwork Girl of Oz as an audio book. The story was very creative with many odd and unique characters. Although named for the patchwork girl, it is really about a munchkin boy who must go on a quest to find items for a magic potion to restore his uncle who was accidentally turned to marble. The Patchwork Girl goes along to help since she inadvertantly caused the uncle's accident. She is funny and says the weirdest things. It was enjoyable yet it had a very "pat" ending. The mu...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had a great deal of fun with this one. I adored the character of the Patchwork Girl-so well thought out. While I did have fun with this the end was sort of a let down. It also reminds me of why Glinda is such a B***H. I was one of those obnoxious kids who saw the Wizard of Oz movie and thought that Glinda was incredibly cruel to steal the Wicked Witch of the East's shoes and force them onto Dorothy and send her off on a dangerous adventure only to show up at the end to tell Dorothy she could h...more

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Aug 18, 2011 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fiction, juvenile, read-aloud-to-boys

The Patchwork Girl is one of my favorite Oz characters. She's absolutely delightful! I loved her whimsical little rhymes and her unquestioning loyalty to Ojo as well as the budding romance between her and the Scarecrow.

While I've dinged other Oz books for being "travelogues" without any driving plot, the urgency behind Ojo's journey feels real. He desperately wants to save Unc Nunkie, his only relative and, until his travels, his only friend as well. (Curious, though, how he lives with his uncle...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, childrens, fiction

The Patchwork Girl of Oz is another book in the series with a focus outside of Dorothy Gale. Unc Nunkie is accidentally transformed into solid marble, his nephew Ojo the Unlucky has to go on a quest to find the ingredients necessary to change him back. Ojo is accompanied by Miss Scraps Patches (or Patchwork, depending on what page you're on, her loosely defined name is characteristic of her loosey-goosey attitude). The titular character has recently been brought to life with the "Powder of Life"...more

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Jan 24, 2010 Jason Pettus rated it 3 of 5 stars

(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 tha...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)

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Jan 02, 2012 Kim rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not as good as the earlier books in the series. The leading characters were not that likeable, so until they met up with Dorothy and other familiar characters from earlier books, I was thinking about bailing out. The style seemed much more that of a book written for young children than those earlier in the series.
I listened to the Librivox audio version, which was read by various readers -- one woman with an annoying voice and another with such a heavy German accent that she was hard to understa...more

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Apr 29, 2009 Frank rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was two years after Book #6 before Frank Baum finally issued another book. He got around the invisibility of OZ by using wireless telegraphy per a childs letter and so Dorothy shares this new story. The book is 340 pages long, pretty heafty for a kids book but type is large and lots of pictures. It all takes place in Oz with some new and old characters and is a search for certain ingrediants to make a magic potient to bring two people back who have been turned to stone. I liked it and thought...more

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May 04, 2013 April rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a far better book than any of the other Wizard of Oz sequels I've read so far. There is GASP an actual plot and conflicts. I like the patchwork girl's bemusement at life, the universe, and everything and the Scarecrow's crush on her. Nick Chopper remains my favorite character along with her, Billina, and the shaggy man. Unfortunately, it takes a formulaic ending but the book's journey is good until the final chapter or so.

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Dec 13, 2011 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, books-to-reread, childrens-fantasy, favorite, favorite-favorite

MY FAVORITE!!!!
I have a life size patchwork girl of Oz in my room-- my grandma made it for me exactly off of the book's discription.
I love Scraps.
I love the irritating cat.
OOOOh! My second favorite character besides Scraps was definitally the Saw-Horse!!
Wow, brings back so many good memories...
The Wizard of Oz series basically WAS my childhood.I lived it and breathed it from age 6 to maybe age 9 or 10.

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Nov 22, 2008 Fizzgig76 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ojo the Unlucky sets out with the Patchwork Girl and the Glass Cat to free his uncle Nunkie and encounters the Woozy, the Shaggy Man, and more in his exploration of Oz. The Patchwork Girl is one of the best Oz books. It helps that the main characters are very likeable. Scraps is entertaining. Ojo is a fairly well balanced character with enough faults to make him believable and Baum's wordplay is at its peak.

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Oct 26, 2012 George rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Started reading a second time, this time to Mike, on 9/24/2012. Finished on 10/26/2012. Again, Mike enjoyed this. Faced with a choice of starting the next Oz book tomorrow or starting a different book, he immediately chose the next Oz book and said he wanted us to read them all. I guess Alice in Wonderland will have to wait =)
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I think I liked this one least of all the Oz books. The new characters weren't the most likeable, the story wasn't especially clever, and there was a huge inconsistency w...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Jeremy rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Seventh book in the series, Frank Baum seemed to almost resent writing this book. If felt forced, almost, in it's flow, translating to the story to make it difficult to follow. The only thing that I found fascinating in this story was the "Romance" of the Patchwork Girl and the Scarecrow. It was handled in a sweet manner, very appropriate for very young readers, and a joy to read.

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Feb 28, 2013 Leonard Quincey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Here's where I learned to love the world found in books. I was a wee lad and I'd found my love. Now I'm much much older and I read them all again. Never mind the looks I got. In all the time that's passed I am still charmed. I also know a lot more about Baum. These tales are light and deep at the same time. Baum wrote these stories to talk about the nature of reality. He was a mystic.

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Jul 01, 2011 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars

This story followed the Wizard of Oz and included some of the same characters, but with new characters at the forefront. I loved the characters and descriptions and zany illustrations. It is interesting to read one of the "hits" from 1913 and see how youth literature has changed. The book states explicit morals to learn. It would be a fun read-aloud, although I read it for a book club.

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Aug 15, 2012 Anne Langston rated it 4 of 5 stars

I give this 4 stars mostly because of Scraps in all her crazy glory. The plot is a basic object quest, but the characters that Mr. Baum created in this book, headed, of course, by the awesome Patchwork Girl, are among his most vivid. (BTW, I hope and pray that Marvel's adaptions of the Oz books will include this book eventually; I think Scotty Young will do an amazing Scraps.)

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Jun 23, 2012 Allan rated it 4 of 5 stars

From my mom's library the introduction of the Scraps, the Patchwork Girl stands well over time. If my late mom read this very book in the 1930’s, and to me in the 1950’s I can read it again and get a special joy from it. Its politics are still interesting as Scraps was sewn to be a servant but was too smart to fit her station in life. More new lands are explored, but a less compelling mission than found in the Road to Oz.

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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

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title link	preview: The Patchwork Girl of Oz
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/560637.The_Patchwork_Girl_of_Oz?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349732477l/560637.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/560637.The_Patchwork_Girl_of_Oz?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum[/url]

The Patchwork Girl of Oz (Oz #7)

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