The Cowardly Lion of Oz

Oz Continued #17

by Ruth Plumly Thompson, John R. Neill (Illustrator), L. Frank Baum (Creator)

Book 17 of The Wizard of Oz

In the story, the Cowardly Lion believes that he has depleted the reserve of courage imbued in him by the Wizard (as told in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). Someone soon misdirects the Lion into thinking that he can only replenish his courage by eating a courageous man. Since the Lion dislikes the notion of harming anyone, he resolves to do the deed as quickly as possible, and so embarks on his quest.

Unbeknownst to the Lion, he is being hunted by two would-be hunters: a circus clown named Notta Bit More, and an orphaned boy named Bobby Downs, whom Notta calls Bob Up. Notta accidentally said the magic spell that sent Bob and him to the Munchkin land of Mudge, where the tyrannical and cranky ruler, Mustafa, sends them on their quest: two cowardly lion hunters hunting a Cowardly Lion.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens, Classics, Middle Grade, Adventure, Science Fiction Fantasy

268 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1923

About the author

An avid reader of Baum's books and a lifelong children's writer, Thompson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began her writing career in 1914 when she took a job with the Philadelphia Public Ledger; she wrote a weekly children's column for the newspaper. She had already published her first children's book, The Perhappsy Chaps, and her second, The Princess of Cozytown, was pending publication when William Lee, vice president of Baum's publisher Reilly & Lee, solicited Thompson to continue the Oz series. (Rumors among fans that Thompson was Baum's niece were untrue.) Between 1921 and 1939, she wrote one Oz book a year. (Thompson was the primary supporter of her widowed mother and invalid sister, so that the annual income from the Oz books was important for her financial circumstances.)

Thompson's contributions to the Oz series are lively and imaginative, featuring a wide range of colorful and unusual characters. However, one particular theme repeats over and over throughout her novels, with little variation. Typically in each of Thompson's Oz novels, a child (usually from America) and a supernatural companion (usually a talking animal), while traveling through Oz or one of the neighboring regions, find themselves in an obscure community where the inhabitants engage in a single activity. The inhabitants of this community then capture the travelers, and force them to participate in this same activity.

Another major theme has elderly characters, most controversially, the Good Witch of the North, being restored to "marriageable" age, possibly because Thompson herself never married. She had a greater tendency toward the use of romantic love stories (which Baum usually avoided in his fairy tales, with about 4 exceptions). While Baum's child protagonists tended to be little girls, Thompson's were boys. She emphasized humor to a greater extent than Baum did, and always considered her work for children, whereas Baum, while first and foremost considering his child audience, knew that his readership comprised all ages.

Thompson's last Oz story, The Enchanted Island of Oz(1976), was not originally written as an Oz book.

Reviews

[R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cheech: Hey, man, you ever been to Oz?
Chong: Been to Oz? Man, I never came back!

[Shoshana · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the racism comes from her.

It's (maybe?) not as egregious as the Silver Islanders in Royal Book - mainly because we spend a lot less time with the Mudgers, who "if it were not for their bright blue whiskers, you would take them for Arabs" - but it's still bad. "Mudge is a blue and barbarous country... it is a hot, dry, desert land and the Mudgers themselves are a short-tempered, long-legged tribe of trouble-makers." AAAAGH.

Again, they seem on the whole to be more or less, in terms of internal character, like the other people of other nations in the Oz books, so it's maybe not as terrible underneath as it seems on the surface.

But it's still bad. And again, it subtracts points from a book I wanted to like.

Of course, the other bit that subtracts points is the no-girls problem, which is a problem that Baum never had. We have Bob Up, Notta, the Stone Man, Nick, and the Cowardly Lion for our main characters, plus all the Mudgers besides the scolding wife of the king appear to be men.

Darn it.

Also, RPT seems to have a lot more annoying verses cluttering up her prose. These characters are suddenly always singing and reciting to each other. It was restrained mainly to Scraps in the Baums; RPT has neglected restraint. I mean, you gotta know that we all just skip the songs, right?

Also, WHO IS THE WIZARD WAM?!? He is relevant a couple times, and WE NEVER LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT HIM. I WANT TO KNOW.

I do like these characters, though. Bob and Notta are from Philadelphia (no wonder Bob hits it off with Button Bright at the end!) and they have a relationship that develops in a very nice way. I like the twist with the Stone Man; I think it's very interesting. I don't entirely buy the Cowardly Lion's initial motives, but it's not so outlandish that it bothers me. Nick is my favorite. I get a kick out of the Uns, I like the Flyaboutus, and I love love love the long scene where they're fishing.

