Peter Glassman (editor)
Oz: The Hundredth Anniversary Celebration
Editor: Peter Glassman
2000
This is a very cool book that celebrates the memories Baum’s world of Oz has created in the first hundred years of its existence. To do this 30 authors and illustrators have written about and drawn their images and memories of Oz. The book is a spectacular celebration of all things Oz! Most of the illustrators and authors who participated in this book are familiar ones, from Lloyd Alexander and Tomie de Paola to K. Y. Craft and Peter Sis. There is a ton of variety in this book and I love it!
The memories presented are completely random and the illustrations range from fabulous oil paintings to black-line cartoons. Many of the pictures are based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Baum’s first Oz book, but there are a few based on later books and even one or two based on the 1939 MGM movie version. Some of my favourite contributions are from Paul O. Zelinsky, Trina Schart Hyman, Lloyd Alexander and Eric Carle. Probably the most fantastic images in the book are the portrait of Ozma by K. Y. Craft and the wonderful picture of the flying house by Chris Van Allsburg. William Joyce wrote a nice piece about one of the most amazing facts about the 1939 movie while Richard Egielski and Bruce Degen both describe flying-monkey related nightmares. There is so much variety in this book that it’s wonderfully entertaining to read.
This is a perfect celebration of 100 years of memories. Not to mention, seeing some of my favourite characters and scenes drawn by some of my favourite illustrators is quite a treat! This is a great book and I definitely recommend checking it out!
