The Scarecrow of Oz

I find myself unable to leave the magical fairyland of Oz for good. There’s always a random time when I go: “Oh, I wonder what’s happening in Oz.” And then BaM in transported there. <br /><br />This time for the 9th time.<br /><br />Fun Fact: after a little bit of research I discovered that even after Baum’s death the series kept on going up to about 50 different Oz tales. <br />+ there’s the famous Macguire’s “Wicked” series. (Yes! That’s series too!)<br />+there’s that “Dorothy Must Die” series. <br />+ whatever else I might not have discovered yet. <br /><br />It looks like I’m going to be returning to Oz for quite awhile and I’m not complaining. <br /><br />Sometimes that is exactly what I need. Even as an adult. A good, solid, fun fairytale. <br /><br />This is exactly what this was. <br />We got Captain Bill, we got Button Bright back, we got a new heroine, we got a bundle of the most random of adventures as per usual + Oz!<br /><br />If you’ve made it all the way to this book, there really is not much to say here. <br />Keep at it :)<br /><br />If this is your first Oz book...WHY???<br />No, really, WHY???<br /><br />Go back immediately and start at the beginning! <br />You don’t want Santa to bring you coals, do you???<br /><br /><br />Roman

I'll just say for starters that this isn't so much an Oz book as the third part of the Cap'n Bill and Trot trilogy (for the first two parts see 'The Sea Fairies' and 'Sky Island'). I didn't have a problem with this, however, as I really enjoyed the first two books featuring these characters.<br /><br />Secondly, the title is more than a little misleading, as the titular Scarecrow doesn't even show up until two thirds of the way through and even then it's mainly to act as a deus ex machina to pull the protagonists' fat out of the fire. <br /><br />Despite this, the book remains thoroughly charming and enjoyable.

Decent Oz outing, but becoming quite dated. There is are recurring themes that beauty is coupled to popularity, beauty is coupled to goodness, and ugly is coupled to wickedness. Plot devices are best suited to the pre-tween crowd when the TV is broken. These later Oz books are rapidly emigrating to the realms of scholarship and nostalgia only, with little relevance for today.<br /><br />Which brings an interesting thought -- what should be the future for Oz the written franchise? Could there be a reinvention, like already happens within graphic novels, movie franchises (ugh) and television? Or does Oz the written canon get put into a glass case in a backwater museum?

I like to think of this as Baum's big crossover episode. Not having read a lot of Baum outside of the Oz books, I was a little thrown off by these two characters I was clearly supposed to know already (from Baum's <i>Sea Fairies</i> and <i>Sky Island</i> it turns out) but it's easy enough to recover. Both Trot and Cap'n Bill are hard not to like, and the change of pace is more than a little refreshing after all the sameness in the previous book. There is another shipwreck (of sorts) but it at least happens in a cool and creative way and even though it's kind of another road trip sort of book, the characters feel fresh and so do the adventures. So fresh in fact, that even when Button Bright (sadly, a character we are all too familiar with from before) reappears, he is really a completely different character than we knew before. Apparently he must have cameoed in those other books and had some sense knocked into him. From this point forward, he might be seriously directionally challenged, but he's at least not the same whiny empty-headed boy we knew before.<br /><br />Hilariously, Baum outdoes himself here with another example of his almost-arbitrary titles. Would you believe that the Scarecrow doesn't even make an appearance until Chapter 13? Truth. Scarecrow's very brief role in this is at least pretty dramatic though--so you can't say that he doesn't ever get his moment in the sun. It does prompt some serious questions about the use---or lack thereof--of Ozma's magic mirror (and Glinda's Book of Records) however, when our good friend finds himself in the most dire straits yet, with no Ozian help on the horizon.

I'll start with the one flaw: Too much boring stuff at the end when the main plot thread is already resolved. Baum does this a lot. I forgive him in this book because it is just so good. It never used to be a favorite of mine, but now it might be my absolutely favorite of the 9 I've read in a row.<br /><br />The opening chapters are among my favorite chapters Baum has ever written - when Trot and Cap'n Bill are hanging out waiting to sail. They are languid and warm and everything I want in a book sometimes. Trot is my favorite of the little girls. I figured out a few minutes ago that there is a key to why this is so. Here is where everyone is from in the Oz books:<br /><br />Dorothy: Kansas<br />The Wizard: Omaha, Nebraska<br />Betsy: Oklahoma<br />The Shaggy Man: Colorado<br />Trot: California.<br /><br />One of these things is better than the others!<br /><br />Anyway.<br /><br />I think the Ork is super cool, and I like the way he talks about Orkland. Button-Bright has gotten more likable. The whole scene with the Bumpy Man being the Mountain Ear is so weird but great.<br /><br />Oh! BTW, Button Bright is from Philadelphia, they think. That's ok, I guess, but it's no California.<br /><br />P.S. I thought Oz was supposed to be completely invisible, not just hidden by pink fog. Oh well - I guess when the kids called Baum's bluff about not writing anymore he had to modify so he could actually get people in and out.<br /><br />I love that Trot already knows about the Land of Oz. Maybe this is discussed in the other two books about her and Cap'n Bill? I have to check them out ASAP - the Sea Fairies and Sky Island - because I want to read more about Trot.<br /><br />I love how Baum essentially makes fun of the traditional fantasy world love story with princesses and kings and gardener's boys and the like. "The King wanted her to marry a rich courtier named Googly-Goo, who is old enough to be Gloria's father. She has refused Googly-Goo thirty-nine times..." hahahaha. And I love how Trot is totally scornful of Pon the gardener's boy at all times and keeps trying to convince Gloria to pick someone else to love. And I REALLY love the bit where King Krewl and Googly-Goo smile at each other at the end of chapter 11.<br /><br />I love that the Woozy reappears at the end.

lol I love these book because to the modern reader, they are so messed up. making fun of people with only 1 eye, turning people's heart to ice... I didn't love this story as much as ozma of oz but it wasn't awful.

3,5

This is one of the really good books in the Oz series. I quite loved it from the beginning to the end. It really could hold my attention for a whole day without any trouble. The one thing I can't understand is the title. Scarecrow doesn't make an appearance until 60% of the book is done. <br /><br />The few new characters introduced here are very agreeable and pleasing. The adventures were very exiting. I loved the Ork. He seemed like a very well groomed bird with a well used brain. The berries however, reminded me of Alice. No harm done there.<br /><br />I wasn't aware of the books of Captain Bill and Trot's adventures. Looks like I need to read them after finishing the Oz series. I liked those two. Never dull and never boring. <br /><br /><i>Book #09 of 2022. <br />Book #09 of Oz series<br />Around The Year in 52 Books: A book connected to a book you read in 2021</i>

I really enjoyed the back half of the book, once they got to Oz. The romantic subplot was delightful and I can always use more Orks

a very cute little story in Oz, I did not realize how many of these there are