This book is not your average Oz story. It certainly captures the whimsical style of L. Frank Baum and faithfully retains his main characters, however, while the author introduces many new characters he also weaves into the story a most interesting but perhaps controversial philosophy. We feel that Baum might have said some of these things in his time had he dared. (After all, he was a Theosophist), but because of the times he lived in he had to bring his beliefs through in a very subtle way. Having said that, we do think that the spiritual lessons given by this author, although much more obvious in their intent, could be very helpful to a young person just beginning to formulate his or her values. In fact, we venture to say that if children everywhere were to adopt just a few these principles, they would find themselves, as adults, in a vastly improved world, one that would be relatively free of violence (both in the media, and in reality), and perhaps more importantly, free of intolerance.