The Marvelous Land of Oz

The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum, 319 pages

In this second book of the Oz series, we leave Dorothy back in Kansas and instead focus on Tip, a boy who is forced to work for the evil witch Mombi. Stealing some of Mombi's magic powder to bring a pumpkin-headed stick man to life, Tip runs away, embarking on a journey that involves an all-girl army taking over the Emerald City, a Highly Magnified insect, a flying creation made out of couches, and the involvement of the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Glinda the Good.

While there is a bit of a plot running through this story, it's quite episodic, which makes it ideal for reading aloud, which is what I've been doing. My six-year-old son and I are slowly working our way through this series, and while I had a few issues with this volume (the all-girl army overthrows the Emerald City because they want the pretty jewels? Seriously???), all in all it was a fun experience for both of us and we're looking forward to book three, Ozma of Oz.