I love how Dorothy responds to Witch-Notta.

Most of all, I love Notta's "four simple little rules" for getting out of danger or trouble: "First I disguise myself. If that fails, I'm extremely polite. If politeness doesn't do, I tell a joke. If the joke fails, I shout something no one can understand and run like sixty."

I may have to keep these in mind (possibly minus step one) for the rest of my life!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful! Suspenseful! We finally get to know the Cowardly Lion better. The daughter's sequels are at least as much fun as the father's.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book follows the same episodic trajectory of many of the Oz books. Notta and Bob wander towards the Emerald City, stumble upon numerous yet to be discovered micro kingdoms, get into scrapes, and use their wits to escape.

Much of their trouble stems from Notta's belief in the importance of disguises. Although there are a couple instances when Notta is described as being without disguise or makeup, he's mostly either shown in his clown get up or in one of his many disguises.

There's a scene where he meets Dorothy while disguised as "Notta Witch" that so convinces the former Kansan that she tosses a bucket of water at him. There's also an illustration where Notta is booped on the nose by Scraps. The scene plus the John R. Neil illustration really make me read Notta as transgender. Since most of the Notta jokes stem on appending his name to how he's dressed, one could see "Notta Man" as further evidence of Notta's transness.

https://pussreboots.com/blog/2025/com...


Marginalized Utopia Offroad 66FF66

[Nathan Dehoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I reread this one for its hundredth anniversary. It's the fourth Oz book I ever read, and the first by Thompson, so I have some fondness for it for that reason; but it's not one of her best. The plot involves Mustafa, the King of Mudge, wanting to add the Cowardly Lion to his already sizable collection of lions. A circus clown named Notta Bit More tries an impromptu trick in a Pennsylvania circus, somehow hitting on a spell that works and transporting an orphan boy named Bobbie Downs (the clown renames him Bob Up) and himself to Mudge, where Mustafa uses magic to coerce the two of them to capture the Lion. Meanwhile, the cowardly cat himself, in a plot that's likely inspired by the Little Wizard Story "The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger," sets out to eat a brave man in order to gain his courage. This is a presumably facetious suggestion from the Patchwork Girl, and I've seen indications that cultures that practiced cannibalism sometimes believed that they could gain the traits of people whose body parts they ate, although I don't know how common it ever actually was. Regardless, the Lion soon meets up with the Americans and joins them, not immediately knowing that they're being forced into hunting him. Oz books are that tightly plotted, but this one seems particularly thin. I'd say the story can largely be described as chaotic, partially because of Notta himself, who feels the need to clown around all the time, and stubbornly stick to a set of arbitrary rules that never work and are largely just an excuse to perform even more. But Oz in this book is also a place where everybody, including signs and doors, seems to want to argue with the protagonists. It also has them entering a door through a keyhole and getting caught in a floating net by a tree that knits, as well as growing feathers for a little while. Even the Emerald City is hostile to Notta when he insists on arriving dressed as a witch, although to be fair to him, it doesn't really make sense that the city would have rules against simply LOOKING like a witch. I did appreciate the Fiddlestick Forest, because a bunch of trees playing violins could be played in a creepily absurd way, as the knitting tree is, but instead everyone finds it quite pleasant. I also liked the two weird vehicles introduced in the book, the goose-shaped Flyaboutabus and the Fiddlebow Boat. What I didn't especially like was how the Lion is restored from stone simply by his friends crying over him, which felt a bit lazy. I don't think this one is quite worth a roar, but maybe a growl or two.

[Suren Oganessian · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Udge budge, go to Mudge. Udger budger you're a Mudger."

Who just says that out of nowhere? I guess a clown from the 1920's did that, and got teleported to Oz. If only getting to Oz were so easy, even if Mudge is one of the worst parts of Oz. This book is chalk full of Thompson weirdness, making it probably the weirdest Oz book since Dorthy and the Wizard in Oz. The book (which recently entered the public domain in 2019, so yay I guess) is centered on the micronation of Mudge, who are in a forced blockade by Glinda and Ozma because they invaded and pillaged their neighbors too much (if they leave their borders they'll be beheaded; Thompson-Ozma can be pretty mean). Notta Bit More and his new friend Bob the orphan are the main characters really, there's not too much to say about them since they're kind of bland and never show up again after this book, although it's sad to think clowns could once be a protagonist in a children's story and now are seen as monsters thanks to Stephen King's IT and Joker from Batman. I admit to mentally reading Notta's lines in Tim Curry's voice.

