Off to See the Wizard
a sister's reading of Oz
“Mandy,” I call out from my room. “I am reading something for school. Want to join me?” My eleven year old sister appears in my doorway within seconds, her face eager to hear what I am reading. “It's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. You know, like the movie. I have to read it for school, but I want to read it with someone.” She crawls under the warm quilt with me as I reach my copy of Oz.
We first marvel at the classic cover, red inlaid with gold. She asks me how old the book is, and when I tell her that it was written in 1900, boredom crosses her face. I make an attempt to reassure her, not wanting her to dismiss the book before we had even reached the first page. Despite my wanting my sister to enjoy the book, I have my own reservations. I do not want this to be another boring assignment; I do not want to dread going to read it. With my sister tucked in next to me, though, I feel as if I may have a different perspective on reading for classes by the end of the book. The experience of reading with Mandy has just begun, and yet I already feel a magic in the air as we begin reading together.
I open to the first chapter hear myself read the first words. Page after page Mandy and I read together. When I begin the story my voice lacks character and inflection, but as I continue, I find myself transforming into the characters: sweet and young for Dorothy, high and tinny for the Tin Woodman, gruff and loud for the Cowardly Lion, and a bit dumbfounded for the scarecrow. Chapter after chapter Mandy and I join Dorothy for her journey down the yellow brick road.
The following week becomes an adventure in Oz. We spend every free moment reading together. We make a trip to the bookstore to buy another copy, so that we may each read the book while we are apart. We pay special attention to the illustrations and ask an employee for a copy of the one with “Denslow's pictures, please.” We spend a Saturday night watching the movie, and Mandy, who swears never to watch anything made before she was born, stays up far past her bedtime to reach the end of the film.
I finish the book first while on a lunch break at work. As I set the book down I realize that Oz has become so much more than an assignment to me. I have developed a kinship with the characters, and I find myself lingering through the pages long after I read the final words. I do not tell Mandy that I have finished, for I want to read the last bit again, this time with her. We finish the book together several days later. Mandy looks up at me when we are done to ask me what we can read next.
***
Through the reading of a children's book written more than a century ago Mandy and I developed a closer relationship as sisters and as lovers of reading.I have read a dozens of books to my sisters, but never before have we been so enrapt with a story and so excited about reading something aloud together. We were able to put down our technology and explore the world of Oz together. I wonder why such a thing became possible in a world where instant gratification and modern, fashionable young adult literature is prominent.
We were initially drawn to the experience of reading together. The act of hearing something be read aloud seems to bond the readers in a way that reading to oneself does not. To both me and Mandy, my voice becomes the voices of the characters, and the words on the page align in our hearts and memories of the book. We shared an experience that goes beyond reading a book and discussing it. No, we shared a handful of precious memories that will undoubtedly stay with us for a lifetime.
As we read the first few pages we were captivated by the illustrations. Though our book containing Denslow's illustrations only had pictures in black and white, they still were some of our favorite parts of the book. Mandy constantly took the book from my hands in order to look at the pictures up close and scrutinize the pictures of the characters. Denslow's pictures are whimsical and captivating. They encompass the imagination of a child. The illustrations do drive the story in a sense, for without them we would have been left to imagine every detail of the characters and the scenes of our own accord. The pictures themselves united me and Mandy, for we had the same mind pictures of what was happening. Instead of imagining things differently from the other in our mind's eye, we saw things the same way. Oz looked the same to both of us because of Denslow's drawings.
Just a few chapters in to the book the characters won our hearts. Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Lion all became as friends to us. As a little girl herself Mandy related most to Dorothy, putting herself in the character's silver shoes. I placed myself in a more narrative position, seeing the characters move below me rather than being one of them. Even still I found myself breathless and nervous near the end of the story, hoping that Dorothy would somehow find a way back to Kansas. I grew tearful when she had to depart from her beloved friends, and Mandy kept repeating that “they should all go back to Kansas with her!”
Also it was the faraway land of Oz that kept us reading. Those moments in a land we could only imagine allowed us to escape the harsh realities of our world. Time stood still when we entered Oz. We became oblivious to everything around us and found ourselves stepping through a door into a magical land where nearly anything is possible. Our imaginations ran wild and free there, a place where we were allowed to dream big. Each time we picked up the book to read we were given the opportunity to explore the land of Oz. Because Oz was a fantastical place, a place created in the imagination of Frank Baum, we had an experience that was different from reading another more realistic work of fiction. The doors were wide open for us to learn and enjoy in this land of Oz. We had no preconceived notions about the setting or its characters. All was new to us allowing us to imagine and create this land together.
Our experience can not be attributed to just one of these reasons. Rather all of these things contributed to the overall experience we had. Reading aloud bonded us to the story and each other, the pictures allowed us to share our imaginations, the characters kept us engaged and interactive, and Oz provided the perfect backdrop for all of these wondrous events. All were key ingredients in a nearly surreal reading experience I was able to share with my little sister. I wish to hold these memories in my heart and bring similar elements to the reading I will share with my own children one day.
***
Notes: I watched the Jing videos Sherri sent me a few times before I revised this Think Piece. I cleaned up the areas that were confusing, and I more fully developed some of the ideas that I included, mainly my thoughts about the illustrations and the magical land of Oz. I also changed some of my wording and included a piece about my finishing the book with Mandy. Although I had the option, I chose not to include quotes from outside sources as I wanted to stay as close to my experience as I could and avoid turning my Think Piece into a research paper.
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