Spot Change We Can Believe In

[vovat]

When dealing with the big cats of Oz, I've already written posts about the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger, and Gugu the Leopard. So who's left? Well, in Rachel Cosgrove's The Hidden Valley of Oz, we're introduced to a leopard who can change his spots. This is, of course, a joke on an old expression that can actually be found in the Bible. In Jeremiah 13:3, we read, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" The leopard is not accompanied by a skin-changing Ethiopian, but he IS able to change his spots into many different patterns, often reflecting his mood or what he's talking about at the time. He makes his first appearance when Jam is on his way back to the Hidden Valley with the Ozian celebrities, and the group is journeying through a forest in the Winkie Country. The Leopard reveals that he's an outcast, but the celebrities befriend him, and Jam gives him the nickname "Spots." (Despite this, however, Jack Snow simply lists him under "Leopard" in Who's Who in Oz.) Not surprisingly, he ends up living in the Emerald City. I'm not sure he appears in Rachel's other full-length Oz novel, Wicked Witch (if he does, it's just a bit part), but he does play a major role in her short story "Spots in Oz." This tale involves a Winkie boy mixing up a magic spot remover that works too well, and leaves Spots temporarily blank.

Here's a picture of Spots, drawn by Shawn Maldonado.

Comments

[kevenn.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've ever read any of Rachel Cosgrove's Oz books.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I haven't either ... *puts them on the to read list*

[vovat.livejournal.com]

They're far from my favorites in the Oz series, but they're definitely worth reading.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I'm one of those people who likes to read *everything* once I get into a fandom. Just as I follow Joss Whedon everywhere, I'll happily follow Oz anywhere, too!

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

You can probably get Hidden Valley through ILL. My library luckily has a copy. The book is just ok, but the drawings are stereotypical 50's crapola fanfare, and the gigantic rat Percy is a pain in my butt, kiddo.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I gotta say, I'm not a fan of giant rats. Maybe the Hungry Tiger could take care of that problem for us?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Nah, the two of them become friends. Ray Powell did try to write out Percy in his The Raggedys in Oz, but he did it way too obviously. More recent versions of that text have been changed so that Percy was allowed to stay in Oz.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Oh, rats.