The Cowardly Lion is out of character here; he'd come to terms with his cowardice by The Lost Princess of Oz but is now anxious about it again, and decides to eat a brave person to cure his cowardice. Dorothy too is meaner than usual; we'll recall her killing the wicked witches in the first book were complete accidents, but when she sees Notta disguised as a witch she springs to action and tries to kill the witch with water immediately. So Thompson's Oz is a more cruel place than Baum's became.

Anyway, yeah this isn't one of the good Thompson books. It's understandable to see people quit at this point of the series if they're reading them all in order. I didn't read it until it became public domain and available on Gutenberg.org, and had already read Thompson's last five books which entered the public domain decades ago, so maybe that helped.

[Derek L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a close match to my favorite Oz book, as written by Ruth Thompson. I really loved The Royal Book of Oz, and I loved Cowardly Lion of Oz nearly as much.

The characters I enjoyed the most in this story is the orphan Bob. For the first time, Thompson is tackling a serious issue for children, and it is the fact that some children are orphans. Notta the Clown serves as a wonderful father figure for Bob by sticking by him throughout their journey in this fantasy land I have grown to love way more than the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

I also found the antagonist Mustafa to be a rather fun character. His magical ability was interesting and made him to be a quirky enemy to Notta and Bob. The Cowardly Lion, of course, really stole the story, and for good reason. This book revolves around him and his quest to regain his courage, despite this plot line not showing up until about page 70 of the book.

What really hit me and took me out of the story were a couple of aspects, namely Ozma's orders to lose the heads of any of the Mudgers that attempted to leave the land of Mudge. At first, the imagery that comes across as bloody, but considering that nobody can die in this fantastical world, the Mudger would probably still be alive regardless of where their head is!

The other aspect of this story concerns the Cowardly Lion's quest to regain his courage. Basically, the Patchwork Girl tells the Cowardly Lion, "I should find a very brave person and eat him up. That ought to give you a big dose of courage." This implies the same fantastical element that if nobody can truly die in this world, some brave man would be living in the belly of the Lion. It certainly is an odd image to process, that's for sure.

Overall, I did very much enjoy this installment in the Oz series and will keep continuing on with this series!!

[Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third Oz novel by Plumly Thompson; seventeenth whole.

Three subplots collide:

Mustafa, king of Mudge, a kingdom hidden away in Winkie country, collects lions. He has nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine and a half (don't ask) lions living in a large enclosure surrounding his kingdom, effectively discouraging visitors. But he wants more.

In the United States, at a circus, Notta Bit More -- a clown -- attempts a magic trick, and quite surprises himself when an incantation that just comes into his head causes a little orphan boy to disappear. He tries the incantation again to see if he can bring the boy back, but he, too, disappears, and he and the boy (named Bob Downs, whose name Notta changes to Bob Up) find themselves -- where else? -- in Mudge. Mustafa orders them to fetch him a lion, and not just any lion, but the Cowardly Lion of Oz, and uses magic to ensure that they dare not disobey him.

And in the Emerald City, the Cowardly Lion himself is distraught at being such a coward and decides that, if he were to eat a brave person, he might, so to speak, catch bravery; so he sort of sneaks out of the Citiy to go do it.

Hijinks, of course, ensue, as well as puns and wordplay that might make Baum proud. In the end, the Cowardly Lion doesn't eat anyone (of course), meets up with Notta and Bob, and, together, have more adventures until such time as bunches of Ozites descend on Mudge to set things straight, and a happy ending is had by all, even Mustafa.

Well, all but the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine lions, who have a decidedly unhappy ending, but nobody seems to mind about them. And the half is reunited with its other half, so that's happy too.

It would take a better reviewer than I to derive some kind of meaning from these books; but that's okay, because they were written to amuse children, and -- as a superannuated child myself -- I approve.

[Pierce Franco · Rating 3 out of 5]

The real Star in this book is not the Cowardly Lion of Oz, it's actually Notta Bit More, the clown. He's a queer and unusual character, happy and proud of his job, that you can't avoid loving him.

I really enjoyed the previous book, Kabumpo in Oz. It's my first favorite book that it was not written by Mr. Baum... However, I think this previous one left expectations very high. It's not like The Cowardly Lion of Oz was bad at all, but it didn't impress me as much as I was expecting.

Although, I was happy to find out that in the end, the sad half a leon was reunited with its missing part. But, what about the nine hundred and ninety-nine stone lions? They had no one to mourn their loss, to save them. 😔

On the other hand, Sir Hokus of Pokes is living in the Emerald City, I get it... but what about the Tin Woodman? Shouldn't he be ruling the Winkies? Or Jack Pumpkinhead, shouldn't he be living in his cottage, out of the city? They both happened to be in Ozma's palace in the previous book, when Ruggedo used Gregg's Box of Mixed Magic. And now, once again, they happened to be in the palace when Notta, Bob and Nick arrived.

