The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Daventry Classics Annotated Edition

4 Stars I read this as a child and liked it well enough, but it was never an all-time favorite. If you aren’t familiar with the story, The Wizard of Oz is about a girl named Dorothy who gets swept up in a tornado and ends up in a strange, magical land called Oz. She sets out to find a way home, encountering all kinds of adventures and lessons along the way. The story is iconic and imaginative. The scene is painted excellently, and even if one had never seen the famous movie adaptation, one could still easily picture the Land of Oz. The characters were memorable although Dorothy has a wide-eyed, too-innocent, saccharine quality that probably inspired Pollyanna. Nevertheless, it is a fun, clean adventure with some moral lessons (without being to preachy). Although not nearly as dark as classic fairytales, there are a few scenes that might be a bit violent for very young children. The plot does have some pacing issues. It is almost like the story has two endings, but the first ending is a fake out followed by another short adventure leading to the real ending. But it doesn’t have a normal plot arc so the ending felt a bit anticlimactic. But this is a must read if you love classic children’s literature. RATING FACTORS: Ease of Reading: 4 Stars Writing Style: 4 Stars Characters and Character Development: 4 Stars Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars Level of Captivation: 4 Stars Originality: 5 Stars