Shelby Grossman

I chose to read the Wizard of Oz for my summer reading assignment. I chose this book because my sister bought it a couple of years ago and I never got the chance to read it. Seeing as that it is an American classic I was expecting a lot more from the book than I got. For some reason I had the idea in my head that it would be an eloquently written, more mature version of one of my favorite childhood movies- I was wrong. I felt that this book was written for a mother to read her child at night. It was so simple and completely illogical. The story says that Dorothy, a sweet child from Kansas, is dropped into Oz by an incredible storm. Along her treacherous journey home she meets a brainless scarecrow that is constantly thinking and planning, but with what? He's supposed to be without a brain! The other characters do the same in that the tin man cares without a heart and the lion is brave without courage. I understand that it is supposed to be a lovely story and the lesson in the end is that our main characters have had what they desired since the very beginning, what I don't understand is why this wasn't a twenty page childrens' picture book.