Dorothy and Toto are off again on an exciting adventure down The Road to Oz!
In order to help the lovable, ever-wandering Shaggy Man, Dorothy and Toto must journey through magical and mysterious lands. Soon the three are joined by a lost lad named Button-Bright and the beautiful young Polychromethe Rainbow's Daughter. With magic at work and danger about, these new friends must journey through cities of talking beasts, across the Deadly Desert into the Truth Pond, and through many other strange and incredible places before they can reach the Emerald City.
Along the way, Dorothy and her companions encounter a whole new assortment of fantastic and funny characters--the crafty King Dox of Foxville, the magical donkey King Kik-a-bray, the terrible bigheaded Scoodlers, and Johnny Dooit (who can do anything)--along with old friends Jack Pumpkinhead, Tik-tok, Billina, and, of course, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and the wonderful Wizard himself.
The Road to Oz is the fifth adventure in the magical Land of Oz. For the first time since the original 1909 edition, this stunning new facsimile edition illustrates Dorothy's fantastic adventures on different colors of paper reflecting where she and her friends are on the road to Oz. Featuring all of John R. Neill's 126 striking pen-and-ink drawings, this handsome deluxe edition is one to be treasured for years to come.
Afterword by Peter Glassman. This deluxe facsimile of the fifth Oz adventure reunites Dorothy and her friends for Princess Ozma's glorious birthday party. For the first time since the original 1909 edition, the 126 masterful illustrations are printed on colored papers, exactly as the author intended. A Books of Wonder Classic.
More Outlandish Adventures!May 27, 2002 ChowhoundPlus 3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've already praised the quixotic Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. Now I'll move to the outrageous The Road to Oz, where Dorothy Gale is sent on her way to Oz literally by coming to a fork in a road, this time with Toto again. She meets up with the Shaggy Man, and endearing homeless man who relishes his shags, bobs, shreds and general crustiness. She also encounters the quite idiotic Button-Bright, a charming but stupid little boy, and last but not least, she meets Polychrome, the Rainbow's Daughter. Polychrome is so very Oz, and yet she's one of the sky fairies, in her rainbow gown and her delicate features (she only eats mist-cakes, dew-drops, and cloud-buns); but she grieves being separated from her father the rainbow. The journey takes them on a road past bizarre creatures (a fellow who can only spout music like an instrument, cannot simply talk), the hilarious feud between Foxes and Donkeys, the creepy Scoodlers, among other notables, to lead them to Oz. The whole dangerous, strange mission was set forth by the Queen of Oz, Ozma, to celebrate her birthday. We get to meet Queen Zixi of Ix, Santa Claus, and many other wonderful people and creatures that welcome all of us back to Oz. A truly fantastical, funny, Ozzy book.
The road to adventures!February 19, 2007 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Read this book it is the best! I read like two chapters a night I liked it so much. It is full of adventures. It is very cool! Anyone should read it. The book is axesome! So READ IT!!!
DelightfulApril 3, 2000 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was actually the very first oz book that I read, and maybe part of the reason why I like it so much. In it we meet the shaggyman, on his quest to go to oz. We also meet up with Dorothy again, and her little dog too. Although it may not be the most imaginitive in the series (that would be Rinkitink of Oz, or Tiktok of Oz in my opinion), it is still a very pleasant addition to any bookshelf.
a grand evocation of a child's birthday partyJanuary 29, 2006 marcabru As noted by some other reviewers Road to Oz doesn't conform to the usual requirements of a fairy tale such as a quest or continual action adventure. However, I believe Baum was aiming at something different here, namely, evoking the wonder, anticipation and shared excitement that young children feel at a birthday party (the point of the book is the celebration of Ozma's birthday). The first edition of the book was even printed with paper of different colors like the colored paper used for decorations. In these terms, Road to Oz is perhaps one of the best written of the Oz series with very few false notes or awkward characters. The characters of Button Bright, Polychrome, the Shaggy Man and Johnny DoIt are particularly good. Actually there is a quite a bit of action and adventure before Dorothy and her companions arrive in Oz. The transformations of Button-Bright and the Shaggy Man into fox and donkey respectively, while straight out of Classical myth, have an unusual twist: their motivation stems not from malice or the Gods' sport, but rather from the transformer's inability of seeing more than one standard of beauty. Once in Oz, Baum handles the pageantry and socializing in deft fashion for a children's story. In short, an essential part of the Oz series.
"That is really fine!" declared Santa ClausOctober 21, 2008 frumiousb(Amsterdam, the Netherlands) If you read the thinking of serious Oz-types, you will hear that this is widely considered one of the weakest Oz books. I do see the point. There is not much of a plot. The plot is really only this: Dorothy gets lost, meets curious characters along the way, ends up in Oz after a series of fun and/or strange adventures. That's it. That's really all there is to it.
All the same, as a child it was my favorite book in the Oz series, and it still keeps a lot of its luster now when I reread it as an adult. I really enjoy Button-Bright and the Shaggy Man as counterpoints to Dorothy. I'm always happy to see Polychrome. The odd characters that they meet along the way are among the best. I used to have nightmares about the Scoodlers, and Johnny Dooit has stayed firmly in memory-- both as a memory and a role model. And Ozma's birthday party! Well, that made quite an impression on me. Particularly the chapter on "Important Arrivals" stayed in my mind (and eventually it sent me scrambling for other books by Baum that featured these lesser-known characters.)
In short, this may not be the strongest book in the series, but I have always found it one of the most enjoyable entries. Read it yourself and judge!
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