Thomas L. Tedrow

In his introduction, Thomas L. Tedrow claims to have read all of the Oz books. I picked this book up expecting something approximating L. Frank Baum’s whimsy and wonder, or at least Ruth Plumly Thompson’s more traditional fairytale style. Instead, Tedrow jettisons any material from the books to create what is, at best, a low quality fan-fiction sequel to the 1939 movie with a forced sense of Christian morality. Since Tedrow invited the comparison to Baum in his introduction, most of the following review examines the two authors and their work.
Baum created a whole world of characters and locations, with heroes and heroines who were genuinely good and villains that challenged them without being obnoxious. He infused his books with a sense of humor, with puns and wordplay, and with an unparalleled joy. His successor, Thompson, added a more traditional fairytale feel to her stories while remaining true to the joy of Baum’s work. Even Gregory Maguire, in his Oz books, creates a distinct feeling of a real world while honoring and referencing Baum’s original series.
Had Tedrow actually read Baum or Thompson, he would have known, at the very least, that Dorothy’s shoes were silver in the original books. He also would not have infused his book with 1990s pop culture references to Phil Donahue and Rush Limbaugh. Tedrow’s witch is more annoying than threatening and his Dorothy, the granddaughter of the original Dorothy, feels like an amalgamation of child characters from sitcoms on TGIF. The worst part of Tedrow’s book, though, is his attempt at wordplay, which is neither clever nor funny. Both Baum and Thompson were masters of language and knew how to use it to its fullest effect; Tedrow appears to throw references and idiotic character names at a wall in the hope that something sticks. Perhaps his worst creations are Ima Witch, Ura Wizard, Itsa Dragon, and Pigfoot.
The constant discussion of the Golden Rule, here called the golden ruler (an actual twelve-inch ruler that loses an inch every time Dorothy performs a good deed) is asinine and patronizing to children. Baum’s books were full of morality and lessons on friendship and teamwork, but he let the characters demonstrate these lessons through their actions rather than explicitly state them to the reader. Every time one of Tedrow’s characters begins a moral discussion, the book grinds to a crawl. For a book that takes so long to get into its story, it’s no wonder he felt the need to rush the ending.
On the subject of pacing, Baum always knew to introduce his characters and set them up in a chapter or two and then get into the main plot itself. Once his characters had resolved the conflict, he did not delay in wrapping up the story. In this way, all of Baum’s Oz stories feel like a perfect treat. Tedrow, on the other hand, drags things out so he can fit more pop culture references in. He doesn’t even send his younger Dorothy to Oz until page 133, more than halfway through the book. I stuck with it thinking his writing had to get better or there was bound to be a reference to Baum’s stories, but was sadly disappointed.
I recommend than fans of Oz simply stick with the original Baum stories and the official continuations, such as those by Ruth Plumly Thompson, and not bother with this book. If people want a good story titled Return to Oz, I recommend the 1985 film which combined Baum’s second and third books, The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz.… (més)