Product Description
Here in one binding are both of L. Frank Baum's Santa Claus stories: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, and A Kidnapped Santa Claus. In The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Baum gives us a glimpse into the magical history that surrounds the life story of Santa Claus. In a A Kidnapped Santa Claus, we find out what happens when Santa is kidnapped shortly before Christmas. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
A groundbreaking new look at an American icon, THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Finding Oz tells the remarkable tale behind one of the world's most enduring and best loved stories. Offering profound new insights into the true origins and meaning of L. Frank Baum's 1900 masterwork, it delves into the personal turmoil and spiritual transformation that fueled Baum's fantastical parable of the American Dream. Prior to becoming an impresario of children's adventure tales--the J. K. Rowling of his age--Baum failed at a series of careers and nearly lost his soul before setting out on a journey of discovery that would lead to the Land of Oz.

Drawing on original research, Evan Schwartz debunks popular misconceptions and shows how the people, places, and events in Baum's life gave birth to his unforgettable images and characters. The Yellow Brick Road was real, the Emerald City evoked the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and Baum's mother-in-law, the radical women's rights leader Matilda Joslyn Gage, inspired his dual view of witches--as good and wicked. A narrative that sweeps across late nineteenth-century America, Finding Oz ultimately reveals how failure and heartbreak can sometimes lead to redemption and bliss, and how one individual can ignite the imagination of the entire world.Amazon.com Review
Product Description
A groundbreaking new look at an American icon, The Wizard of Oz. Finding Oz tells the remarkable tale behind one of the world's most enduring and best loved stories. Offering profound new insights into the true origins and meaning of L. Frank Baum's 1900 masterwork, it delves into the personal turmoil and spiritual transformation that fueled Baum's fantastical parable of the American Dream. Prior to becoming an impresario of children's adventure tales--the J. K. Rowling of his age--Baum failed at a series of careers and nearly lost his soul before setting out on a journey of discovery that would lead to the Land of Oz. Drawing on original research, Evan Schwartz debunks popular misconceptions and shows how the people, places, and events in Baum's life gave birth to his unforgettable images and characters. The Yellow Brick Road was real, the Emerald City evoked the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and Baum's mother-in-law, the radical women's rights leader Matilda Joslyn Gage, inspired his dual view of witches--as good and wicked. A narrative that sweeps across late nineteenth-century America, Finding Oz ultimately reveals how failure and heartbreak can sometimes lead to redemption and bliss, and how one individual can ignite the imagination of the entire world.

Customer Reviews (35)

Heavy-handed Psychohistory
Great subject for a book. But the author uses a VERY heavy hand to pound in Jungian psychology and New Age thinking at every twist and turn of Baum's life. It's unfortunate and distracting, greatly weakening the book.

If you're an aging Baby Boomer with a taste for New Age scrambles, this might sound great. For me, it's an unwarranted intrusion and made the book tedious by midsection. It makes the book boring.

The author injects too much dubious Jungian interpretation into the facts. It gets in the way of the narrative. Best to check this out from the library rather than buy it and own it.

It's Hard to Stay on The Yellow Brick Road
Once upon a time I was cast in a production of THE WIZARD OF OZ and began doing some research not only into Oz, but into the man who created that world, L. Frank Baum.One of the books I read as part of my research was FINDING OZ.

The book is flows smoothly and is rather easy to read.The premise of the book is that many of the characters, events, and places in THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ were inspired by people, events, and places from Baum's own life.FINDING OZ attempts to illustrate just what all those people, events, and places were.The book begins with Baum's familial background and his birth and follows his life until just after the major success of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ.

Though the story moves along very smoothly and is filled with facts, as a biography the book isn't very good.FINDING OZ is filled with suppositions.For instance, when discussing a time when Baum went to meet his future wife, Maud Gage, the author makes all kinds of suppositions from the probabilities of the things they would have worn, to how Baum would have arrived, to what songs were sung, to how long Baum spent at the house, etc.I realize these suppositions were included to keep the book smoothly flowing.However, they aren't factual and I felt that they took away more than they added.

I also didn't like how the author tried to find a real-life reason for all of the major events, places, and characters in Oz.As Baum clearly points out in his own introduction to THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, the story is supposed to be an American fairy tale. It's not a parable or an allegory.We do know that there are certain things that did inspire Baum's tale, for instance his niece Dorothy who died at an early age, the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, and Baum's experiences selling china (the Dainty Chinaland chapter in THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ all makes sense now).However, not everything in the novel was inspired by something else.Sometimes a story is just a story, and I often felt while reading FINDING OZ that the author forgot that.

The book also ends rather abruptly.It spends a great deal of time on Baum's life leading up to the publication of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, but very little time on the events of his life after that.Baum wrote many other books and though none were as successful as the first Oz book, he was one of the most famous and successful authors of his time. He went back to the Oz books because the public demanded them.If people, places, and events in THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ were so closely based upon real-life, were the people, places, and events of the sequels also based upon real things?The author never comes near that question and FINDING OZ basically ends after the success of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ.

That's not to say FINDING OZ is a terrible book because it's not.The book is entertaining and is occasionally informative.For instance, the author makes it clear that Baum did not base THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ upon Populist politics of the day as several historians and theorists have suggested in the past.In fact, Baum was a staunch lifelong Republican.The book also gives a great deal of insight into Matilda Gage and her relationship with her son-in-law.

