It's been a long time since I first read this story and how much I had forgotten! After reading Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and seen the musical, I can see how both have taken so much from the original story (and thankfully not the horrible original movie version). If you'd never had the chance to read this book, I highly recommend it. Even if you hated the movie, this one is sure to delight.

What I found most interesting was in my copy there was an introduction by Baum himself. In it, he wrote how he wanted to take the idea of fairy tales to a new, more modern, level--it being the turn of the 20th century and all. The story was not meant to scare anyone (unlike the old fashioned Grimm stories). It makes me think of how as a youngster I refused to turn my record of the Wizard of Oz movie over to the B side because that was the side with the monkeys and it was so scary!

There are winged monkeys in this story, but they are not scary. Nor are they some scientific creation by the Wicked Witch. Merely, they are creatures like any other in a magical far off place that one might encounter.