The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

L. Frank Baum (Author), Anne Hathaway (Narrator), Audible Studios (Publisher)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 10,633 ratings
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Audie Award Nominee, Solo Narration - Female, 2013

One of the best-known stories in American culture, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has stirred the imagination of young and old alike for over 100 years. Academy Award-winning actress Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married, Alice in Wonderland, The Dark Knight Rises) lends her voice to this uniquely American fairy tale.

Follow the adventures of young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto as they get swept away into the magical land of Oz , where they encounter characters and places you may remember from the movie - and several more that never made it to the big screen - on an unforgettable journey to the Emerald City.

“It’s such a wonderful book and I was so happy to be a part of bringing it to life”, Ms. Hathaway said. “There are a lot of great voices in it. The more fun you have with it, the sillier and the more free you get with it, the better it is because it’s a story that can handle it. It’s amazing to be able to discover something new about something you feel you know so well.”

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    3 hours and 49 minutes
  2. Author
    L. Frank Baum
  3. Narrator
    Anne Hathaway
  4. Audible release date
    March 8, 2012
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Audible Studios
  7. ASIN
    B007IEHNMO
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 3 hours and 49 minutes
Author L. Frank Baum
Narrator Anne Hathaway
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date March 08, 2012
Publisher Audible Studios
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B007IEHNMO
Best Sellers Rank #7,980 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#38 in Fiction Classics for Children
#165 in Classic Literature
#336 in Children's Classics

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
10,633 global ratings
Great story, I like the book more than the movie!
5 Stars
Great story, I like the book more than the movie!
I love this book, I had only ever seen the movie and I decided to give the book a try, I'm so glad I did. I don't think a synopsis of the story is necessary but the general idea is that Dorothy is trying to find her way back home and meets friends and foes along the way, there is great adventure and great imaginative fun. This book has so many more stories and details than the movie does and it's really just a great read. I highly recommend it for anyone! The book I received does not have the same cover (see picture) and while I would prefer the cover pictured, it's not worth demoting this great story to 4 stars.
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Top reviews from the United States

SweetPotato
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning Artwork, and Overall Amazing Adaptation!
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2014
Verified Purchase
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower, and illustrated by Skottie Young
Edition reviewed: Marvel hardcover edition, 2009.

Why I Picked it Up:
I actually wasn’t looking for a comic book at all. I wasn’t even looking at Wizard of Oz related things. I was reading a list of gift ideas for girls, and saw the Marvel version of the Wizard of Oz! Not to say that this is a girly book – it feels very gender neutral to me, which is probably one of the reasons that it was on the list. Anyway, I was intrigued, and looked it up. As soon as I saw the whimsical cover, and that it was a 200+ page hardcover collected the 8 comic book issues, I purchased it right away.

My Overall Opinion:
This book is not at all what I’m usually into. Perhaps I was inspired by Darth Vader and Son, which I found adorable. But this book absolutely blew me away.
Of course, I watched the Wizard of Oz movie starring Judy Garland as a kid. So I knew the basic storyline, but I hadn’t known that the movie had changed so much of the original book. To my delight (in my world, books > movies), this Marvel edition was a direct, visual transformation of the original.
Shanower does a great job of adapting the story. It’s easy to read, the plot is clear and concise, and the dialogue fits in perfectly. Another review states that this book is text heavy for a graphic novel. However, I didn’t notice this, so I assume this is only a problem for very young children. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable amount of text to me. I’d like to think that this book transcends all age groups.
But where this book really shines lies in the visual aspects. Artist Skottie Young and colorist Jean-Francois Beaulieu have made this book an absolute masterpiece. The art is truly wonderful, and the vibrant colors enhance the storyline more than I would have thought possible. I would buy this book just to stare all the beautiful artwork because it really is outstanding. I never knew how much colors could alter the tone of a scene, and Beaulieu is clearly an expert here. Young’s incredibly talented as well, and the bonus material in the back shows his character building process, with various sketches and prototypes. I really appreciated this section, because it really demonstrates Young’s versatility and creativity – I had no idea how much work it took to develop original artwork for characters that readers had already cast in their heads.

