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The Lost Princess of Oz

(Oz #11)

L. Frank Baum,

John R. Neill (Illustrator)

3.94 · Rating details · 4,988 ratings · 179 reviews

Princess Ozma is missing! When Dorothy awakens one morning to discover that the beloved ruler of the Land of Oz has disappeared, all of the Emerald City's most celebrated citizens join in the search for the lost princess.

But Ozma isn't all that's gone missing. The magical treasures of Oz have disappeared, too, including the Magic Picture, the Wizard's black bag, and even G ...more

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Hardcover, 318 pages

Published September 28th 1998 by Books of Wonder (first published June 5th 1917)

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3.94 ·

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· 4,988 ratings · 179 reviews

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Mar 11, 2016 Evgeny rated it liked it

Shelves: children

One fine morning in the Land of Oz Dorothy decided to show her friends around. Because nobody can as much as sneeze without asking Ozma's permission - I have this impression - Dorothy went to Ozma and realized that the latter disappeared: mysteriously and without any trace. Not to worry, Ozma had a magic picture which could show any what any person was currently doing. It turned out the picture is missing too, and so are all of Wizard's magic trinkets. The latter rushed to Glinda only to learn t One fine morning in the Land of Oz Dorothy decided to show her friends around. Because nobody can as much as sneeze without asking Ozma's permission - I have this impression - Dorothy went to Ozma and realized that the latter disappeared: mysteriously and without any trace. Not to worry, Ozma had a magic picture which could show any what any person was currently doing. It turned out the picture is missing too, and so are all of Wizard's magic trinkets. The latter rushed to Glinda only to learn that her magic book and the rest of her magic junk disappeared as well. Actually both wizards appeared completely helpless and useless without their magical stuff, so a search expedition is assembled.
A Search Party

At the same time in a remote isolated corner of Oz a cook found her magic (can you see the common theme?) frying pan is stolen. She is determined to find it at all costs; Frogman - who is basically a giant frog - decided to accompany her. Two parties are destined to meet almost near their goal.

On the positive side I can definitely say this is an improvement of the tried-and-true generic plot of an Oz book: people ended up in a desolated place and try to get somewhere meeting a lot of bizarre creatures and ending up in Emerald City. However it is not as good as the last book which gave me a hope of series improvement.

The development of Frogman went exactly nowhere: there was an interesting buildup which has not resulted in anything by the time the book ended. Can somebody clue me in what was the point of Toto losing his growl subplot? This one went over my head completely.

Button-Bright deserves to be mentioned. It quickly becomes my second most disliked character in the series; Ozma steadily holds the first place. The guy is not exactly a genius as his name implies. His favorite pastime is to get lost. Who in his/her right mind would include such guy into a search party??? Let me ask a trick question: whom the said search party was looking for most of the time of the tale: Ozma, or Button-Bright? Let me give you a hint - if you think the answer is Ozma, you are very much wrong.

So an interesting beginning marred by so-so characters and somewhat contrived development of the plot give 3 star rating. It is still better than books 2-9. ...more

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Nov 27, 2018 Paul E. Morph rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-read-in-2018

MUCH better than the last couple of volumes! This one actually felt like a proper Oz book and it felt like it packed in more story than the last few put together.

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Jun 16, 2016 ✘Tabby✘ rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook

One of my favorite Oz books! review to come (maybe)

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Aug 21, 2014 Joni rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, fiction, kids

Although this book was 100% Oz, it felt different to me than previous ones. It once again had a sound plot, and there weren't any bizarre character introduced unnecessarily. All of the scenes in the book contributed to the movement of the story. Maybe Baum is just finally growing up into his writing... I'll take it. :)

Two notes about this book.
First: We finally see Toto talk!! The story goes that he gained the ability to talk as soon as he entered Oz in book one, but he's just too wise to waste ...more

