You probably know the story… (I hope you know the story!) There’s this chick named Dorothy who is kind of ungrateful living on a farm with her aunt and uncle with her dog Toto. Then one day a tornado hits (in my book it was a cyclone) and Dorothy winds up flying in her home to another place called – yup you guessed it … Oz, where she works hard (and this is the big plot line) to find her way home AND in the mean time makes some friends with a Tin Man, a Scarecrow and a Lion – but not a scary lion because he really is rather skid-dish.
Toss in a spooky green witch who wants Dorothy and her little dog too… a crazy Oz man who liked to refer to himself as the “Great and Powerful Oz” (I know like mid life crisis or what? Why doesn’t he just get a sports car?) and you have quite a little story going here….
So… this was out October Classic read for Bookies book club. When we chose it back in July we thought we were brilliant because although we knew about the Wizard Of Oz from the movie… none of us had read the book. Well, seriously – what a blast we had… the food the awesome and the discussion was fun.
There are so many differences between the book and the movie it was kind of fun because of course – the book was more detailed. For instance, did you know that in the book Dorothy’s shoes are silver and not red? They were made red for the movie because red stood out more. AND originally the yellow brick road was supposed to be red?
SO many more details! The book has a chapter where there are people made of China – yes, china like the plates! It was interesting to think that this book was so forward thinking for a book written in 1900.
Oh, and another fun fact – Judy Garland was originally supposed to be in the movie Gone With The Wind but bowed out of that role to play Dorothy! At the time the movies were made, there was no way of knowing the hits they both would come to be!
Our book review consisted of a little trivia and a lot of good food… just see for yourself:
Over all our group rating was 3.8 out of a 5 possibility. A few preferred the movie, I as well as a few others enjoyed the book more because it introduced things that were not in the movie. I highly recommend the Wizard of Oz for a fun book discussion. We really had a great time!
Book Journey 
Great review and pics. Sounds like a fun book club! 😉
It is a great group Liesel 🙂
I guessed that was you because none of the others looked like you! I didn’t realize there were so many differences in the book and the movie. Of course, I’ve never seen the movie all the way through.
Never seen the entire movie? I am curious about that Kathy! 😀 Yes, I printed out a whole list of things that are different from book to movie, it was a lot of fun to look through them.
It looks like you have such a fun bookclub! Love the Witches Brew 😉
That was fun! 😀
I didn’t realize that so many things had been changed. That is interesting about the iconic ruby slippers! I like the melting witch S’mores 🙂
I don’t know if my book groups would ever go for that kind of book but I may give it a try on my own.
We do a classic every October for a little “culture…” when this one was brought up for the vote it sounded like something we should do 🙂
Looks like you had fun … maybe this will get me around to actually picking up the Oz books 🙂
I didnt even know there were 1 books total! Isn’t that amazing? And this one published in 1900, was picked up to be a movie in 1902!
That book club meeting looks like a lot of fun! I liked the movie as a kid, but have seen it far too many times to enjoy it any more. I remember dissecting aspects of the book (like the gold standard) when in high school. You guys probably had a lot more fun with it than I did in class. 🙂
We did have fun Alyce – we kept it light… it was hard to run a meeting with a large hooked nose 😀
Great looking costumes and food!
I have Wizard of Oz figurines and dolls…I have photos of them on some of my blogs.
I have seen those on your blogs Laurel! So fun! I have no Wizard of Oz items… I may need to change that. 🙂
The book is WAAAAAY better than the movie.
I thought so too Ryan 🙂
I didn’t even recognize you! Great costume. 🙂 My boys and I are listening to it on audio and I have to agree with you. I’m liking the added story elements.
Thanks Michelle 😀
Definitely I am adding to my before-I-die-bucket list being in a book club like yours!
Maybe you just need to come and visit Jill and hang out at book club with me! 😀
Fun! I read all the Oz books as a kid, but that was a long time ago and I don’t remember much.
I didn’t even know there was a set of books Joy… I feel like i should have known that 😀
Looks like you had a blast! I’ve always loved Baum’s Oz books, though I actually like some of the later books in the series better…they all have wonderful whimsical details, similar to the people made out of china. And SO MANY fun, weird characters too!
I really do need to seek our some Oz books!
Wow, what fun! And what a great costume, Sheila!! And the food looks great – you guys really know how to do a book club!
I love the movie but have never read this book or any of the others in the series. I did read Wicked though (and saw the amazing show on Broadway).
Glad you enjoyed the book – I hope to get to it one of these days.
Sue
Thanks Sue, I had tickets to Wicked years ago and my friend asked me to be in her wedding that day…. I couldn’t bring myself to say, “Sorry… I have tickets to Wicked” so I gave my ticket away. I hope to see it some day!