The Magic of Oz

1919, undated probably 1970s Rand McNally edition
L. Frank Baum
Illustrated by John R. Neill
The Magic of Oz
Bought new for $1.95
Paperback with stains and broken spine
B+

This is another book with Ozma's birthday, but much stronger than Road.  This time the focus is on the gifts, particularly what Dorothy & the Wizard and Trot, Cap'n Bill, & the Glass Cat have to go through to get their gifts.  Meanwhile, the Nome King is again hoping to conquer Oz.  The three main plots are good on their own and interweave well. 

The last plot I mentioned is the subject of the first three chapters.  Bad boy Kiki Aru discovers a secret word of transformation, "Pyrzqxgl," which would also give him the winning score in Scrabble.  As a child, I loved how coy Baum is about warning readers to not pronounce the word correctly, although I'm sure every child tried.  Kiki makes himself into a bird and flies from his home on Mount Munch (the mountain that Nimmie lives near) to Hiland, Loland, Noland, Ix, and Ev, although we barely get glimpses of these places, unlike the visit to Mo in Scarecrow.  (He has no trouble speaking as a bird, despite Baum sometimes claiming that animals can't talk outside Oz.)  He encounters the Nome King, who encourages him to use the magic word for evil purposes.  Kiki is inexperienced, but he knows enough not to fully trust Ruggedo.

Dorothy and the Wizard, with the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger as transportation and protection, journey to the Gillikin Forest in order to get monkeys who'll agree to be shrunk and pop out of a cake.  They arrive just as the Nome King and Kiki, disguised as Li-Mon-Eags (lion-monkey-eagle hybrids) try to get the wild animals on their side.  There's a slight parody of the Russian Revolution in the Nome King's speech to get the beasts to revolt, and earlier he remarks to Kiki that it's the fashion to make kings abdicate. 

There are also references to the just finished Great War, as in Baum's dedication (which usually is to his family members), this time to "the Children of our Soldiers, the Americans and their Allies."  And Neill gives the giant soldiers, which Kiki creates out of monkeys, the headgear of doughboys and other servicemen, rather than the plumes described in the text.  For all the mockery of war and officers, Baum does seem to respect the bravery of the foot soldier.  In fact, he shows female soldiers as especially gallant, Jinjur's Army of Revolt aside.  Even in Land, Glinda's female army is treated with respect.

I wonder what those who think the Oz books are satanic would make of Cap'n Bill's speech about how people take the good things in their lives for granted, since he says in part, "Most folks forget to thank God for givin' 'em two good legs, till they lose one o' 'em, like I did; and then it's too late, 'cept to praise God for leavin' one."  The piety here is simple and unassuming, as suits the speaker, but therefore easy to overlook.

Cap'n Bill and Trot are stuck on a magical island where a beautiful, ever-changing flower grows.  Anything "meat" grows roots, like flesh, wool socks, and leather shoes, so the Glass Cat who's led them there is able to go get help.  Bungle is more prominent in this book but just as vain yet loyal as ever.  At the end of Patchwork Girl, the Wizard had replaced the cat's pink brains with ones that weren't so pretty, but Baum has forgotten that, along with Bungle's brief humility.  The other feline regular, Eureka, gets a brief scene with Bungle, and we can tell the two cats don't get along.  In fact, when the miniaturized monkeys later get even with Bungle for pulling their tails by covering her in blue mud, it is the thought of what her furry rival would say that particularly worries Bungle.

This book also marks the return of the Kalidahs, well, one in particular that Cap'n Bill stabs.  It doesn't die but it is annoyed.  Baum doesn't describe the Kalidah this time, probably knowing that readers well remember the creature from the first book.  Neill's Kalidah is more realistic than the ones Denslow drew, but not any scarier.

The most notable illustration for this edition is the odd cover, as can be seen here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Magic_of_oz_cover.gif
The guilty look of the monkey, the amused look of the Wizard, and the odd trail of smoke coming from behind the monkey suggest the creature has farted in the cauldron.

I'm disappointed in the illustrations of the Magic Flower, since Neill doesn't convey its beauty.  I do like the illustration of when it offers fruit for awhile.  Similarly, Neill doesn't do justice to the diamond palace of the Lonesome Duck (a great minor character), but I like the look of amazement on Dorothy's face in that picture.

In Baum's introduction, he says, "A long and confining illness has prevented my answering all the good letters sent me-- unless stamps were enclosed-- but from now on I hope to be able to give prompt attention to each and every letter with which my readers favor me."  It's sweet that Baum answered all the fan letters he could, but then you realize that he had died the month before this book came out.  The Royal Historian was not quite done, as there was another posthumous book the next year, but his contradictory yet lovable version of Oz was nearly complete.