Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Enchanted Island of Oz [Book Review]

[Spoilers included for a book nobody reads anymore.]

"The Enchanted Island of Oz" is the forty-second book in the Oz series originally created by L. Frank Baum. It was written by Ruth Plumly Thompson and published in 1976. To my knowledge, this is the last Oz book written by Thompson before she passed away.

The story revolves around a boy from Pennsylvania named David Perry. When a circus comes to town, he ends up finding a talking camel named Humpty Bumpty who immediately takes him right into the land of Oz. This was the first striking thing about this story. There was little to no transition from the US into the magical land of Oz. They simply leave the circus tent and are immediately there. It was so sudden that it left me a little confused and disoriented for a time. This is explained later, by the way.

Along the way, they have a series of strange encounters. Most of them were not too bad and perhaps barely even needs mentioning here. They were Ruth's usual series of strange Fairyland encounters. They do, however, run into the tin castle of the Tin Woodman. This was a pleasant stop on the journey and a much needed look at what it is like in this castle that is talked about but not often explored in the Oz books. It also served to better explain that this story was, indeed, set in Oz... because most of the book doesn't do that so well.

In fact, the actual plot of the story doesn't really feel like it truly begins until three chapters to the end. The titular "enchanted island" is not mentioned until the last moment where David shows up and saves the day by making an impromptu wish. So by the time the story's main problem is announced, it is already solved and moving right into the final chapter. This is kinda bad by the way. It felt like the whole story was at the end of the book.

Perhaps the reason the book was written this way was because it was not intended to be an Oz story to begin with. It was originally a story called "The Enchanted Island." Ruth attempted to publish it in the 50's, but nobody wanted it. It wasn't until the 70's that the International Wizard of Oz Club offered to publish it if she converted it into an Oz book. She did this despite the fact that she just had a stroke. Her family had to help her from getting confused during the whole process. For this reason, I really have to applaud her efforts. Apparently she had another idea for an Oz story to follow this one, but all sighs point to her dying before she could write it.

I also want to mention something kinda neat. The Cowardly Lion finally gets a name in this one. He was given the name Cowy which he proudly accepted. The Hungry Tiger was also given the name of Tige. I thought this part was cute.

All in all, "The Enchanted Island of Oz" was charming enough, but you could certainly do a lot better with your time. It does really feel like a converted story, and there is not enough Oz in it to properly qualify recommending it. Too bad really.

This blog was written on April 6, 2023.

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