Audiobook · read by volunteers
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
L. Frank Baum (1856–1919)
Read by Judy Bieber · 20 chapters · 4 h 15
About the book
An earthquake opens the ground beneath a buggy, and Dorothy, her kitten Eureka, a cab horse called Jim and a farm boy named Zeb tumble into the depths of the earth. Their fall leads them to a glass city, to a land of plants that walk and talk, and to a very familiar humbug of a wizard. But not every inhabitant of this underground world is friendly. There are cold-blooded Mangaboos, invisible bears, flying wooden Gargoyles, a den of dragonettes and an eccentric inventor waiting between the travellers and the surface. L. Frank Baum fills the journey with puns, dry wit and fresh invention. This reading by a single narrator lasts a little over four hours and is a fine adventure for young listeners and grown-up Oz fans alike, and its short chapters make it easy to enjoy a little at a time.
Introduction
L. Frank Baum, who lived from 1856 to 1919, wrote fourteen books about the Land of Oz, and Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz was the fourth of them. It was published in 1908, while Baum was living in Coronado, California. It is often described as one of the darker Oz tales, since its heroes spend much of their time in danger underground, though it is also enlivened by Baum’s considerable wit, his taste for puns and his dry social commentary.
The story begins with an earthquake that swallows the travellers and sends them into the earth’s interior. There they meet the former ruler of Oz, a humbug wizard, and explore a succession of strange realms. The Mangaboos, the Valley of Voices, the invisible bears and the Braided Man all appear in the chapter titles, which gives a sense of the book’s inventive range. Along the way Dorothy’s calm good sense is tested, and her friends discover resources they did not know they had.
This recording follows the 20 chapters of the book and lasts about four hours and twenty minutes. It is read by one voice from start to finish, which gives the story a steady storytelling rhythm that suits younger listeners at bedtime as well as older ones on a journey.
The reading was made by a LibriVox volunteer as a free gift to the listening public. Fans of the Oz series will welcome the return of familiar characters, and newcomers will find that the book works very well on its own as a lively and inventive fantasy adventure.
Public domain
L. Frank Baum died in 1919: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text