Sunday, July 23, 2017

This Week's Oz Short Story

The 1981 edition of Oziana opens with "Adventure on Monday Mountain" by Ernest Johnson, with illustrations by Dan Anfuso. William "Piggy" Marston is an American teenager who is both a slob and a guy who doesn't show a lot of respect for his mother. So when Ozma catches the mother wishing her son could change, Ozma sends him on a one-way trip to Monday Mountain. (In case you don't remember, Monday Mountain is that little town Dorothy and Percy visited in Grampa in Oz where they are obsessed with washing clothes.) Being forced to wash clothes all day (spoiler ahead, folks!) sure does the trick, William reforms, and is reunited with his mother a kinder, humbler, and cleaner son. It's a fun little piece that I ended up enjoying a lot on this reread. I couldn't help but think of Ozma as Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle in this story, using magic to help a child see the error of his ways and reform.

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