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Introduction "Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations. "Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as 'historical' in the children's library; for the time has come for a series of newer 'wonder tales' in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident. "Having this thought in mind, the story of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' was written solely to please children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out." L. Frank Baum
Chicago, April, 1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's story written by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by W.W. Denslow, and first published in 1900. The story chronicles the adventures of a girl named Dorothy in the land of Oz. It is well regarded in popular culture and has been widely translated as the first American fairy tale due to its setting. Its initial success led to Baum's writing and having published thirteen more Oz books. The Wizard of Oz has been translated into well over 40 different languages. In some cases, the story proved so popular in other countries that it was co-opted as a local classic. For instance, in some countries where the Hindu religion is practised, abridged versions of the book were published in which the Tin Woodman was replaced with a snake for religious reasons. Several stage and screen interpretations were made of the book. Most famous among them today is the 1939 film - "The Wizard of Oz" - featuring Judy Garland as Dorothy. This, in turn, has been adapted into two separate stage productions. The earliest musical version of the book was produced in 1902, and was highly successful at the time. Early film versions of the book include a 1917 film produced by Baum himself, and a 1925 film - "Wizard of Oz" - featuring Oliver Hardy as the Tin Woodsman. The Wiz was a hit musical with an all-black cast produced in the 1970s on Broadway. It was later made into a 1978 movie directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow. The most recent musical adaptation of an Oz-related book is the musical Wicked, based on the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. The Oz books are a series of books, which begin with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and deal with the "history" of the Land of Oz. The Oz books were originally created by author L. Frank Baum, who went on to write fourteen total Oz books. Although most of the Oz books are strictly adventures, Baum as well as many later Oz authors styled themselves as "Royal Historians" of Oz. Later authors wrote 36 other "official" books after Baum's death. Many other authors have put their own twists on Oz. The first fourteen books by the original author, L. Frank Baum, another nineteen by Ruth Plumly Thompson, and another seven books by various other authors comprise the "Famous Forty", which is considered the classic original series. Most of the books in the "Famous Forty" were published by Reilly and Britton, (later Reilly and Lee). Other books were printed later, by different publishing houses. As the earlier works have fallen out of copyright (including all of L. Frank Baum's titles), numerous other books have been written in the series by many authors and publishers, some of whom continue to publish new works today. List of the "Famous Forty" Oz books: The original books by L. Frank Baum 1: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz W. W. Denslow - Illustrator 1900 George M. Hill Dorothy gets swept into the Land of Oz by a cyclone. She meets a living Scarecrow, a man made entirely of tin, and a Cowardly Lion while trying to get to the Emerald City to see the great Wizard. Also reprinted by various publishers under the names The New Wizard of Oz and The Wizard of Oz with occasional minor changes in the text. 2: The Marvelous Land of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1904 Reilly & Britton A little boy, Tip, escapes from his evil guardian, the witch Mombi, with the help of a walking wooden figure with a jack-o'-lantern head named Jack Pumpkinhead (brought to life with the magic Powder of Life Tip stole from Mombi), as well as a living Sawhorse (created from said same powder.) Tip ends up on an adventure with the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman. Also reprinted as The Land of Oz. 3: Ozma of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1907 Reilly & Britton While traveling to Australia with her Uncle Henry, little Dorothy is swept overboard with a hen named Billina. They land in Ev, a country across the desert from Oz, and, together with new-found mechanical friend, Tik-Tok, they must save Ev's royal family from the evil Nome King. With Princess Ozma's help, they finally return to Oz. 4: Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1908 Reilly & Britton On her way back from Australia, Dorothy visits her cousin, Zeb, in California. They are soon swollowed up by an earthquake, along with Zeb's horse, Jim and Dorothy's cat Eureka. The group soon meets up with the Wizard and