Entries Categorized as 'Adventure'

The Patchwork Girl of Oz

Our rating: ***

Ojo the Unlucky and his Unc Nunkie visit the Crooked Magician on their way out of the Blue Forest. There they witness the Patchwork Girl being brought to life. All seems well, but an accident occurs. Unc Nunkie and the Crooked Magician’s wife, Margolotte, are turned into marble statues. The precious Powder of Life, which could have restored them, is wasted on a phonograph. Ojo sets out with the Patchwork Girl and a Glass Cat to find the necessary ingredients to bring the statues back to life. The quest takes them all over Oz, and they, in the company of the Scarecrow and Dorothy (the Glass Cat stayed behind for fear of breaking), visit many interesting new races, including the Tottenhots, the Hoppers, the Horners, and a large giant!

This is a fun book with quite a few puns. (Nowhere near as many as in The Emerald City of Oz.) Scraps, the Patchwork Girl, is quite a character. Also, this is the same Crooked Magician who gave the Powder of Life to Old Mombi in The Land of Oz.

The Twenty-One Balloons

Our rating: *****

When Professor William Waterman Sherman begins his long-planned balloon voyage, he hopes to take a long trip (about a year) on which he might easily end up being the first to fly across the Pacific Ocean, but when his planning goes awry, he ends up on the supposedly uninhabited island of Krakatoa. Far from it! The society and lifestyle established on the island is extremely unique, packed with amazing inventions, and containing a giant diamond mine.

This is a book I enjoy reading again and again. A highly imaginative story, based off of scientific facts and absolute nonsense. I definitely recommend this one.

The Littles to the Rescue

Our rating: ***

Almost everything is ready for the new baby—almost. Aunt Lily, who had helped when Tom and Lucy were born, hasn’t arrived yet. Cousin Dinkey tries to fly Aunt Lily over, through the snow storm, and Aunt Lily falls out of the glider, as she didn’t have her seatbelt fastened. The Littles organize a search party and Little men, including Tom, set out to try to find Aunt Lily.

This probably isn’t one of my favorite Little books. I think I like The Littles and the Lost Children better.

The Littles and the Lost Children

Our rating: ****

Winkie and Tip, who is really Winkie’s cousin, live with Father Len and Mother Lyn on Smoke Mountain, along with the other Hill Tinies—or used to until Mother Lyn and Father Len take them with them on a trading trip, riding on a tame black crow, whose name is Sable. Mother Lyn and Father Len leave the children with Sable while they went to try to find the entrance to Trash City, where they plan to trade. While they’re gone, mice attack and Sable tries to defend the children. Then the mice make an exit, as a yellow cat appears on the scene—and attacks Sable! The two fighters go out of sight and a group of Trash Tiny soldiers find the two children and take them back with them to Trash City. When Father Len and Mother Lyn arrive, the children are gone!

This Little book is probably one of my favorites of the series about the Littles, starting with The Littles. The Littles and the Lost Children doesn’t have very much of the Littles, but I still like it. Enjoy!

The Littles

Our rating: ****

Mr. Little, Mrs. Little, Granny Little, Uncle Pete, Lucy, and Tom live in the walls of a house owned by George W. Bigg. Mr. Little is the tallest, and he is only about six inches high! All the Littles have tails, which they are proud of. One day, Mr. and Mrs. Newcomb rent the Biggs’ house and don’t houseclean or fix damages. Soon the Littles fear that mice will come, as there are a lot of crumbs. And sure enough, they do. The Littles hope the Newcombs will set up mousetraps—but they’re in for a surprise!

This book is the first of the Littles series. It’s pretty good, in my opinion.