“Ozma of Oz” by L. Frank Baum

“Ozma of Oz” is the second sequel to the famous L. Frank Baum’s book named “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. I’ve just read it for the first time, so my impressions are very fresh.

In this book we again meet Dorothy, the brave Kansas girl from the original book. She is again picked up by a cyclone, but this time from a ship, and travels in a chicken coop. Then she discovers another magic country – Ev – which is located not so far away from Oz. She makes new friends, then meets her old ones again, has more adventures, frees more people from slavery and conquers another nasty dictator.

She also befriends Ozma, the new Ruler of the Land of Oz and secures herself a free passage to Oz any time she chooses to go there.

I liked this book more than I did “The Marvelous Land of Oz”, the first sequel (which I didn’t like at all and won’t even review), but not as much as the original story. It could be just me, for I can’t put my finger on the reason – but it’s just so. Speaking about the character I like best (out of the new ones), it has to be the Yellow Hen that Dorothy named Billina – after all, it was she who secured the success of their mission and, besides, she is feisty. I like this kind.

I regret now that I didn’t read all these books as a child – I might have liked them better if I had. I’m sure children do – and of course, being a children’s book, “Ozma of Oz” is written so that kids aged seven to twelve will find it very easy to understand. It reminds me, I need to try and find the Russian version of these books for my daughter: she won’t read in English, no matter how hard I try to persuade her.