10 Book Covers for The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum

They say “Don’t judge the book by its cover”, still bookworms know the other side of the moon. The cover is somehow the card of invitation, the special dress, that makes the book stand out of the crowd.

One of the interesting things I really love is watching how the same book changes its outfits through the time and generations. Today to mark out the International Children’s Book Day, I offer you to take this sort of journey with me: let’s look at the collection of covers made for the story which has become an integral part of childhood adventure for several generations of readers – The Wizard of Oz by Lyman Frank Baum.

“A baby has brains, but it doesn’t know much. Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth the more experience you are sure to get.” (L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

“How can you talk if you haven’t got a brain? I don’t know, but some people without brains do an awful lot of talking.” (L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

“You have plenty of courage, I am sure,” answered Oz. “All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.” (L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

“A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others” (L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

“If we walk far enough,” says Dorothy, “we shall sometime come to someplace.” (L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

“Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.” (L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

“For I consider brains far superior to money in every way. You may have noticed that if one has money without brains, he cannot use it to his advantage; but if one has brains without money, they will enable him to live comfortably to the end of his days.” (L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

“All the same,” said the Scarecrow, “I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one.”

“I shall take the heart,” returned the Tin Woodman; “for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.”

(L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

“No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home.” (L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

I have collected the pics via Pinterest, so to check the original links, welcome here. If you are interested in the theme of book illustration, you might like the collection of artworks for children’s books by David Walker.

Title image credits: Lorena Alvarez