It turns out that Dorothy, Tik-Tok and Billina are in the fairy country of Ev, and that the royal family of Ev has been imprisoned by the Nome King. So Dorothy winds the mechanical man and he rescues them by beating away the wheelers with a lunch pail. He has instructions on him, saying that this is a most ingenious mechanical man, requiring only to be work for thinking, speaking and movement. Except! Except that they discover a copper man. It’s creations like this that invite the reader to ask what Baum was smoking, much as comic readers wonder about Ditko, but as far as I know, their imagination came from clean living.ĭorothy and Billina escape the wheelers by climbing a lonely hill, where they are trapped. Although petty bullies, in concept they are truly horrific, having arms as long as they legs and every limb ending in what is essentially a shopping cart wheel. Hats off by the way to both Baum’s boundless imagination and to Neill’s ability to bring it to life visually.ĭorothy and the hen are chased by creatures called the wheelers (image below). They land ashore grab some breakfast from a couple of lunchbox trees. The fact that Billina the yellow hen can talk tells Dorothy that she’s in a fairy land again. In the morning, she finds out that a hen has also sought safety in the little coop and she and Dorothy chat while the hen lays her daily egg. Luckily a wooden box was also washed overboard and she manages to climb onto it as the steamer carries on through the mountainous storm waves. A storm picks up and Dorothy is washed overboard. The story begins with Dorothy travelling with Uncle Henry on a steamer to Australia. Frank Baum’s series is really the first major American fantasy world. Ozma of Oz was published in 1907, and as I’ve noted in my previous posts, L. This book was also my introduction to the otherworldly art of John R.

While I’d seen the Wizard of Oz of course, Ozma of Oz was the first book I’d read and luckily it can be read entirely fine with nothing more than the 1939 movie as an introduction. I’ve been doing more reading with my 10-year old niece and book 3 of L.

Ozma wizard of oz