all travel underground back to Oz. 5: The Road to Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1909 Reilly & Britton While trying to find the road to Butterfield, Dorothy meets the Shaggy Man and they get lost on an enchanted road. As they travel they meet the rainbow's daughter, Polychrome, and a little boy, Button Bright. They have all sorts of strange adventures on the way to Oz. 6: The Emerald City of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1910 Reilly & Britton Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em come to live in Oz permanently. While they are toured through the Quadling Country, the Nome King is tunneling beneath the desert to invade Oz. 7: The Patchwork Girl of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1913 Reilly & Britton A Munchkin boy named Ojo must find a cure to free his Unc Nunkie from a magical spell that has turned him into a statue. With the help of Scraps, a living Patchwork Girl, Ojo journeys through Oz in order to save his uncle. 8: Tik-Tok of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1914 Reilly & Britton Betsy Bobbin, a girl from Oklahoma is shipwrecked with her mule, Hank in the Rose Kingdom. She meets the Shaggy Man there and the two try to rescue the Shaggy Man's brother from the Nome King. 9: The Scarecrow of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1915 Reilly & Britton Cap'n Bill and Trot journeying to Oz and, with the help of the Scarecrow, overthrowing the cruel King Krewl of Jinxland. Cap'n Bill and Trot had previously appeared in two other novels by Baum, The Sea Fairies and Sky Island. 10: Rinkitink in Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1916 Reilly & Britton Prince Inga of Pingaree and King Rinkitink and his companions have adventures that lead to the land of the Nomes, and eventually, Oz. This book only ends up in Oz at the end, because Baum originally wrote it as a non-Oz book, and only rewrote it later. 11: The Lost Princess of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1917 Reilly & Britton Concerning the disappearance of Princess Ozma, the ruler of Oz. When she is discovered missing, four search parties are sent out, one for each of Oz's four countries. Most of the book covers Dorothy and the Wizard's efforts to find her. Meanwhile, Cayke the Cookie Cook, discovers her magic dishpan (which she bakes her famous cookies) has been stolen. Along with the Frogman, they leave their mountain in the Winkie Country to find the pan. 12: The Tin Woodman of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1918 Reilly & Britton The Tin Woodman, Nick Chopper, is unexpectedly reunited with his Munchkin sweetheart Nimmie Amee from the days when he was flesh and blood. Along the way Nick discovers a fellow tin man, Captain Fyter, as well as a Frankenstein-like creature made from their combined parts. 13: The Magic of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1919 Reilly & Lee Ruggedo, former Nome King, tries to again conquer Oz with the help of Munchkin boy, Kiki Aur. In the meanwhile, it is also Ozma's birthday, and all of Oz's citizens are searching for the most unique present for the little princess. This was the last Oz book published while Baum was alive. 14: Glinda of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1920 Reilly & Lee Dorothy, Ozma and Glinda try to stop a war in the Gillikin Country. This was Baum's last Oz book, and was published posthumously. Most critics agree this is this is Buam's darkest Oz book, most likely due to his failing health. By Ruth Plumly Thompson Thompson's style was markedly different from Baum's. Her tales harkened back to more traditional fairytales. She often included a small kingdom, a prince or princess who saves his or her kingdom and regains the throne or saves Oz from invasion. Thompson even respelled Baum's respelling "Nome" as the more traditional "Gnome". All in all Thompson wrote 19 Oz books, five more than Baum. By Ruth Plumly Thompson 15: The Royal Book of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1921 Reilly & Lee The Scarecrow, going on a quest to find his family tree, slides down a magic bean-pole and discovers he is actually the Emperor of the mysterious underground Silver Islands. When Dorothy discovers him missing, she sets out to find him, meeting the knight, Sir Hokus of Pokes along the way. Although Baum was credited as the author, it was written entirely by Thompson. 16: Kabumpo in Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1922 Reilly & Lee During Prince Pompadore of Pumperdink's birthday celebration a magic scroll is found inside his birthday cake. It warns the him that if the he doesn't wed a "proper princess" within seven days, his entire kingdom will disappear. The prince, along with the old, wise elephant Kabumpo, the Elegant Elephant, set off on an adventure to the Emerald City and along the way meet up with a living wooden doll, Peg Amy and Wag, a giant rabbit. Meanwhile Rugeddo the Gnome King (Thompson "corrected" Baum's "Nome") turns himself into a giant while tunneling under the Emerald City, and gets Ozma's palace stuck on his crown, and runs off with it. 17: The Cowardly Lion of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1923 Reilly & Lee The Cowardly Lion decides that the courage the Wizard gave him is all used up. He is told the best way to get courage is to eat a courageous man. He sets out on a journey to do this as fast as possible, since he does not like to harm anyone. 