The Wizard Of Oz by L Frank Baum and Illustrated by MinaLima
Published by Harper Collins
THE Wizard of Oz is one of a rare group of stories that by the time of reaching adulthood, most will have read or know in some capacity.
There is great importance in the stories and ideas we are exposed to as children, as content made for those just beginning to pick up narratives and comprehend them is clearer, more direct and far less subtle than in books written for adults. There is always a message, a moral lesson to learn and these are the lessons that perhaps more than any others, shape the foundations of the way in which we grow to understand the world, our place in it and how to treat others.
It is for this reason that I believe in the sharing and adapting of these tales for new generations, passing on what we know about life and how to live it through the medium of plots filled with magic, adventure and of course, morals.
One of the newest and certainly the most striking way to do so with children is the MinaLima Classics.
MinaLima Studio was started in 2001 by Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima who worked together to build the graphic world of The Harry Potter films, going on to sell art prints from this project and moving on to create beautiful books.
More recently the studio has been working with Harper Collins on a series of new and breathtaking editions of classic stories including Peter Pan, Beauty and The Beast and of course their newest addition, The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz.
This beloved story is illustrated at every turn with fantastic pieces of art, whether that’s in spaces on the pages, sprawling and indulgent pages for chapter headings with a relevant quote, or the interactive elements such as a pop up map and yellow brick road. All this and more makes it and the rest in this series the perfect special gift for a child.
For those who have not read the story in its original form, it goes into far more detail and may even be more magical than the popular 1939 film that earned this tale so much of its fame.
When young girl Dorothy and her dog Toto are swept out along with their Kansas home by a tornado they crash land in a world full of witches and wizards, good and evil, munchkins and all kinds of magic.
In order to gain the knowledge of how to get back to her home, Dorothy must ask the help of the powerful Wizard of Oz, but the journey to his home in The Emerald City is a long one and she can’t do it alone.
Perhaps the most important element to this story is the friends that she makes along the way, the Scarecrow who wishes for a brain, the Tin Woodman who longs for a heart to know love again, and the Cowardly Lion who would ask for courage. It is through them she learns about friendship, bravery, love, wit and all things important and this elegant special edition is the perfect way to explore it all.
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