I saw this complete collection on Amazonr recently, read the great reader reviews of the edition, and frankly, the low price made it a no-brainer (lol) even for a non-scarecrow. That's what happens when Hollywood magic fills your imagination. I had read the first book when I was much younger, seeking more of the color and pageantry and spectacle of the movie and remember being vaguely disappointed. I love the classic film and as a parent, had seen it some hundred plus times over the years, thanks mainly to a daughter who was obsessed with it at one point. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out. Having this thought in mind, the story of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' was written solely to please children of today. Modern education includes morality therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident. Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as 'historical' in the children's library for the time has come for a series of newer 'wonder tales' in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations. Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal. Perhaps there is no better, or fitting, introduction one could give to this compilation than the author's note that Baum himself writes in his very first book, 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.' Here he reveals the true intention of his work.

This delightful compilation includes all fifteen books written by L. Frank Baum has been captivating the hearts of the young, and not so young, for over a hundred years. Although most children today are introduced to the world of Oz through the classic 1939 movie, L.

Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum