Hi,
and now for something completely different: While browsing Wikipedia I stumbled upon an info I wanted to share with those of you who have children or grandchildren of their own.
When I grew up one of my favourite stories was the one of the Zauberland (Magic Land) where a little girl from Kansas has adventures with a scarecrow, a metal man and a lion.
Sounds familiar? Of course it does. It's
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
In 1939 the russian author Alexander Volkov wrote what we movie fans would call a remake of that story called
The Wizard of the Emerald City. There are a few story changes and the characters have different (albeit still english) names, but it's essentially the same story.
I didn't know that it was a remake when I grew up and I still don't care.
What does it make different though is the fact that Volkov wrote 5 sequels where Ellie (i.e. Dorothy) returns to the Magic Land and has continued adventures.
Now why am I bringing that up? Because I discovered that these books have been released in english. They're called "Tales of Magic Land" part 1 to 3, containing 2 of the original books each.
And I still think that it's such a wonderful story that kids can still enjoy it today even though they might already know
The Wizard of Oz.