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Aug 07, 2016 Scott rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I previously read this book in 5th grade and again, at least in part, in college. This is one of the best books in the Oz series, in spite of Ozma being a damsel in distress for almost the entire book. It takes a lot of people, not just any one person, to rescue her, so at least there is that. In fact, the book is so populated with characters that many go off and Baum doesn't even bother to follow them, so perhaps the book's biggest flaw is that Baum follows the relevant search parties to the ex I previously read this book in 5th grade and again, at least in part, in college. This is one of the best books in the Oz series, in spite of Ozma being a damsel in distress for almost the entire book. It takes a lot of people, not just any one person, to rescue her, so at least there is that. In fact, the book is so populated with characters that many go off and Baum doesn't even bother to follow them, so perhaps the book's biggest flaw is that Baum follows the relevant search parties to the exclusion of the other search parties (I guess Baum thought that The Shaggy Man and his brother and Ojo, Unc Nunkie, and Dr. Pipt had been featured too much recently to be rate more than a mention, whereas Scraps had caught the imagination of his correspondents). It might also have been better if Dorothy's transformation experiments with the magic belt had been shown unexplained until later, but perhaps Baum didn't want to make Dorothy seem too sinister, but these are minor. The book also has some pretty intense philosophical discussion that shows some of Baum's strongest influence from Lewis Carroll's constructions of logic, but the tone is different, and Baum's love of diversity comes through the strongest.

I actually thought it odd that no one has decided to handle it as an adaptation, with special effects fantasies being popular these days. Who wouldn't want to see the super-strong Frogman battling with a giant grey dove in a large domed palace made of wicker? Maybe when Marvel adapted the Baum books, Skottie Young didn't want to draw a wicker palace. John R. Neill doesn't try (he shows the castle only from a distance), but he does make a couple of gaffes with the text, such as dressing Button-Bright in 1917 American clothes rather than similarly to Ojo, but different colors, as described by the text, and showing a banner in a tower of Herku when the text specifically mentions that there is none.) The Herkus are a fine example of Baum being a better writer than Ruth Plumly Thompson. Not only is the episode relevant to the rest of the story, but neither the Thists nor the Herkus call for the bizarre conformity that Thompson and many Baum successors display in the quaint towns of Oz. The Thists don't mind when the Ozmites say that they cannot eat thistles, nor do the Herkus either enslave the Ozmites as they do the giants, nor do they force them to eat the zosozo that makes them so strong. Indeed, both are gracious and hospitable hosts, even if the Ozmites find the Thists annoying. (This edition makes the Thists the cover picture.) I wasn't crazy about Toto's complaint about his lost growl, but since it seems to come back naturally, it may just be that the humor didn't work too well on me.

Still, the Thists and the Herkus are both commentaries on autocratic governments and deserve to be looked at seriously, although of course humor is intended on a certain level, as well. I really enjoyed the class commentary as the Yip men accompany the Frogman and Cayke down the mesa, only to go back after their clothes get ripped protecting those of the Frogman and Cakye.

The Frogman has always been a controversial character--Eric Shanower even destroyed him in an Oziana story--but I found him intensely likable once he bathed in the Truth Pond. He wants to be as wise and learned the way he was once perceived, and seeks to come by it honestly once under the compulsion of the Truth Pond, previously seen in The Road to Oz . He would have made an excellent foil for Mr. H. M. Woggle-Bug T.E., who is mentioned only briefly in this book. When we return to the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman toward the end of the book, they have their usual bit about feeling superior to people made of meat, but how did they swallow Professor Woggle-Bug's pills, as it is implied that they do near the beginning of the book? I can easily imagine the Frogman trying to keep the Woggle-Bug honest and stop puffing himself up so much as they both continue their scholarly pursuits.

