_Grampa in Oz_
by Ruth Plumly Thompson
When King Fumbo of Ragbad loses his head in a storm, it is up to his
son, Prince Tatters, to find it, helped by the old soldier Grampa and
an iron weathercock who goes by the name of Bill. It is hoped that not
only will he find his father's head but that he will also find the hand
of a princess and a treasure, at which time he can restore the fortunes
of his impoverished kingdom. Meanwhile, Percy Vere of Perhaps City on
Mount Maybe enlists the aid of Dorothy to find the missing daughter of
King Peer Haps, who was carried off by Abrog the Prophet, who insists
that as it has been foretold that the princess will marry a man with
the skin of a bear and two heads, it is his duty to marry the girl
instead that she not be bound in marriage to a monster!
Tatters, Grampa, and Bill end up in the wizard Gorba's garden where
they find a beautiful, dainty flower fairy they call Urtha, after which
they find themselves falling, soaring, exploding, swimming, and even
flying under, over, and through much of Oz, Ev, and both the Nonestic
Ocean and the Deadly Desert in their long search for Fumbo's head.
A delightful lighthearted tale of romance, filled with the strange
inhabitants of the fairy kingdoms Baum and Thompson made famous. I got
this in the Del Rey paperback edition. Again, am not certain whether
Thompson's Oz books are available in alternative media, but believe
they ought to be!
Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large
"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise
cannot see all ends." LOTR
"Don't go where I can't follow."
