These are a good follow up if you liked the first Oz books enough. Beside the Tin Woodman origin story, I found these not as great as the first books. Probably because at this point Baum wanted to give up on the series, but children wanted him to tell stories of Oz until his death. ( )

Collected here is the second volume of Oz stories by Baum, including the last Oz story he wrote before he passed away.

Featuring all the favorite Oz characters: Dorothy, Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, the Cowardly Lion, and some new ones each book, this volume concludes Baum's tenure as the official Oz historian.

For those who don't know, and probably have been living under a rock for the past century, Oz is a magical land where our standard rules and conventions don't necessarily apply. People don't age, people don't die, and everything usually turns out to be fine in the end. Oz is sort of America's response to Wonderland. The only aspect of Oz that bothers me is that whatever rules there are can tend to change between stories. If that sort of thing will detract too greatly from your enjoyment of otherwise enjoyable stories, then don't bother reading it. Though, you'll be missing out.

If you, like me, are a diehard fan of the Oz series, then you will certainly enjoy this collection, and wish that they made one for the non-Baum canon Oz stories. If you enjoyed the musical film, you might enjoy the works as written (some people, as crazy as it is, like the musical better), but I'd recommend starting with volume one. ( )