Perhaps the greatest element of the book is its themee of redemption as expressed through Ugu the Shoemaker. Vig, the Czarover of Herku, says that he would not call Ugu wicked, merely very ambitious. This leads to wicked behavior on his part, but he demonstrates an unwillingness to cause anyone serious harm, and the book ends with him realizing he is wrong and desiring to redeem himself. Having been the descendant of sorcerers, he was unhappy as a shoemaker, and this gives his character some motivation. Contrast him with the minor character of the ferryman, who was punished by the Tin Woodman for harming animals by being completely unable to communicate with them. This makes him unhappy around animals because it reminds him of his past cruelty. Some have dismissed the ferryman as an irrelevant episode, but it speaks to the book's overarching theme by contrasting a man who does evil to no purpose and one who does evil to advance himself and being unable to recognize it. I suspect he saw that in many an ambitious capitalist in our own world.

The live teddy bears, while surely an appeal to the book's youngest readers, give the book a contemporary feel, especially when the Big Lavender Bear threatens to send misbehaving subjects to American children--reminding us that Oz is not "once upon a time," but simply in a dimension invisible to us. ...more

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Nov 03, 2018 Tarissa rated it it was amazing

This is one of my favorite Oz books! I think it's because there's an actual mystery intertwined into the plot... Actually, multiple mysteries!

Princess Ozma of Oz is missing one morning, and her faithful friends must scour the land of Oz to find her. They're also trying to find the magical items that went missing on the same night that Ozma disappeared. To top it all off, Toto has lost his growl -- but that somehow has loosed the little terrier's tongue, because my, is he talkative in this volume ...more

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Sep 21, 2014 Lee Födi rated it it was amazing

Ah, this is one of the most tantalizing installments in the Oz series. Not only does it feature perhaps the best title of all of L. Frank Baum's Oz books, it has one of the biggest casts of characters at work.

When Ozma disappears, all her friends go and search for her—as a result, we get to read about many of our old favorites from the Land of Oz, including Dorothy, the Patchwork Girl, the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger, the Scarecrow, et al. The other aspect of this book that separates it fro ...more

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Sep 24, 2011 hpboy13 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics-worth-reading, loved-kids-books, books-i-own

The best thing about this Oz book is that it has all the main characters adventuring together - the entire huge ensemble of them - as they search for Ozma.

ETA 2018: The above point still stands - it is nice to see the stable of Oz characters undertake an adventure, instead of being the deus ex machina in someone else's story. While it seems to me we all could have been better off if Ozma had stayed lost, this was an enjoyable read. I didn't care for the Magic Belt being the last-minute answer to ...more

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Nov 09, 2017 Nathan Sizemore rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

90/100

I actually thinks this is the quintessential Oz book. It features most of the characters you know and love from the series and a sharp narrative angle. We sped through it because my kids were really interested to hear what happened next. I think we finished the final third in one sitting.

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Mar 21, 2019 Louise-Andree rated it really liked it

4*

Finally a book where the title is not misleading even though the character in question doesn't appear until the last couple chapters. Did the author suddenly realize he was going way off with his titles or something?

One morning, Dorothy goes to find Ozma to only realize that she isn't there and is actually nowhere to be found. Not only that but her magic picture has also disappeared so it's not easy to find Ozma as this picture shows what any person is doing at any time anywhere in the world, 4*

Finally a book where the title is not misleading even though the character in question doesn't appear until the last couple chapters. Did the author suddenly realize he was going way off with his titles or something?

One morning, Dorothy goes to find Ozma to only realize that she isn't there and is actually nowhere to be found. Not only that but her magic picture has also disappeared so it's not easy to find Ozma as this picture shows what any person is doing at any time anywhere in the world, even if you're not in Oz. One other option is to go find Glinda but she is helpless as her magic book is also gone. So they start a search party and they end up meeting with a bunch of other characters who have lost their beloved items that are, in turn, magical. By the end, everything is well and resolved and everyone lived happily ever after (j/k!)

One thing I didn't quite get however is that even though the author was able to really put mystery in this one with Ozma and magical things having been stolen, he actually takes a whole chapter about halfway through to tell us exactly who did the deed and why he did it. That, to me, is a complete turn off and I almost didn't want to finis it because after that, I was starting to be able to tell what was gonna happen once the group would get to meet him. And it was reminiscent of what the group had to do with the Nome King in one of the earlier books.

