Tik-Tok of Oz (our reviews)

We finished our most recent in the Oz series yesterday, The Tik-Tok of Oz. I have to say that this was my least favorite of the series so far. It fits in just fine, but it borrowed heavily from previous books, to the point that I felt it was just a rewriting or a recombination of earlier stories he'd already written. That being said, all the stories are really formulaic and that might be part of what makes them so enjoyable to the younger set—they know what to expect, and they are all equally fantastical and enjoyable. Calvin, for one, was not bothered by repetition.

Since I thought the book was somewhat of a bust I think my favorite part is Calvin's journal entry. When we started with this half a year ago I was spelling everything for him and still helping him form letters and the sentence structure to get his ideas out. He wrote this entry entirely by himself while I was running on the treadmill. I am completely in love with it.

The Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum (a review by Calvin)

We have read other books since we started this series. Really. In fact we read a multitude of other picture books and have also perused The Hobbit in graphic novel form, but we keep migrating back to Baum. You've heard me rave about these before. Here is Calvin's review of The Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum.

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, by L. Frank Baum (a review by Calvin)

Yes we are clearly making our way through the entire catalogue of Oz books. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz is the fourth book in the sequence and so far each subsequent book is at least as good as the last.  I've sung praises for the series often enough already that I think no more need be said, so I'll just move right into Calvin's review.

Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum (our reviews)

We're working our way through the Oz books, and loving every chapter along the way. The books aren't perfect—there are some dark moments and sometimes a taste of violence—but in general they're a fun foray into a fantasty world that at one time captured the minds and hearts of many children. Reading these books glimpses not only that fantasy world, which is fun for Calvin, but also the world that was the early 1900s, and that's fun for me. I can't help but assess the gulf of cultural difference between then and now as we're reading. I am finding myself very fond of these books, and I believe Calvin agrees. His review of Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum:

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

I'm not much a fan of Roald Dahl. He seems to a take an "us against them" kind of attitude, writing life as a kind of battle between the good (kids) and the bad (all adults), and most of his stories are pretty dark and pretty non-sequitur. Calvin, however, is far less discerning at this age and we had a pretty good time with James and the Giant Peach, between fun science in the bathtub and side projects about grasshoppers.