It isn't hard to see why this isn't one of Baum's greatest stories. There is something vaugely macabre about everyone wanting to eat John Dough, the live gingerbread man. The theme is much the same as other Baum stories; travel to various unusual places and have adventures. But it lacks a bit of the light touch, it is there in places but overall, the story is somewhat flat. Illustrations in the Gutenberg version are wonderful, though.

Reasonably amusing story of John Dough, a gingerbread man animated by an Arabian magic potion, and Chick the Cherub, a child of indeterminate gender who becomes his booleywag (combination of jester and prime minister, an office that greatly appealed to me). Originally this was not part of the Oz series, but John and Chick appear as guesses at Ozma's birthday party in The Road to Oz (along with several other characters from Baum's non-Oz fantasies) so there is a secondary link. Illustrated by John R. Neill, who illustrated almost all the Oz books. ( )