Another thing: what was the point of Toto losing his growl? Did I miss the fact that it's a magical growl or something? Surely it isn't at all. Maybe the author wanted to put some sort of humor into this. It did permit us to finally hear Toto speak and he was fun.

Also? Why is it always Dorothy who "saves the day?" Can't it be anyone else for a change?

This is why I am not giving this book 5 stars because it would have deserved it. I really enjoyed this book otherwise and I was trying to figure out who could have done such a thing and it was fun to have a plot-driven book for once. As much as I did enjoy the previous ones, I did mention in my review of book 10 that I was starting to feel like the author was getting tired of writing these stories because it started to show. It's like he turned a new leaf with this one or something. ...more

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Oct 07, 2018 Sara Santos rated it liked it

Shelves: books-i-read-in-2018, classics, oz-books

3.5

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May 26, 2017 Garrett Zecker rated it liked it

Doma Publishing's Wizard of Oz collection has taken me several years to read with my son at bedtime. It was interesting revisiting the texts that I read swiftly through my youth, as I was about his age when I read them and remembered little beyond some of the characters that don't appear in any of the books. I picked up a copy of this version since, for 99c, I could have the complete series along with "All the original artwork by the great illustrator W.W. Denslow (over 1,000 classic illustratio ...more

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Jan 22, 2018 Garrett Kilgore rated it it was amazing

I’ve said for years that this was my favorite and it still is. From the brilliant opening lines to the exciting conclusion, this is Oz and Baum and it’s best. It’s a great little mystery Tale with a delightful mix of new and old characters. I cannot recommend this one enough.

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Jun 18, 2011 Olsey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Lost Classic?

"...day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain-machinery whizzing -- are likely to lead to the betterment of the word." - L. Frank Baum

The awesomely vivid imagination of L. Frank Baum gave life to thirteen (yes, thirteen) sequels of the popular children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). Somewhat bizarrely, I've jumped in at number eleven in the series, The Lost Princess of Oz (1917) and now I must rant and rave (more raving, less ranting) about said exp Lost Classic?

"...day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain-machinery whizzing -- are likely to lead to the betterment of the word." - L. Frank Baum

The awesomely vivid imagination of L. Frank Baum gave life to thirteen (yes, thirteen) sequels of the popular children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). Somewhat bizarrely, I've jumped in at number eleven in the series, The Lost Princess of Oz (1917) and now I must rant and rave (more raving, less ranting) about said experience. When ultimately comparing The Lost Princess of Oz to the famed first novel, the characters are still flamboyant and (for the most part) likable if not more so, which seems incredible after sixteen-years and ten predecessors. The Frogman and 'the little brown bear' Corporal Waddle are especially cool as are many of the other larger-than-life supporting animal characters; they ensure comedy at times and even a touch of philosophy. Familiar company – Dorothy, Toto, The Cowardly Lion and The Wizard are back, who in varying degrees are defunct or different than they once were, merely serving as token characters, no doubt to keep children from the emerging last century contented. It is clear that Baum liked to create newness rather than retread, despite familiar themes and of course the vast number of volumes in the Oz series. That said, despite my initial surprise and hesitance at Toto being able to speak, I enjoyed his protest at losing his growl. Endearing and bizarre all at once, as Baum’s characters often are. Yes, you've guessed it, there is a huge theme of individuality and identity neatly wrapped with morality for children (and for some adults too!) to read in between the lines if they so wish to. Dorothy is kind of dull and bratty and don’t even get me started on Scraps (The Patchwork Girl who has an entire novel dedicated to her some years earlier). Throughout their journey quest to recover all the stolen magic from Oz (and Princess Ozma), the Frogman seems like one of perhaps only a few characters who actually discovered something about himself and grew as a (person?) frog, subsequently. The narrative kept me turning the pages despite my underwhelming understanding and appreciation of Princess Ozma – that serves me right for jumping so far ahead. 'Princess of Oz is more ambitious than the first book which endears it as well as stops it entering the realms of being a classic. There is perhaps too large of an ensemble cast and the non-linear narrative and different perspectives make it less iconic as well as previously established characters don't quite come to life. In spite of this, personally missing sixteen-years of Oz history and Baum writing many of these sequels much out of a financial dependency The Lost Princess of Oz is perhaps still more re-readable than the original classic. I am near the end of the book, so must confess I am reviewing a book I haven’t finished reading yet. I will however tell you on the off-chance things go wrong. I didn't really need to tell you that so surely I must have taken a dip in The Truth Pond like our dear character the Frogman. For all ages -- enjoy.