After reading this, the 1939 movie is no longer the “standard” Wizard of Oz tale to me. If I ever hear of the Cowardly Lion, Skottie Young’s illustration is the one that I will think of. I will think of silver shoes instead of ruby red shoes, and I will see the Tinman with a (awesome) moustache forever.
This book is timeless and beautiful, and I would highly recommend for anyone with even the slightest inkling of interest in the Wizard of Oz. I had enjoyed the Judy Garland movie, but it was never one of my favorites. This Marvel edition, however, is now a book that I will recommend to everyone with children. On top of that, this version is just as likeable for adults and teens!
So just hurry up and get a copy of this book. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is waiting!
6 people found this helpful
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RVP
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2024
Verified Purchase
I love this book! I could not find a thing about it that disappointed me having only seen the movie. I knew it would be different because I heard it was. I like the fact that it went beyond Oz to get Dorothy's wish fulfilled. This would be a great read for young ones too because it's really not too scary and there is so much adventure.
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Hyacinth E. Palmer
4.0 out of 5 stars Memories
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2023
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This gives me all the feels of childhood again. There were some differences from what I remembered but that could be due to seeing and reading adaptations to the original story. Life, I thought Dorothy's shies were red and I thought she woke up from being in a coma? Still and all it is a great children's story.
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Suzanne Natafji
5.0 out of 5 stars The Wonderful Wizard of Oz –Where’s the ‘Wonderful’ rest of ‘Oz’?
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2017
Verified Purchase
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the 1900 children’s classic, was written by L. Frank Baum. It is a masterfully-written tale penned by this beloved American author. The book begins and ends in America’s heartland: Kansas.

But have we been cheated?

This highly-imaginative 1900 book was later followed by the film version in 1939, which is one of the most successful films ever made. From that point on, the film version began its journey to overtake the written medium. In fact, after the film was produced in BluRay many years later, the scarecrow’s face in the corn field, for example, showed the cross threads in the sackcloth for its head. Such clarity in film frames made watching this version of the film breathtakingly beautiful – and much more preferable to watching any of the other versions.

Unfortunately, for both children and adults, watching the film has supplanted even reading the book.

But there is more! In total, Baum wrote 14 Oz books! Some of these aren’t based in Kansas; Dorothy is an international globetrotter! (Read the 13 others to find out where she travels.)

Theosophist L. Frank Baum seemed to be ‘plugged into’ a realm of searching for deep themes of truth, tapped into by other international groups: the freemasons, many of the religions, metaphysics, all of whom trace their beginnings back to the Egyptian Mystery Schools. Our ancient philosophers, mathematicians, and others (Aristotle, Pythagorus, etc.) also passed through these portals.

* Eugene Whitworth has written a book for adults which examines similar themes and truths, Nine Faces of Christ.

What are some of the main themes in books from both authors, Baum and Whitworth?
1. STRONG MAN MADE OF METAL – a. Oz: The Tin Woodman/ b. *9 Faces: Man of Tin
2. DIRECTIONS – a. Oz: E & W (Wicked Witches) and N & S (Good Witches)/ b. *9 Faces: Mysteries of the Orient
3. NUMBERS – a. Oz: Dorothy clicking her heels 3X/ b. *9 Faces: # of imitations, genders, opposites, birth and death
4. FLYING/ ASTRO TRAVELLING – a. Oz: the 2 professor’s balloon flights/ b. *9 Faces: Soul Flight (and also the Hijra in Islam in 622 AD)

Whether for children or adults, both authors, though, have the same golden thread interwoven throughout their books.

Baum used a variety of pen names on his books: males, females, and a military captain! He did this so because in those days, he could write about certain topics from different viewpoints for social and political purposes. He was a writer, newspaper editor, film producer, and actor.

