Michael Morpurgo to Publish Retelling of the Wizard of Oz

Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz on Pre-order Now

HarperCollins has confirmed that it will be publishing a retelling of Frank Baum’s classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by children’s author and former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo. The news was announced at the London Book Fair this week, and is already sending waves of excitement through the industry.

Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz tells the original tale through the eyes of Toto, Dorothy’s trusted companion and is authored by the War Horse author with illustrations from Emma Chichester Clark.

Toto’s role is a passive one both in the books, and the movie. The little dog is basically just carried around a lot and we don’t really ever know how he feels about things. Morpurgo is well known for bringing animals characters to life with books such as War Horse and Shadow, and he seems the perfect author to tell the story from Toto’s perspective.

Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz US
Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz UK

Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz will publish on 7th September in full colour hardback in both the US and UK, and e-book and audiobook versions will also be available. Some illustrations have been released in advance, and these are included in this piece. We also have more news concerning Morpurgo.

If you’re a fan of the author then you may be interested to know he’s the feature of a free exhibition at the Victoria & Albert museum of Childhood, celebrating his life and writing and the exhibition is timed to coincide with the release of this new book.