Update: By no means a spec-fabulous ending, but still enjoyable.

If you liked reading this you also might like my blog www.readilyreread.blogspot.com
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Jun 13, 2015 Grace rated it liked it

Shelves: kids-books-for-all-ages, fantasy-sci-fi-comics

This book is classic Baum - fun fairy-land adventures, all manners of creative and amusing oddities, great variety of characters. A great story for kids, or for any fan of Oz.

However, from a storytelling and writing craft perspective, I have to rate this with only three stars. Baum follows his standard procedure of the main plot being nothing more than "wandering around Oz encountering oddities." The guise for this wandering is a search for Ozma and various magical talismans, which have gone mis ...more

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Jan 16, 2015 Kathrin rated it liked it

Shelves: 20th-century, high-fantasy, fantasy

It’s been a while since I started reading the Oz series. Looking back my main intention was to finally read the story I had heard a couple of times before. Since it’s a children’s book series I never had that much expectations but some of the books really surprised me while others bored me to no end.

This certainly was one of the better ones. For once, it was more complex than other books in the series and some very interesting characters were introduced. The story of having all magical objects a ...more

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Sep 19, 2009 Jason Pettus rated it liked 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 as well tha (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. ...more

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Oct 20, 2017 Bob Newman rated it liked it

Magic Heist Sparks Safari !!

This volume of the wonderful Oz stories is classic Baum, but perhaps not at his best. Still, fans will not want to miss the further adventures of Dorothy, the Wizard, and many other old characters, including the Cowardly Lion. The Scarecrow and Tin Woodman take a back seat. Ozma has been kidnapped along with her Magic Picture. The Wizard's wizardly gear has been ripped off, and a midnight break-in has robbed Glinda of her Book of Records plus her whole magic lab. Wha ...more

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Jul 28, 2017 Tori rated it liked it

Definitely was better than most the Oz books, but I don't think any of them deserve more than 3 stars! just because it was better compared to the previous books in the series does not (1.) Make L. Frank Baum a better writer (2.) Mean this book Succeeded in holding a more complicated plot or (3.) mean he ended yet another book with an awfully convenient item that wraps everything up perfectly.

I couldn't help but think throughout this book that as a toddler I would have loved to hear this story r ...more

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Nov 13, 2018 Professor rated it liked it

Shelves: children-s-books, micromort-s-shelf, personal-library

I missed the end of this now that BVH is reading some chapters to MicroMort instead of it being just me reading Oz books to him. In any case, there's some great humor in here at the expense of the Frogman, who allows his people to think he's the wisest being in the world because it's convenient. Otherwise this is some relatively standard stuff-by which I mean a group of girls (and Button Bright) go on a quest with some of Oz's standbys (Patchwork Girl, Wizard, Betsy's Mule, the Sawhorse, Cowardl ...more

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Feb 13, 2019 Sean McBride rated it really liked it

Without a doubt, this was the best of the Oz books thus far. Here we have a great adventure, and a mystery all bunched in one. We finally get a Oz book that actually takes place in the land of Oz as well, which has been a gripe about the previous books, because they all seem to mainly take place outside of the fairyland.
Probably the best part about this book is the accumulation of all the previous characters. The only character that did not show up from previous books was the Nome King, but we ...more

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Dec 25, 2018 Victoria rated it liked it

Shelves: read-to-my-sons

This was a pretty good book from the Oz series. I think it deserves a 3.25 star rating.

