The Wizard of Oz

[Petie1104]

I downloaded an e-book that has all the stories in the wizard of oz.  I was thinking of reading it to my 4 yr. old while the older ones are in school.  But we all know that books are not the same as the movies made of them, so I'm wondering....Is this a good book to read aloud to a 4 yr. old?

[jeanine123]

I remember finding The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the library at school when I was in 4th or 5th grade.  Since I loved to read and I loved the movie I thought I'd give it a go.  What a mistake.  Nothing at all like the movie.  Much darker, grimmer and more disturbing IMO.  I haven't read it since then so this is my memory of the feelings I had when I read it.  I was so shocked how different it was from the movie.

DH told me about part of the book (I didn't make it all the way through).  The Tin Man became the Tin Man because he fell in love with a Munchkin.  The Wicked Witch didn't want anyone to fall in love so she bewitched his hatchet to chop off his leg.  The tinsmith made him a new leg.  The hatchet then chopped off his other leg.  The tinsmith replace that one.  And so on and so forth.  To cap it off, the tinsmith sewed the parts of the Tin Man back together and that sewn together version went on to marry the Munchkin. 

Edited by jeanine123 - 12/21/10 at 7:57pm

[AAK]

Wow, that sounds creepy.  We are going to start the book this week (for Mother Daughter book club).  One of the members picked it out because she loves the series and wants everyone else to try it too.  She is 8.  She first read it (heard it) when she was six.  I wonder if she just doesn't remember that stuff or if it didn't resonate with her or what.  I am curious as to what she thinks this time around--she is a pretty sensitive kid. 

Amy

[A Mom's Love]

DD absolutely loves the Wizard of Oz series.  She has listened to the audiobooks for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz & the Land of Oz.  She was 5, but closer to 6 when I began allowing her to listen to a dramatization of the first book.  She's 6 now & listens to the unabridged audio books of both.  She wouldn't have been able to handle these books at 4 or even a young 5 for that matter.  She understands that it is make believe and has never had a problem with it, although she could not watch the same content on television without getting disturbed.  It's interesting to me that she has not had the same reaction to audio books as to DVDs.  Maybe it's the narrators monotone voices that allow her to bring her own feelings to the text?  Perhaps it is because there's no accompanying visual other than what she conjures up in her mind herself. 

The first book certainly has violence & death in it.  I don't know the second book as well.  DD has just gotten into that one recently. 

When she was 4, she loved the audiobook for Rikki Tikki Tavi, which contained violence among animals, of course, but I think she enjoyed it because the mongoose was going about trying to save the boy.  The snakes are viewed as bad in the book, but that doesn't stop my dd from being interested in reading about snakes, petting non-poisonous ones & loving to see them at the zoo.

Other audiobooks she loved at that age were Brave Irene, Stone Soup, Blueberries for Sal & Homer Price.  HTH.