A wonderful next step to reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is to read the remaining 13 Oz books, to mine those books for main themes that tie into this book.

I highly recommend the following reading tactics: reading silently, reading to children, or having children read the Wonderful Wizard of Oz book to you. Some extensions to this book could be to then go through the remainder of the Oz series books with children. Have them: discuss main themes, draw pictures, create personal ‘books’ with the important parts both drawn and labelled in them, etc.

I highly recommend this wonderful book classic as a beginning Oz book for children to read or for an adult to read to children who cannot yet read.

(* Eugene Whitworth’s beautiful, deep, sensitive book Nine Faces of Christ is about the metaphysical Christ; it is written for the adult at a higher, more cognitively astute, complex, intellectual level. Like Oz for children, adults might want to read this book to identify the same golden thread interwoven throughout both of them. I highly recommend reading this book, too!)
14 people found this helpful
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J.S. Johnston
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this!
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2024
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I can't believe I've never read this book until now. It was wonderfully written, as if a grownup was telling a story to a bunch of kids. I wish I would have read it back then. But, better late than never!
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Top reviews from other countries

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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Clássico
Reviewed in Brazil on April 16, 2023
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História simples, agradável e interessante até para um adulto. Não foi previsível. Recomendo o clássico para quem, assim como eu, está buscando fluência no inglês.
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Karla
5.0 out of 5 stars Bien
Reviewed in Mexico on January 17, 2022
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Es de pasta blanda, tipo tamaño carta. Pero es súper bonito el trabajo de julia sardá y además los detalles en dorado de la portada están chulos
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Zanetti G.
5.0 out of 5 stars Ottimo libro
Reviewed in Italy on September 11, 2023
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Ottimo libro per ripassare tt gli argomenti scolastici ben strutturato e semplice
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Blue Shadow
5.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in Canada on December 2, 2020
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Many of the customer reviews seem to be for different versions of the book, such as a pop-up book and one with a gold-coloured cover, so I’ve attached some pictures to show the hardcover version that I received from Amazon.ca in September 2020. I purchased it as a Christmas gift so I haven’t read it myself. I can’t comment on the authenticity or completeness of this version compared to the original story but I’ve attached a picture of the Table of Contents. Based on a quick flip through the book, the reader will see an illustration most of the time that the page is turned. There is a full-colour, full-page illustration approximately every second chapter. Sometimes there is a black-and-white drawing on both sides of the opposing pages, and sometimes there is a small drawing on one side only. I noticed that there were a few pages with no illustrations on either side, but by far most had a drawing on at least one side.
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Blue Shadow
5.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in Canada on December 2, 2020
Many of the customer reviews seem to be for different versions of the book, such as a pop-up book and one with a gold-coloured cover, so I’ve attached some pictures to show the hardcover version that I received from Amazon.ca in September 2020. I purchased it as a Christmas gift so I haven’t read it myself. I can’t comment on the authenticity or completeness of this version compared to the original story but I’ve attached a picture of the Table of Contents. Based on a quick flip through the book, the reader will see an illustration most of the time that the page is turned. There is a full-colour, full-page illustration approximately every second chapter. Sometimes there is a black-and-white drawing on both sides of the opposing pages, and sometimes there is a small drawing on one side only. I noticed that there were a few pages with no illustrations on either side, but by far most had a drawing on at least one side.
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6 people found this helpful
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shruti
5.0 out of 5 stars A book review
Reviewed in India on July 25, 2022
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This book is a very good and reader friendly .It revolves around an orphan named 'Dorothy'. Who lived with her uncle and aunt in Kansas. Their house was lifted up by a great cyclone and left in a world of wizards and witches. She had freed the munchkins of a witch.She wanted to go back to Kansas.With which the witch of the north who was a friend of the munchkins told her to "meet the wizard called Oz in the city of emaralds and to move on the yellow road." If you want to find out more you should buy the brilliant book written by L. Frank Buam.
2 people found this helpful
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