...And what about that unnecessary Glinda Deus ex machina at the end? Does it was really necessary to introduce Glinda in this book only to tell what the recently arrived characters in the Emerald City were about to tell eventually that the Cowardly Lion needed help? I don't know if it just a feeling left by Mr Baum's books of Oz, especially the last one, in which Glinda had a very important role, or if the poor relevance the author gives to the character is one of the biggest downgrade in the serie. The great sorceress of Oz feels kind of powerless in these new stories.

So far in the Oz Continued serie, it's like if the author didn't know how to move forward without resorting to the most emblematic characters of the series.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Wizard of Oz series continues, and by now, I’m starting to get used to the fact that Thompson is writing the stories because Baum is dead. She did a pretty good job of imitating his voice in the previous one, but by this point, I feel like she’s hit her stride.

There are puns galore in this one, as well as visitors to Oz from the United States of America, which is a nice little call back to the start of the series. There’s also an interesting plot, which follows what happens when a king decides he wants to lion-nap the Cowardly Lion and add him to his collection.

I will say that the kingdom itself sounded kind of racist, especially in the way that it kept comparing them to Arabs while characterising them as mean and ruthless. But I suppose it was a different time, and you have to remember that, no matter how uncomfortable it might make you feel today. I’m not convinced that I’d want to read this to a child, though.

I’m still enjoying working my way through the Oz books, and I imagine that I’ll continue to stick at it for a little while longer. I’m supposed to be doing it as a buddy read with Joel Swagman, but we’ve both totally slipped off the schedule and so it’s whatever. I’m still enjoying working through them though.

[Javier Viruete · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new Oz book, the 17th and third by Ruth Plumly. This time, Ms Plumly brings back the cowardly lion and adds new characters: a clown named Bob, who is intelligent, well-educated and somewhat pompous; an orphan boy named Notta Bit; and the stone giant Nick.

Bob has by far the best dialogue, but Nick seems the most interesting. Unfortunately, he is not exploited to the full and leaves you wanting to know more about him.

Once again, we find the old Oz book formula, a journey through strange kingdoms, adding queer characters to the party.

The formula is quite worn out and becomes somewhat repetitive, a far cry from the originality of the best Oz books such as The Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz.

We also find decisions made by the characters that don't quite add up. In this book, the cowardly lion decides to stop being cowardly... by eating someone brave? That doesn't seem like the old lion we know.

In any case, it is an entertaining book with some good illustrations which, kind of, continues to expand the wonderful world of Oz that we love so much.

[Kristen (belles_bookshelves) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Making people laugh is the hardest work in the world."

Some of these are so hard to find, so hopefully I can complete the Oz collection.

This one has a clown and a little boy on a (forced mission) from the king of the land of Mudge to kidnap the Cowardly Lion for his 10,000 lion menagerie. Of course, nothing is simple in Oz, so they go through about a half-dozen new and interesting places before all the lions are turned to stone - and that's why so many buildings have lion statues standing guard out front to this very day!

[Sean McBride · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one wasn't as solid as the previous continuations, but I have to commend Thompson for keeping track of all the characters and expanding the world at the same time. The book is filled with puns and ridiculousness, and it almost feels like these books were the precursor for the modern kids cartoon and how absolutely batty they are. Best part of the book was the Stone Man of OZ. I'll come back to see where she takes the story next.

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

i was obsessed with oz as a child and read every book i had many times, but i never particularly liked this one. and on rereading as an adult... i still don't like it.

it's stranger and less charming than the average oz book, features a circus clown, nearly all the new creatures we encounter are unkind, and it's a little bit racist

[Aaron White · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre as far as the Oz book goes, but follows the same pattern, and if you like Oz books, you'll enjoy this little excursion. You can listen to me read a large portion of it for free at Librivox. https://librivox.org/the-cowardly-lio...

[Justin Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and quick read, but missing several of the essentials of great literature. Even though it is overly predictable, it keeps the reader's attention with action and colorful scenes.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Plumly-Thompson's better Oz books.
Like the two leads, they have a sweet relationship.
Like giving the Lion, not just the spotlight, but a surprising amount of characterization, and the fantasy elements and bits of humor are clever.
Baum could create some painful puns, Plumly-Thompson's actually made me chuckle.

