I first read this story when I was about fourteen or fifteen and I remember that I loved it. It was my favorite children's book at that time.Until I re-read it.I think I would have enjoyed it more if I would have been a bit younger because I just couldn't get over the characters being so annoying:Dorothy, being always forgiving for each and every thing although there is no reason for it;the Scarecrow, calling himself a fool even though he gets most of the ideas during their journey on how to get on;the Tin Woodman, lacking a real heart, but having more compassion for everything and everyone than anyone else;and finally the Cowardly Lion, who isn't a coward at all.I also noticed that for a children's story, there was a lot of violence. But other fairy tales have similar acts of violence in them, so it wasn't something atypical. After all it took me a long time to finish this rather short story and it put me in a reading slump of a sort, which wasn't very nice to begin with and I dreaded reading this story further knowing that I'll be coming back to this annoying quartet of friends. I'm still willing to read the rest of the stories from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz and see for myself how the story continues and whether I like it or not.