The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz

Based on the Story By: L. Frank Baum

Illustrated By: Amanda Gulliver

Parragon Books, 2010

29 Pages

Fantasy 

     I picked this book, because I thought it would be a really great book to teach students about different types of characters.  I also wanted to find out how the new version was written.  It is very similar to the original story.  It has the same characters in it (Dorothy, Toto, Lion, etc.).  It begins with a big storm and Dorothy’s house landing on the Wicked Witch of the East.  And then Dorothy another witch (a good witch) appears to Dorothy and gives her the witch’s shoes; when Dorothy says she wants to go home to Kansas, the witch tells her to go see the wizard.  On her way to see the wizard, Dorothy comes across a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion.  They go with her to see the wizard, because they each have their own requests.  But, when they all get there and ask the wizard for what they want, they are told to kill the Witch of the West first, and then he will give them what they want.  The evil Witch of the West is watching them from a far.  She sends some monkeys to bring her Dorothy, Toto, and the lion; she tells the monkeys to kill the tin man and the scarecrow.  When Dorothy arrives to at the witch’s, she winds up killing her when she pours some water on her.  Then, they all go back to see the wizard; his true identity is revealed when a curtain falls and there is a man behind it.  The man tells Dorothy that he can take her home in the hot air balloon that he has. But, Toto jumps out of the balloon and Dorothy goes to find him.  Then, she sees another witch (the Witch of the South) and she tells Dorothy snap her shoes together and it will bring her home! It works, and Dorothy gets back!

     I like the way the artist painted the pictures in the story.  I think it is a great way of presenting the characters in a more cartoonish form.  The pictures are very simple, but tell the story very well.  The illustrator uses watercolors.  She uses very bright colors.  The artist also does a great job emphasizing important scenes or objects in the story by painting them bigger.  For example, in the scene with the wizard, she makes his face really large to describe what Dorothy sees.  I really like the style, in which the artist paints.  It is very unique.

     I would use this in my classroom to teach my students about different types of characters.  I could also get them to draw their favorite scene from the story and write about it.  They could also categorize the characters into good and evil, and point out the main character as well.  Another activity that could go along with this book is to have students make a book with characters and events in the story.   Students could also compare and contrast this story to other versions.  I think book is most appropriate for kindergarten through second grade.

 

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