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The Road to Oz: 04/20/24

The Road to Oz

The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum and John R. Neill (Illustrator) (1909) is the fifth book in the Oz series. It's Dorothy's fourth return to fairyland and her first time arriving without having a near death experience.

Dorothy is back in Kansas helping her aunt and uncle with their farm. She's out doing chores when the Shaggy Man asks for directions to a nearby town. When finding the correct road involves cutting through some fields first, Dorothy decides it would be easiest to take him to the road. Unfortunately, when she gets to the crossroads, there are suddenly seventeen directions forking off the intersection where usually there are only five. To make matters worse, neither Dorothy nor Toto see the way back to the farm.

Since the third book, Dorothy has left a traveling companion behind in Oz. First it was Bill the chicken, then it was the Wizard. This time it will be the Shaggy Man. Him staying behind will also be the first time Dorothy is sorely tempted to stay in Oz herself. Her main caveat, though, is she refuses to abandon her elderly aunt and uncle who can't run the farm without her.

As with all of Dorothy's secondary trips to Oz, this one takes her via a circuitous route to lands outside of Oz. That means three times she has had to cross the Deadly Desert. Twice she's crossed with Ozma's help. This time, she and her companions find their own help.

Besides the Shaggy Man, there are two other companions, Button Bright, a young boy of unknown origins, and Pollychrome, the Rainbow King's daughter.

Each of these early Oz books is some sort of experimental piece of publishing. The first one was a self pub with some of the most eye searing color choices I've seen in a book. The second one introduced John R. Neill as the illustrator. The fourth one had reproductions of Neill's watercolors. This one only has black and white line drawings as well as a rainbow selection of papers.

Ultimately this book is an Ozma centered story. She has tricked Dorothy into visiting because her birthday is coming up (August 21st). It's such a tonal shift from the previous reasons: cyclone, storm at sea, earthquake.

This book is a tonal shift for the entire series. Oz and the surrounding areas are becoming a welcoming place to explore rather than a place to be stranded in. With the next book, The Emerald City of Oz, the series will switch almost entirely to stories in fairyland / Oz.

Four stars

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