Thomas L. TedrowCritiques

It is about Laura, Manly and Rose when they move to Missouri. It has the plain simple style of the Little House books. Laura is a strong determined woman who writes what she feels. She and Manly have a great relationship

In his introduction, Thomas L. Tedrow claims to have read all of the Oz books. I picked this book up expecting something approximating L. Frank Baum’s whimsy and wonder, or at least Ruth Plumly Thompson’s more traditional fairytale style. Instead, Tedrow jettisons any material from the books to create what is, at best, a low quality fan-fiction sequel to the 1939 movie with a forced sense of Christian morality. Since Tedrow invited the comparison to Baum in his introduction, most of the following review examines the two authors and their work.
Baum created a whole world of characters and locations, with heroes and heroines who were genuinely good and villains that challenged them without being obnoxious. He infused his books with a sense of humor, with puns and wordplay, and with an unparalleled joy. His successor, Thompson, added a more traditional fairytale feel to her stories while remaining true to the joy of Baum’s work. Even Gregory Maguire, in his Oz books, creates a distinct feeling of a real world while honoring and referencing Baum’s original series.
Had Tedrow actually read Baum or Thompson, he would have known, at the very least, that Dorothy’s shoes were silver in the original books. He also would not have infused his book with 1990s pop culture references to Phil Donahue and Rush Limbaugh. Tedrow’s witch is more annoying than threatening and his Dorothy, the granddaughter of the original Dorothy, feels like an amalgamation of child characters from sitcoms on TGIF. The worst part of Tedrow’s book, though, is his attempt at wordplay, which is neither clever nor funny. Both Baum and Thompson were masters of language and knew how to use it to its fullest effect; Tedrow appears to throw references and idiotic character names at a wall in the hope that something sticks. Perhaps his worst creations are Ima Witch, Ura Wizard, Itsa Dragon, and Pigfoot.
The constant discussion of the Golden Rule, here called the golden ruler (an actual twelve-inch ruler that loses an inch every time Dorothy performs a good deed) is asinine and patronizing to children. Baum’s books were full of morality and lessons on friendship and teamwork, but he let the characters demonstrate these lessons through their actions rather than explicitly state them to the reader. Every time one of Tedrow’s characters begins a moral discussion, the book grinds to a crawl. For a book that takes so long to get into its story, it’s no wonder he felt the need to rush the ending.
On the subject of pacing, Baum always knew to introduce his characters and set them up in a chapter or two and then get into the main plot itself. Once his characters had resolved the conflict, he did not delay in wrapping up the story. In this way, all of Baum’s Oz stories feel like a perfect treat. Tedrow, on the other hand, drags things out so he can fit more pop culture references in. He doesn’t even send his younger Dorothy to Oz until page 133, more than halfway through the book. I stuck with it thinking his writing had to get better or there was bound to be a reference to Baum’s stories, but was sadly disappointed.
I recommend than fans of Oz simply stick with the original Baum stories and the official continuations, such as those by Ruth Plumly Thompson, and not bother with this book. If people want a good story titled Return to Oz, I recommend the 1985 film which combined Baum’s second and third books, The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz.½

In 1905, Laura's assignment to write an article for the Mansfield, Missouri, newspaper about the new school teacher leads her to start an unpopular crusade to get the farm children into school.

While reporting the events of the St. Louis World's Fair for her local newspaper in 1906, Laura Ingalls Wilder teams up with Alice Roosevelt to stop the inhuman Anthropological Games.

Laura Ingalls Wilder faces her husband's displeasure and the town's prejudices when she advocates voting rights for women.

Laura meets Josie, an eccentric old woman living in the mountains who is an herbalist and nature lover. Josie's strange and wonderful ways are viewed with suspicion by the townspeople, but Laura is determined to convince them to open their hearts and minds to Josie. Laura hopes they will soon realize that Josie can help them -- whether by restoring the forest or by finding a cure for a sick boy.

In 1884, when Laura, Manly, and their daughter Rose come from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, looking for a better life, Laura's outspoken articles against a local timberman cause some problems.

Laura and the other inhabitants of Mansfield, Missouri, face the problems of racism and a clash of cultures when Chinese immigrants try to settle in the pioneer community.

While life goes on in Mansfield, Missouri, Laura agrees to help her elderly father fulfill his dream of returning to their former home on the Kansas prairie.

Dorothy, now a grandmother, lives in the Kansas plains, taunted by the wind. Try as she might, she cannot return to her beloved land of Oz, although she knows there is trouble there. Amidst this chaos, her granddaughter reluctantly visits from Florida. With a click of ruby covered sneakers, Dorothy's Granddaughter is whisked away to adventure in the dangerous land of Oz.

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Food provisions are scarce as the little town of Mansfield faces one of the worst winters on record. As fierce blizzards isolate the town from the rest of the world, Laura and Manly spearhead a heroic relief effort for their starving neighbors.