The Birthday Ban in Munchkin Land [Library Binding]

This was a really good book, and despite what another review says, this shows that youy don't have be a storm-blown house or a circus man in a balloon to defeat the Wicked Witch of the East - (I have still yet to find, order and get "How the Wizard Came to Oz"). The Wicked Witch of the East decrees that Birthdays are now a crime, and because this happens on the same day as Meezie & Tweeze's birthday, Glinda (who is NOT a Pre-teen, as she is described as a WOMAN in the story on most likely pg 5 of the story & not 10) helps them by taking them to her friend Old Tree, who then suggests the little Windbag. With him, a plan is then worked out to be-rid Oz of the Wicked Witch - and it works!! But then, something amazing happens and a miracle occurs . . . allowing Meezie and Tweeze to celebrate their birthday today.

One of the other reviews says that this story contradicts Baum's version; I say that we only see Oz through the Munchkins' view, as in "the Wonderful Wizard" we see it through Dorothy's point of view. But there are a few little things that are a tiny bit different, like the view of the landscape, Toto not being drawn and different Munchkins greeting Dorothy, but it doesn't really matter. The pictures by David Hohn look like that of Charles Santore, made from water-colouring (possibly both water-paint and/or water-pencil). The Munchkins' heads are slightly bigger than normal heads, and Dorothy looks like Charles Santore's version, but in a different dress, but I really like her house.

Even though the details of this book are in 44 pages, the Endpapers, Parent's Introduction, copyright and title pages don't count, so the story goes for 40 pages.

Someday, by 2010, hopefully when I have finally gotten into the Movie business, I would like to put this little story into the 'Oz-Prequel' I have planned.

Now, I would like to say that my review on "L. Frank Baum's the Wonderful Wizard of Oz with illustratiosn by Barry Moser" was cut short: the title was supposed to be "Barry Moser's (almost slightly) Gothic Oz", and I mentioend 2 sites where you could see 5 of his pictures and another site where you could read about "Forty-Seven Days to Oz", in which Barry Moser writes about how he made the illustrations for his 1986 Pennyroyal Press Edition, but Amazon.com cut them out. I also ordered "the Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Troll Illustrated Classics", but it was out-of-print so I couldn't get it, but I'll try on another site: Biblio-Quest.

Maybe next time then . . .

This is a very interesting idea that is called "We Both Read." Every opening contains a beautiful full-color painting by David Hohn, whose style is very attractive. The left-hand pages contain text for a parent to read to a child, and the right-hand pages contain cute verses for the child to read to the parent. All of the text is simple enough that the "parent" could as easily be an older friend or sibling. On the cover, it claims to be geared toward grades one and two. When I was seven, I was not a top reader, but I was enjoying far more sophisticated works than this. Still, it is a great learning aid for any child who loves Oz and has trouble reading.

The story takes place prior to Dorothy's first visit. The Witch of the East is still at large, and has made it illegal for the Munchkins to celebrate birthdays. This makes Meezie and Tweeze (two cute Munchkin twin children) very unhappy, as today is their birthday. So Meezie schemes with a breezy character named Windbag to overthrow the Witch by conjuring up a storm. It is obvious what happens next, but bear in mind the fact that, if you are reading this review, you probably are not five years old.

The plot is quite simplistic, but it is intended for very small children, so I can't hold that against it. On page ten, there is an illustration that looked at a glance to me like a little girl no older than nine. It turns out that this is supposed to be Glinda! Then I noticed the poppies on either side of her blonde head and realized that it is obviously Ozma. The author must have originally wrote about Ozma, got it illustrated, and then realized too late that Ozma would have been Tip at that time. So now Glinda is described with "golden hair" and depicted as a pre-teen. There is also an awkward conversation with Windbag in which he discloses the fact that he was responsible for bringing the Wicked Witch to Oz in the first place. He had blown her off course en route to France! And Dorothy's arrival contradicts Baum's version. Still, if one may theorize that Windbag was mistaken about the Witch's origin, and that Dorothy may have had an encounter with some different Munchkins after Tattypoo and the others left, this book is not too bad. And of course I can approve of anything that helps children learn to read. 2 stars.

The "We Both Read" series works magic in persuading kids to read because both the parent and the child participate. I did not like this story, but it matters not at all. My son who hates to read, loves to share the reading task with me. I am always looking for me books in this series.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews  4.0 out of 5 stars