18: Grampa in Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1924 Reilly & Lee Prince Tatters of Ragbag, and Grampa, a former soldier set out to search for King Fumbo's lost head and a fortune to save the kingdom. Meanwhile, in Perhaps City in the Maybe Mountains the Princess Pretty Good disappears after the prophet Abrog forsees her marrying a monster if she does not marry in four days. - Illustrator 19: The Lost King of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1925 Reilly & Lee Old Mombi (from The Land of Oz) is now a cook in the land of Kimbaloo, and one day comes across Pajuka, the former prime minister of Oz, who she enchanted into a goose years before. She sets out to find Pastoria, the king of Oz, who she enchanted years before. Meanwhile, Dorothy is accidentally transported to Hollywood. where she meets Humpy, a live stunt dummy, who she brings back to Oz. 20: The Hungry Tiger of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1926 Reilly & Lee The Hungry Tiger (first seen in Ozma of Oz) is transported to Rash, the Red Kingdom in Ev, where is made guard of the prison, where he discovers Betsy Bobbin, Carter Green, the Vegetable Man, and the Scarlet Prince Reddy of Rash as prisoners. They escape, and have many adventures on the way back to Oz. 21: The Gnome King of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1927 Reilly & Lee Peter, an American boy, finds his way to the Island of Ruggedo, the wicked Gnome King. The two escape to Oz, which the Gnome King plans to conquer. Meanwhile Scraps, the Patchwork Girl is kidnapped by the Quilties and made their queen. 22: The Giant Horse of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1928 Reilly & Lee Many years ago, before Dorothy came to Oz, the royal family of the Munchkins were kidnapped and imprisoned on the mysterious Ozure Islands by the witch Mombi. Quiberon, an evil monster created by Mombi, guards them, but now wants a mortal maiden. Prince Philadore of the Ozure Islands sets out to save them, and meets Tattypoo, the Good Witch of the North (Not seen since The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). 23: Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1929 Reilly & Lee Remembering his previous visit to Oz, Peter (from The Gnome King of Oz) finds himself in Jack Pumpkinhead's yard. The two set off for the Emerald City, but take a wrong turn and end up in the Quadling Country, where they have many adventures. 24: The Yellow Knight of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1930 Reilly & Lee Sir Hokus of Pokes grows bored with life in the Emerald City, and he and the Comfortable Camel set out for some adventure. Meanwhile a boy named Speedy blasts his way to Oz in a homemade rocket ship, where he finds himself in the underground kingdom of Subterranea. 25: Pirates in Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1931 Reilly & Lee Peter returns to Oz for a third time, this time with pirates on the Nonestic Ocean (which surrounds the continent Oz is on). Meanwhile, Old Ruggedo, the Gnome King is back. He had been hit with a Silence Stone at the end of The Gnome King of Oz, and decides to answer an advertisement for king of the Land of Menankypoo. 26: The Purple Prince of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1932 Reilly & Lee While visiting the neighboring kingdom of Pumperdink, Prince Randy of the Purple Mountains criticizes the king's grapes, claiming they are sour. Randy is sentenced to be "dipped", but Kabumpo, the Elegant Elephant makes him his attendant instead. Later, the royal family disappears and Randy and Kabumpo must save the day. 27: Ojo in Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1933 Reilly & Lee Ojo (from The Patchwork Girl of Oz) is captured by gypsies and escapes with fellow captive Realbad, the leader of a group of bandits. Together they discover X-Pando, the flexible man, free Crystal City from the Blue Dragon, visit Unicorners where Unicorns come from, and visit Dicksey Land, as well as many other strange lands. 28: Speedy in Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1934 Reilly & Lee Speedy (from The Yellow Knight of Oz) returns for another adventure. While inspecting a dinosaur skeleton, Speedy is blown by a geyser into the air. The skeleton comes magically to life and becomes Terrybubble, a live (although fleshless) dinosaur. Terrybubble and Speedy land on Umbrella island, a magic floating island, which has been captured by a giant. 