Puss Reboots: Blog: June 2012: The Road to Oz

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Reviews
ABC Book by CB Falls
Also Known as Rowan Pohi by Ralph Fletcher
Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
Blackout by Connie Willis
The Blessing Way (audio) by Tony Hillerman
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault
Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars by Douglas Florian
Dying for Chocolate (audio) by Diane Mott Davidson
From a Changeling Star by Jeffrey A. Carver
Gemini Bites by Patrick Ryan
If Rocks Could Sing by Leslie McGuirk
Imagine a Night by Sarah L. Thomson and Rob Gonsalves
Introduction to Joyous Cooking 200th Anniversary Edition by Heather Lindsey
Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
Mark Tidd in the Backwoods by Clarence Budington Kelland
Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren
Monkey Food by Ellen Forney
The Monster Princess by DJ MacHale
Navajo ABC by Lucy Tapahonso
The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz
One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Perfect Square by Michael Hall
The Road to Oz by Kathleen Krull
Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
Thirteen by Remy Charlip
Tips on Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend by Carrie Jones
Twin Spica 05 by Kou Yaginuma
The Window of Time by Richard Matheson
The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg

Other Stuff
Canadian Book Challenge 6
Twenty-Five Years of Reading

Previous month

The Road to Oz 06/20/12

The Road to Oz by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Kevin Hawekes is a nonfiction picture book biography of L. Frank Baum. The book covers highlights of Baum's childhood, early adulthood and the events that lead up to him writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Kevin Hawkes's acrylic paintings bring together the Victorian era and the motifs of Baum's Oz books. Artistically the paintings try to show the real world inspirations for Baum's fantasies.

Thematically the book is about the struggles of doing something you love and the responsibilities of providing for a family. I've seen it with my own family and I'm going through that now as I transition careers.

What's missing though is a sense of cohesion. As it's a picture book there's not much time spent on any particular time of Baum's life. It's mostly a sampling of his life.

Three stars