The Mustafa of Mudge -- a hot, dry, and barbarous kingdom in the southwest corner of the Munchkin Country of Oz -- owns 9,999 and 1/2 lions, but he wants another: He wants the Cowardly Lion of Oz. The Mudgers live an isolated life behind their moat and lion enclosure, because they used to attack other countries until Glinda the Good decreed any Mudger who left his home country would lose his head.
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Through a mysterious bit of magic, a clown who calls himself Notta Bit More and an orphan boy named Bob are transported from the American Midwest to Mudge, where the King decrees that the "invaders" must capture and bring him the Cowardly Lion or be thrown to the lions themselves. His magic ring guarantees that they become paralyzed and turn blue every time they try to turn away from their task.
Meanwhile, the Cowardly Lion has set out from the Emerald City on his own. Tired of being a coward, he hopes to find a brave man and eat him, and thereby acquire courage. This 1923 tale was Thompson's third Oz book, and features a visit to the "skyle of Un," populated by Featherbrains, Nickadoodle the Snorer bird, and Crunch, the giant Stone Man of Oz, who also decides he'd like to keep the Cowardly Lion for himself.
The review of this Book prepared by David Loftus
