Audiobook · read by volunteers
Sky Island
L. Frank Baum (1856–1919)
Read by Judy Bieber · 30 chapters · 5 h 40
About the book
Trot is a spunky girl from California and Cap’n Bill, a sailor with a wooden leg, is her old friend. When they meet Button-Bright, a boy from the Oz tales, and borrow his enchanted umbrella, they find themselves sailing up through the sky to a most unusual island. There they discover two countries that could not be more different: that of the Blues, ruled by the Boolaroo, a monarch both comical and dangerous, and that of the Pinks. Baum’s inventive tale, published in 1912, has its share of fairy-tale marvels and its sly humour, and it makes a spirited follow-up to the pair’s first adventure. Read by a single narrator in thirty chapters, this nearly six-hour recording is a pleasure for children, for parents and for anyone who loves a good fantastic journey.
Introduction
L. Frank Baum, who lived from 1856 to 1919, wrote Sky Island in 1912, and it was the second of three titles featuring a spunky girl from California named Trot, and her companion, the old sailorman, Cap’n Bill. Baum had hoped to end the Oz series in 1910, and the following year he introduced Trot and Cap’n Bill in The Sea Fairies. In Sky Island, they journey to an island in the sky by means of an enchanted umbrella.
Apart from Button-Bright, a boy who first appeared in the Oz tales, the book stands outside Oz, though readers who know the series will recognise the same blend of fantasy, whimsy and gentle satire. The island in the sky is divided into two lands whose ways of life are strikingly different, and the visitors soon find themselves captured by one and escaping to the other. Baum uses the situation to poke fun at rigid rules and at the pomp of rulers, always in a spirit of good humour.
Trot herself is a refreshing heroine: sensible, brave and unafraid to speak her mind. Cap’n Bill, with his wooden leg and his seafaring wisdom, complements her well. Together they supply a warm centre to the story’s more extravagant episodes.
This recording is divided into 30 chapters and lasts about five and three-quarter hours. One LibriVox volunteer reads the entire book, giving it a continuous voice. It is a good choice for family listening, and for readers who want to see what Baum did outside the borders of Oz. A cheerful, inventive tale with a great deal of charm.
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