I recently read The Wizard of Oz and just had to draw these characters. The imagery leans more movie version (hello ruby slippers), but I did my best to give props to the original story, too.oz-windness-web

My 9-yo son complained that I’d got Dorothy wrong. He’s the same kid that quotes Martin Luther King Jr. and is moved to tears by racial inequality, but he was sure I was wrong and Dorothy was white. We had a good talk about why it’s so important to show diversity in books. And the other thing? Not once is Dorothy’s skin color mentioned in the book. So why do we presume that she’s white? Let’s challenge our presumptions. Every child should see themselves in books and every child who doesn’t have the opportunity to experience diversity in their communities should at least experience it through literature. Bucket by bucket, let’s melt the wickedness that is prejudice. Diverse books matter!  -Kaz

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Original sketch:

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