The Lost Princess of Oz [Paperback]

While it's nice to see to many characters, it does hurt the book somewhat -- it shows really how superfluous Besty and Trot are with Dorothy around, and it includes a bizarre little subplot with Toto that doesn't really add much. Furthermore, the ending is really syrupy and saccharine, even for an Oz book.

The addition of the Frogman is a major plus, though -- he is easily the most entertaining new character added to the series since Scraps the Patchwork Girl, and it was nice to have a book that for once didn't rely on the old villains like the Nome King or the old deus ex machina of Ozma's magic picture and Glinda's magic book. In fact, I kind of wish those two items had stayed lost -- other Oz books rely on them entirely too much for their resolution.

The book features four child protagonists - Dorothy, Trot, Betsy Bobbin, and lone male Button-Bright - which is three interchangeable child protagonists too many (in several chapters, Trot and Betsy, though ostensibly present, do not speak and play no part in the action). As in most of the Oz books, the plot revolves around a journey, and those chosen in this case to undertake the search for the kidnapped Ozma are simply too bland a group. Colorful eccentrics the Woogle Bug and Jack Pumpkinhead are missing, and while Scraps the Patchwork Girl is included, she ambles about on the periphery of the story for most of the book with little sign of her trademark intrusive spark and spunk. There are also too many talking animals -whether of 'meat' or magical origin - the Cowardly Lion, Hank the Mule, Toto, the Woozy, and the Sawhorse (and later, the Big Lavender Bear and the Small Pink Bear). Though several interesting conversations arise from their differing philosophical viewpoints, the characters - which also include the 'Little Wizard' of the original title - are portrayed too homogeneously, and thus the tension and flair usually found in Baum's stories and dialogue are absent. Baum does score with the introduction to the series of the Frogman, a fun, imaginative character rivaling the Woogle Bug, the Gnome King, Tik-Tok, and Jack Pumpkinhead in pleasant absurdity, vibrance, and potential. But Baum's descriptive portrayal of his fairyland is sadly pedestrian throughout, as if these as - yet undiscovered kingdoms in the marvelous landscape of Oz are simply to be taken for granted.

All of which may explain Neill's largely uninspired, functional illustrations. Neill's usual genius is almost entirely missing, though careful readers may notice the dramatic and humorous illustration of the wizard standing before a walled city, addressing the heads of numerous giants who stare him down from the other side. All are grisly, bearded, and fierce, except one, who resembles a breathless, slightly overweight, slightly effete matinee idol of the period. Another chapter features a mechanical, jeweled dragon, which Neill inexplicably ignores.

Baum surprises with a hilarious scene in which the traveling assembly is anxiously ushered past a gauntlet of giants to meet a king rumored for his cruelty, only to find him delicately combing his eyelashes. The evidence and subtext in The Lost Princess Of Oz suggest, as many other titles in the series do, that women are by far the stronger and more spiritually refined sex. The Wizard is a well-known humbug, the Lion is a coward, the Frogman is a pompous fabricator, and Button-Bright, in behavior and dress, is in no way significantly different from Dorothy, Betsy, and Trot, who form a kind of juvenile triple-faced goddess. Glinda the Good, Oz's lone sorceress, and Ozma, the kingdom's child ruler, are strong, wise, and fundamentally incapable of error or even ungracious behavior. The Patchwork Girl is clever and indomitable under any circumstance. Was Baum slyly poking fun at his adult audience and critics? Considering Neill's strangely out - of - place, sissy-faced giant, is it an accident that the kingdom of the bears is ruled by the Big Lavender Bear and his constant companion, the sooth-saying Little Pink Bear?

Adults desiring to introduce children to the Oz series should start with the first three books, The Wizard of Oz, the better The Marvelous Land Of Oz, the odd, sometimes bizarre Ozma Of Oz, and then progress through the rest of the titles. Little Wizard Stories Of Oz, beautifully illustrated and colored by Neill, and specifically written for a younger audience than the regular titles, is also an excellent choice. The optimistic series, with its beautiful evocation of a better world and happier days, are perfect for today's children, who, as the success of the Harry Potter books show, are starved for imaginative, magical, and archetypal fare.