The Hidden Valley of Oz

Oz Continued #39

by Rachel R. Cosgrove

Jam, a boy from Ohio, builds a kite and attaches it to a crate and sets off to Oz with his two guinea pigs, Pinny and Gig, and a lab rat named Percy. Once in Oz, Jam realizes his pets can talk. He lands in the Hidden Valley and becomes a prisoner, but they escape and set out on adventures with the Tin Woodman.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Classics

First published January 1, 1951

Reviews

[Cheryl Licata · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hidden Valley of Oz is the 39th book in the Oz series started by L. Frank Baum. The series was continued by various authors -- this book written by Rachel R. C. Payes. This one is about a boy named Jam and the super sized kite he created. He attached a shipping crate to the kite and the reader can guess what happens when a strong gust of wind picks up Jam, his two guinea pigs and a white rat. Destination -- Oz! I loved the series as a young reader and read the books several times. I still love them now as I ponder "somewhere over the rainbow."

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written by Rachel R. Cosgrove and illustrated by Dirk Gringhuis (A.K.A. Dirk)
The 39th Oz book is frankly rather poor showing non of the charm of Baum or even Ruth Plumly Thompson. Likewise the illustrations by Dirk are not a patch on John R. Neill's.
A young boy is transported to Oz from America by Kite where he must defeat a giant. He is accompanied by a giant talking lab rat (sorry a giant ANNOYING talking lab rat) and meets up rather unsprisingly with Dorothy, the tin man , the scarcrow, the cowardly lion and someone who wasn't in the MGM film, the hungry tiger.
The only slightly interesting new character, in fact it's a wonder Baum didn't think of him is the Leopard who changes his spots called... Spots.

[Sami Jene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this while visiting family years ago when I was rather young. I loved it so much it spurred me on to Baum's own written work.