UNLIMITED Audiobooks and eBooks

Over 40,000 books & works on all major devices

Get ALL YOU CAN for FREE for 30 days!

The Enchanted Island of Yew

L. Frank Baum

Book Overview: 

A fairy has become bored with her life, and convinces some young girls to transform her into a human boy so she can go on adventures. The adventures come fast and furious, as the newly-named Prince Marvel explores the surrounding kingdoms. A masochistic squire accompanies Marvel, helping him with assorted kings, knights, dragons, and other medieval menaces along the way.

How does All You Can Books work?

All You Can Books gives you UNLIMITED access to over 40,000 Audiobooks, eBooks, and Foreign Language courses. Download as many audiobooks, ebooks, language audio courses, and language e-workbooks as you want during the FREE trial and it's all yours to keep even if you cancel during the FREE trial. The service works on any major device including computers, smartphones, music players, e-readers, and tablets. You can try the service for FREE for 30 days then it's just $19.99 per month after that. So for the price everyone else charges for just 1 book, we offer you UNLIMITED audio books, e-books and language courses to download and enjoy as you please. No restrictions.

Book Excerpt: 
. . .I am glad no one but you two boys will witness me when my feet begin kicking about."

"I shall not kick," declared another of the thieves, who had also regained his senses. "I shall sing while I am being hanged."

"But you can not, my good Gunder," protested the king; "for the rope will cut off your breath, and no man can sing without breath."

"Then I shall whistle," said Gunder, composedly.

The king cast at him a look of reproach, and turning to Prince Marvel he said:

"It will be a great task to string up so many thieves. You look tired. Permit me to assist you to hang the others, and then I will climb into a tree and hang myself from a strong branch, with as little bother as possible."

"Oh, I won't think of troubling you," exclaimed Marvel, with a laugh. "Having conquered you alone, I feel it my duty to hang you without assistance--save that of my esquire."

"It's no trouble, I a. . . Read More

Community Reviews

This year is the 120th anniversary of this book, and I guess I first read it around thirty years ago. I have the edition Chris Dulabone published, a paperback with only black and white versions of Fanny Y. Cory's pictures, and Chris's own drawing of King Terribus on the cover. It also has the title

Fun book.
Nice witty tone that almost feels like Baum is trying to satirize the kind of fantasy novels he is known for.
Likable cast and the usual clever bits of fantasy you'd expect.

Wasn't thrilled with some jarring casual racism, as Baum was usually better than that.

And there's a massive plot hole,

eponymous sentence:
p49: That a fairy should have assumed a mortal form he never once considered, for such a thing was until then unheard of in the Enchanted Island of Yew.

This a solid fantastical tale for the young ones. It does have similarities with its predecessor, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and

Fun book! You can definitely see the DNA between this and the OZ series with the twisting of logic (but not twisted logic) that makes this very entertaining. It would have been interesting if this series had continued as well. A number of reviews have complained that there's a sexist angle in the ma

A transgender fairy/prince (she tries out being male because they have better adventures) goes adventuring, picking up a peculiar entourage along the way. The plot has a lot of similarities to the Oz books. Baum had a great ability to dream up oddities, and I enjoyed the bizarre characters who fill

Three young girls wander into an enchanted forest and encounter a fairy woman, who tells them she's bored with her perfect, immortal existence and wants to try life as a human. After some discussion, the fairy decides to become a prince, because boys get to have more adventures than girls, apparentl

View More Reviews