After reading Lewis Carroll's Alice books, I became so impressed with children's literature that I read Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Now, I think I'm done reading kiddie junk. Seriously, though, Baum's first entry in the Oz series isn't entirely without merit, and it was certainly an easy read. There were even a few good puns and a surprising number of decapitations. The real pleasure, however, was in reviewing the film adaptations, which to a large extent becomes more of a comparison study with the adaptation that dominates the land of Oz and obviously tops this ranking.

(P.S. Note that I've intentionally skipped what seemed to be some of the more childish motion-picture tales of Oz. I can only tolerate so much, after all. Also, it should be noted that the first Oz film--really, a multi-media presentation--is lost, "The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays of Oz" (1908), Baum's first but not last foray into adapting his own stories.)