His adventures have captivated children for more than 70 years, and this edition contains all the original art, even the queue of elephants that twists across the inside covers, trunk to tail, trunk to tail. If a poem a day keeps the blues at bay, then this anthology of 366 poems guarantees a year's worth of sweet dreams, leap years notwithstanding. There are verses and song lyrics from many cultures, and holidays get special attention. Anonymous writers share the spotlight with lesser-known authors, one as young as 6 years old, and masters like Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, and Robert Frost. A different artist illustrates each month's selections.
Bedtimes are rife with ritual.
Baum's has been used. Remember that this is not MGM's version of the story, though it does have a sort of contemporary 1930s feel. Here Dorothy dons silver slippers, not ruby ones, and that's only the beginning. Though most of us are intimately familiar with Dorothy and Toto and the rest of the characters who populate The Wizard of Oz, if truth be told, we don't know what we're missing. For older children, or those curious to hear the whole truth about that land over the rainbow, reading the original story in its entirety is an adventure in itself.