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Saturday, June 23, 2012

Two short books of Oz

 And I read both of these in 24 hours.

Up first is the privately printed picture book Dreaming in a Scarlet Slumber by Jeffrey Rester, with artwork by Denslow, Neill, Milt Youngren (The Laughing Dragon of Oz) and some original art by Luciano Vecchio.

The story takes place during The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, revealing a dream Dorothy had while in the Deadly Poppy Field. It gives her a peek into the future of Oz, some we've seen, and some we've yet to see. (And maybe we'll never see it.)
The story is short, thought-provoking and a little disturbing. Overall, it's an interesting side-piece to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and when read in the story, helps it feel more like the beginning of the great adventure series it developed into.

If you want to get a copy, contact Jeff at ozmusofoz@gmail.com

Next up is The Bouncy Bunnies in Oz by Marin Xiques and illustrated by Ashley Akers.

This seems to be a follow up to a previous story with the Thists from The Lost Princess of Oz. I wasn't really sure exactly who the characters were, but I didn't get lost. Apparently a dignitary named Thora is vacationing outside of Thi, and taking care of her is Thornton, who has three adopted rabbit children: Jodie, Risa, and Amanda.

Thornton gets digestive troubles and is forced to stay in bed, so Thora must take care of him, but the rabbits are quite a handful! They try to help with the limited food source and are soon aided by none other than the Cowardly Lion.

However, Jodie runs away and visits with the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman. Thornton and Thora soon have to go off after her and have a short adventure of their own, but don't worry. There aren't any big baddies wanting to prevent a happy ending for anyone here.

In addition to the main story, Marin retells myths and legends through books the rabbits have access to. She tells them in a very engaging fashion, and I quite enjoyed the little book.

You can get a copy here.

1 comment:

  1. I've only seen that "Wonderful Wizard" coloured cover once before . . . and the shoes were red there.

    Glad it wasn't the case here!

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