Toto and the Cats of Oz

by Robin Hess, Andrew Hess (Illustrations)

The cats of Oz are staging a revolution led by the mysterious magical cat, Joom. They conquer the emerald City and are overrunning the rest of Oz. Toto has disappeared. Dorothy is worried about him. How can she find him in the midst of the trouble from the cats? Many of the others of your favorite Oz characters and a few new ones are all involved in attempting to fight back against the magically protected cats. Glinda's Palace is the last bulwark against them, but can it stand?

258 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 2013

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good plot

Some inconsistent plot points, Scraps' poetry is even worse, language doesn't match Baum's well. Still fun to see Toto have his own book.

[Nathan Dehoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember meeting Robin at an Oz Convention in the late nineties and hearing about this story, so it's obviously been around for quite a while already, but wasn't published until recently. It concerns a group of cats that rebels against Ozma's rule, allegedly because cats aren't receiving enough representation, but there's more to it than this. The main villain, Joom, was originally intended to be Mooj from Ojo in Oz, but since that book is still under copyright, this isn't spelled out. Instead, Joom is identified as the sorcerer who enchanted Prince Bobo of Boboland, as per Rinkitink in Oz. Mind you, it's certainly possible that Mooj performed this enchantment as well, although it has nothing to do with clocks. Joom appears in this book as a shape-shifting cat and the mastermind behind the rebellion. The story meanders a bit, but overall is quite enjoyable, with appearances from many familiar characters. There are also callbacks to Hess's earlier Christmas in Oz, with Santa Claus and his workshop in Christmas Valley playing a significant role. Among the feline rebels are a tough cat with a soft heart named Alexander, and the ginger orator Honey Cat. Another new character is the Spelling Bee, which obviously made me think of The Phantom Tollbooth, although Hess adds another pun by making the Bee skilled at magic.