Ozma has gone missing. A new set of characters also lost something, so they go in search of it. Many other items disappeared that are very magical and important to some of our lead characters throughout the books. They all go out searching in groups for these items, specifically for Ozma.

I enjoyed the story, but at times it seemed like it was another attempt of repetition to other past stories with a slightl ...more

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Aug 23, 2018 Sarah rated it it was amazing

There's a very real chance that this is the best book in the entire series: it's adventurous, funny, reflective, strange, and just a tiny bit meta-fictional ahead of its time. If the Oz books had stopped here, it certainly would have been L. Frank Baum's crowning achievement. Regardless, though, it is far and away better than any sequel written by any of his successors, as well as most of his own both before and afterward.

If your kid has never read an Oz book, give them this one.

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Jul 13, 2018 Matthew Hunter rated it it was ok

Shelves: children-juvenile, fantasy, mythology-folklore-fairy-tales

I’ll take credit for the genius move to delay continuing the Oz series for a number of months. Baum sticks once again to his journey-with-the-introduction-of-wacky-new-characters formula. The pause helped make his lack of creativity more bearable.

The kiddos liked the Frogman. I found Cayke the Cookie Cook’s insistence on finding her baking pan annoying. A challenge for you - try saying “Cayke the Cookie Cook” quickly and repeatedly. I tongue-tripped over the name more than once.

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May 06, 2017 Stephanie Ricker rated it liked it

Shelves: children, fantasy

Whatever will the Ozites do when their lovely girl ruler is kidnapped? Wander around until they manage to find out who took her, basically, in yet another excuse for Baum to explore new Oz geography. One wonders just how big this country is. I wasn't wild about the frog and the cookie cook subplot, but the tiny pink bear was great.

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Apr 28, 2018 Diane rated it really liked it

This was one of the better stories in the series. When Ozma and all the magic disappears, everyone teams together to find it. We meet 2 new characters who meet up with them, coming from the opposite direction. The part I liked the most, is how each person had a part to play in using their talents to defeat the thief. It didn't all lay on one person.

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Jun 08, 2017 Kristen Coffin rated it liked it

Shelves: fairytales-retellings

"To be really lovely one must be beautiful without and within."

Princess Ozma is missing: so we go on another Ozian adventure. We get to see a whole new host of magical citizens, travel the breadth of Oz to track down Ozma and the missing magical artifacts.

Another cute Wizard of Oz edition.

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Nov 24, 2017 Gloriamarie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: children-s-story

I remember how absolutely delighted I was a child to discover that there were lots and lots of Oz books.

I have turned to them for a comfort read and they still delight me. I remember how worried I was. Would Ozma be found safe and unharmed?

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Jun 29, 2017 Juanita rated it really liked it

Not really a review, but I read this book because there were multiple references to it in a staged reading of "Love Letters" that I was a part of earlier this year. I had to find out why my character was referred to as looking like The Lost Princess of Oz.

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Feb 16, 2018 Samantha rated it really liked it

Thankfully this story featured familiar characters. This story was a nice classic adventure story. It introduced a few characters but who ultimately made the adventure more interested and well rounded. I hope the remaining stories are as well thought out as one.

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About L. Frank Baum

L. Frank Baum

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also wrote under the name Edith Van Dyne, Floyd Akers

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 pleth ...more

Other books in the series

Oz (1 - 10 of 16 books)

Books by L. Frank Baum

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Quotes from Lost Princess of Oz

“No thief, however skillful, can rob one of knowledge, and that is why knowledge is the best and safest treasure to acquire.” — 4505 likes

“Imagination has brought mankind through the Dark Ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity. Imagination has given us the steam engine, the telephone, the talking-machine and the automobile, for these things had to be dreamed of before they became realities. So I believe that dreams - day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain-machinery whizzing - are likely to lead to the betterment of the world. The imaginative child will become the imaginative man or woman most apt to create, to invent, and therefore to foster civilization.” — 62 likes

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