As a former English teacher and librarian, book talks were a staple in our founder’s classroom and library. She posted those book talks and reviews on her personal page, educatorbarnes.com. Those reviews are now on this website, and our founder will continue adding new book reviews. They are categorized on the Book Talks and Reviews page.
I am currently reading the Land of Oz books, and I finished book three Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum.
A better title for this book would have been Dorothy Returns. Ozma’s name is on the cover, but she is really a side character.
In this installment, Princess Ozma, the rightful heir of Oz, left Oz to rescue the royal family of Ev who are prisoners of the Nome King. (It is Nome, not Gnome in the book.) Also, Dorothy is back! Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion all help Ozma during her mission.
Let’s get back to why I said Ozma was a side character.
First, she is not even mentioned until chapter five. The only reason Ozma is mentioned in chapter five is so Dorothy can learn she was the heir to throne before the Wizard of Oz hid her after he took over the Emerald City. Dorothy also learns the Scarecrow (who took over after the Wizard left) is no longer ruler of Oz, and Princess Ozma has taken her rightful place upon the throne. Essentially, Dorothy learned what happened in book two since she wasn’t part of the book two adventures.
Readers get the first dialogue from Princess Ozma in chapter seven. Princess Ozma is an active character in the story from chapter seven until chapter 12. From chapter 13 – 15, Princess Ozma is inactive with no dialogue. In chapter 16, she has dialogue again through the end of book. Out of the 21 chapters, Ozma had dialogue in only 12 chapters, 57% of the book!
We learned more about Princess Ozma’s life in book two than book three which was named after her.
Dorothy was actually the main character especially considering her helpful actions during the mission to save the Ev royal family.
Just like the other book, there were more characters added, Tik Tok, a tiger, and a talking chicken named Bill.
Side note: Dorothy refused to call Bill, a female, Bill because she said it was a boy’s name. Upon meeting Bill, she tells her that her name will be Billina from now on. How are you just going to meet someone and force a name change??? Anytime, she introduced herself as Bill, Dorothy would insert herself and say it’s Billina. This wasn’t a major plot point, but it sure got my attention. Dorothy was definitely doing the most.
I liked this book better than book two. Moving forward, I’ll rank the books in the series.
For readers, who love the Land of Oz and the other surrounding kingdoms, book three offers another opportunity to escape into that world.
Series ranked from best to worst
Book 1 – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Book 3 – Ozma of Oz
Book 2 – The Marvelous Land of Oz
Rating 3/5
| Lexile (the level included is of book one as there isn’t one of book three) | 1030L |
| Accelerated Reader Level | 8.0 |
Blazing Brilliance 