Thursday, July 15, 2021

Birthday Books: The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum. Illustrated by [Libico] Maraja.

 This version first published: 1956. This edition: 1986. Pages: 120.  “L. Frank Baum’s timeless classic, written in 1900, is not retold here but only slightly abridged; his wording and the flavor of the original text are retained throughout.”  Missing one of the front end-papers – probably the school check-out page – and bearing a school sticker on the front cover. [Publisher’s: Grosset & Dunlap.] Arrived five days earlier than expected.


I have at least eight other versions of this book, but this one is illustrated by Libico Maraja, an artist who first drew my attention in high school with his illustrations for "Alice in Wonderland". His design decisions for Oz are a little less satisfying to me (now that I can see all of them), with perhaps not enough character for the Scarecrow and a distracting robotic look for the Tin Woodman. Having the Wizard in a black robe just seems odd. But on the whole it is a good performance.  

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