29: The Wishing Horse of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1935 Reilly & Lee This Oz mystery starts in Skampavia where King Skamperoo wishes for a horse using enchanted emerald necklaces. When Chalk, the Wishing Horse of Oz falls from the sky, Skamperoo decides the emeralds must be from the Emerald City, and decides to conquer all of Oz. 30: Captain Salt in Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1936 Reilly & Lee Captain Salt (from Pirates in Oz) sails the Nonestic Ocean and discovers Ozamaland, a legendary land of flying animals, as well as the famous White City of Om as well as many other places. 31: Handy Mandy in Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1937 Reilly & Lee Mandy from Mt. Mern is a Mernite, a race of seven-handed people. One day, while trying to gather her goats the rock she is standing on is blown into the air and into Oz. She lands in Keretaria in the Munchkin Country and meets Nox the white Royal Ox. This is also the last appearence of Ruggedo, the Gnome King. 32: The Silver Princess in Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1938 Reilly & Lee King Randy of Regalia sets off for adventure with his old friend, the Elegant Elephant Kabumpo set off to visit their friend Jinnicky the Red Jinn in Ev. Before long, they meet Planetty, the lovely Princess from Anuther Planet and her fire-breathing Thundercolt, Thun and set off on more adventures. 33: Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1939 Reilly & Lee The Wizard decides to create ozoplanes for his friends which can fly into the stratosphere. The Wizard, Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow take one ozoplane, called the Ozpril, and go to the Red Top Mountains. The other group: Tin Woodman, Jellia Jamb and the Soldier with the Green Whiskers take the Oztober to the sky city of Stratovania. The phrase "The Wizard of Oz" was included in the title to coincide with the release of MGM film The Wizard of Oz the same year the book was published. By other writers When Thompson retired in 1939, longtime Oz illustrator, John R. Neill took over the series and wrote three more of the "Famous Forty". Neill's vision of Oz is more manic than Thompson or Baum's. Houses often get up and do battle, and everything can be alive. His entries take Oz's color scheme (blue for Munchkin Country, red for Quadling Country, etc.) to an extreme, extending it to sky and skin colors. Jack Snow was a Baum scholar, and even offered to take over the series at age twelve when Baum died. Snow's books lack any characters created by Thompson or Neill, although he did create his own. By John R. Neill 34: The Wonder City of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1940 Reilly & Lee Jenny Jump captures a leprechaun and forces him to make her into a fairy, but he only does half the job before escaping. Jenny then jumps to Oz using her half-fairy gifts. She soon sets up a faishionable Style Shop with a magic turnstyle which will give anyone high style and challenges Ozma to an ozlection to become ruler of the Land of Oz. 35: The Scalawagons of Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1941 Reilly & Lee The Wizard creates Scalawagons, intellegent cars that can also fly. He makes Tik-Tok superintendent of the Scalawagons Factory, but the mechanical man runs down. Bell Snickle,a mysterious creature, takes advantage of Tik-Tok's condition by filling the scalawagons with "flabber-gas" and the Wizard nearly loses his scalawagons. 36: Lucky Bucky in Oz John R. Neill - Illustrator 1942 Reilly & Lee Bucky is aboard a tugboat in New York Harbor when the boiler blows up. He is soon blown into the Nonestic Ocean where he meets Davy Jones, a wooden whale. The pair take an undersea route to the Emerald City, and have many adventures along the way. By Jack Snow 37: The Magical Mimics in Oz Frank Kramer - Illustrator 1946 Reilly & Lee Ozma and Glinda go to meet with the Fairy Queen Lurline in the Forest of Burzee and leaves Dorothy in charge of Oz. During Ozma's absence, the evil Mimics escape their imprisonment on Mount Illuso and use their magic to take the form of others and attempt to conquer Oz. 38: The Shaggy Man of Oz Frank Kramer - Illustrator 1949 Reilly & Lee It is discovered that the love magnet, which was owned the Shaggy man (from The Road to Oz) has broken, and only its creator, the evil Conjo can fix it. Meanwhile,Twink and Tom are pulled through their television to the Isle of Conjo in the Nonestic Ocean along with the wooden clown Twiffle. Soon the Shaggy Man arrives and saves them from Conjo. By Rachel Cosgrove 39: The Hidden Valley of Oz Dirk Gringhuis - Illustrator 1951 Reilly & Lee Jam, a boy from Ohio builds a kite and attaches it to a crate and sets off to Oz with his two guinea pigs, Pinny and Gig and a lab rat named Percy. Once in Oz, Jam realizes his pets can talk. He lands in the Hidden Valley, and becomes a prisoner, but they escape and set out on adventures with the Tin Woodman. By Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren Lynn McGraw 40: Merry-Go-Round in Oz Dick Martin - Illustrator 1963 Reilly & Lee Robin Brown from the USA rides a magic merry-go-round horse to Oz. Upon landing, Robin must help find the missing magic rings of Halidom.
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