The villains are a bit bland and the extra one she introduces, practically at the end of the book , doesn't quite work, but a fun romp with lots of worthy additions to Oz lore.

Also: the gag with the witch is brilliant!!

[Micha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of the Oz books by Thompson that I've read and it didn't disappoint me at all, she did as wonderful a job of describing the magical land of Oz as did Mr Baum himself!

[Tom Shrimplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very intertaining read! A lot of new creatures in the Land of Oz!

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sure I Must-af read this book when I first bought it in high school, but I didn't remember much of it. And that's kind of the theme here--it's forgettable.

I've heard people say this is the Thompson book they like least. I don't think it earns that status for me. I think some folks just really don't like clowns. Notta doesn't really act that much like a clown. I found him to be just a random person following the others around. I wish he had been funny. Bob also doesn't have much personality, so until we meet the Cowardly Lion, we're relying on the action to be interesting. And it is at first.

The whole premise of Mustafa wanting to capture the Cowardly Lion is pretty good. It keeps the tension going. I'm not sure how racist the Mudgers are. They wear turbans and live in the desert, but there aren't really any terrible stereotypes about them that I noticed. Certainly nothing like the Silver Islanders in the Royal Book of Oz. But then, I'm not Arabic or Indian, so I may be missing things.

I enjoyed the Skyle of Un and all the Unnish names. The last few chapters with the familiar Oz characters are good as well.
At first I was upset that all those 999 lions were left as stone statues, but then she cleverly said they were sold to decorate buildings. I like the idea that the lions at New York Public Library, Chicago's Art Institute, and Trafalgar Square all came from Oz. Very nice. (Still kind of a bummer for the lions though.)

A nice time spent in Oz, but I'm not going to fondly recall much of this one.

[Constance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unlike Baum's Oz books, which I loved as a kid and as an adult, this Oz-series entry from Ruth Plumly Thompson didn't click for my grown-up self. It wasn't terrible, and I remember, not without fondness, my Dad reading it aloud when I was a kid. (I think he must have done a Princess Bride and edited, though. Elements of the story were there - the sky isle of Un, the half-a-lion, the minor character Mixtuppa who talks from behind a curtain - but it was not as I remembered it.)

To my adult ears, it almost feels like it tries too hard to throw in puns and humor and lots of drawn-out conversations that don't lend much to the story. (Why is the telephone-beak bird so enamored of Notta at first sight? Why does he talk about it so much?) In addition, Thompson's characters shout and scream and shriek a lot, which honestly made me feel like it must be awfully noisy in Oz. Does she not know any homonyms for talking in a normal voice? Or does she like noisy people? Who knows? I definitely would not want to visit Oz after reading just this book. It's ok(ish) but nowhere near the charm and inventiveness of Baum's books. The original Oz characters come across as super-bland, and the characters Thompson invents don't fair much better, being primarily cliches.

(This book is Thompson's third Oz book.)

[Fred Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of Plumly's contributions to the Oz series to this point. It's still a bit manic, with lots of strange creatures being introduced seemingly just for the puns, not to move the plot forward, but the best thing about this book is that it finally gives the Cowardly Lion a starring role. The last time the Lion as a character has been this important to a story was in the very first Oz book. Since then, while the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow have become main characters, along with other characters introduced after the first in the series, the Lion has been relegated to supporting player. We finally get to know him better.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a middle-of-the-road Thompson (only the third I've read, I admit) -- I didn't like it as much as Kabumpo in Oz but liked it more than The Royal Book of Oz. She does do a good job of remaining true to Baum's characters and introducing new ones, so it was certainly fun to read, just perhaps lacking a bit in the charm of Baum's books.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thompson appears to be improving her writing as she goes along expanding Baum's world of Oz. Again she has introduced new characters, but this time they have a purpose in capturing the Cowardly Lion for a lion obsessed Mudge. The ending is a little weak and extremely abrupt, but on teh whole this is a likeable addition ot the series.

[Debbie is on Storygraph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this particular Oz book. I was never that fond of the Cowardly Lion as and to see him as a main character and not a supporting character was odd. Thompson's new characters and add-ons to Oz geography are wonderfully silly, however, and much enjoyed.

[hpboy13 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nowhere close to the charm, magic, and inventiveness of the originals. These books should not be considered Oz canon.

[Nancy Raines]

Book 17

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm done with this Oz continuation thing. It has not aged well. It's bad, really bad and I'm out. DNF

[Sappho Sue]

I inherited many of the Oz books from my mother. She was given one every year as a child. I believe that I have the first printing of the book first published in 1923.

I love these books and would never part from them