FINDING OZ was a mixed-bag for me. The structure flows as smooth as a novel, but the major faults of the book kept me from enjoying it as much as I have similar-themed works of non-fiction.

Finding Oz
For those of you who are only familiar with the works of L. Frank Baum through the MGM movie, The Wizard of Oz, I must correct a terrible misconception.Dorothy didn't dream Oz.
Oz is real. 26 novels real.And The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on which the MGM extravaganza is based isn't even the best of the series. I am particularly partial to The Patchwork Girl and The Emerald City of Oz.
When I was a child, my mother read to us from her well- loved childhood copies of the Oz books. At the end of every chapter, my brother and I begged for one more chapter-- pleeeze! To my mother's great relief, we eventually were able to read the series on our own.I have read all 26 novels more than once and still find them remarkable.
As Evan Schwartz points out in his biography of L. Frank Baum, "Finding Oz," the Oz books were the first authentically American fairy tales. Waves of immigrants had brought their own fables to America, but the Oz books are the first distinctly American fantasy, complete with farms, chickens, and Kansas!
Prior to his late life success as an author, Baum tried his hand at many different occupations, including actor, china salesman, chicken farmer, and journalist.Late 19th C America was an unforgiving environment for the only sporadically employed, but despite his hardships, Baum never lost his good humor or his knack for storytelling.
Schwartz's account of Baum's life is more convincing than his efforts at literary analysis. Seeking the mystical meaning behind the Oz stories is a popular exercise.Academics have inflicted similar analysis on A. A. Milne's Pooh series.(You can find both "The Zen of Oz" and "The Tao of Poohand the Te of Piglet" at your local bookstore.) While it is more than possible that Baum's writing was influenced by Theosophy to which he, his wife, and mother- in- law were adherents, some of Mr. Schwartz's other theories seem a bit farfetched. Toto is not just a cute name for dog, but rather taken from the Latin phrase in toto. And even more suspect, is the theory that the character of the Cowardly Lion was inspired by Sitting Bull!
Aside from the overwrought, albeit intriguing, literary analysis, "Finding Oz" is a first-rate biography. Serious Oz fans will enjoy the discussion of the sources of Baum's inspiration, but history buffs will appreciate the portrayal of turn of the century America.

A Little Disappointed...
I first saw this book about 9 months ago, and although I didn't buy it at the time, I kept it in the back of my mind.When summer reading time rolled around, I knew right away that this was the book I wanted to read.

And I was definitely a little disappointed.

As other reviewers have suggested, the story is A LOT speculation.A variety of interesting ideas were presented, but the reading felt a little monotonous.I wanted facts.

The last three chapters of the book were the best - they essentially summarized in a more concise manner what had been stated in the rest of the book and really contained the content I had so desired when purchasing this book.

Do I regret reading this book? Not at all.The Wizard of Oz is one of my all time favorite movies and I've always enjoyed learning more about the story.As America's first real and very beloved fairy tale, it was great to learn about where it came from and the dynamic forces that inspired some of the characters and concepts.This book puts to rest the myth that the story is a parable about the industrial revolution.

Well, we found it... eventually...
"Finding Oz" is the story of L. Frank Baum, the author of the beloved classic The Wizard Of Oz.It describes in vast detail Baum's life, the people he knew, his influences, and his endeavors.Seemingly meticulously researched, the information in this book will leave readers feeling like they know everything there is know regarding Baum... and then some.

I like The Wizard of Oz.I like biographies, especially ones about writers.So I thought this book would be a great match for me.Instead, I found myself putting the book down frequently.Many parts were just laden with what seemed like unimportant information and details.For example, during several early chapters, the focus isn't on Frank, but on his future wife, Maud (as a college student) and Maud's mother (a women's rights activist mainly forgotten by the history books, Matilda Joslyn Gage.)And although these women surely influenced Frank (and -- in the case of Matilda -- inspired a main character in The Wizard Of Oz) the drawn-out tangents about them seemed to go on and on.As I read, I couldn't help thinking that the target audience for this book could only consist of two types:

*Die-hard Oz fanatics
*Relatives of L. Frank Baum

And I wasn't one of them.

If this had been a biography of one of my own ancestors, I might have cared what color his mother-in-law's tablecloth was or what he wore on a certain day.But to the average Wizard Of Oz fan, like myself, this book was full of way too much information.In other words, it was hard to get through.

I know it's silly to fault a book for having TOO MUCH information, especially when its purpose, its very nature of being, IS to inform.However, I say that mainly warn the casual Oz fan that this is not light, fun reading.This is a serious, analytical, Oz-fanatical, detail-heavy text.

Having said that, I did enjoy some of the chapters, from the standpoint of someone who is interested American history.I liked reading about the Chicago World's Fair, for example, which L. Frank Baum attended.I also started turning pages more rapidly toward the end of the book, while reading about Baum's publishing endeavors.You know, the best part.


... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Scarecrow
Trot and Cap'n Bill are in trouble -- their boat has been pulled down into a giant whirlpool! When they finally land in a mysterious cave, there seems to be no escape....until they meet a strange creature. Where in the world are they?

Not one of the best in the series
The Scarecrow of Oz was chiefly a way for Baum to introduce readers to another one of his book series (The Sea Fairies and Sky Island) to his more lucrative Oz readership.The story itself is a bit uneven, but is easily digested by younger readers as separate segments can be treated as stand-alone stories with a single unifying theme of moving Cap'n Bill and Trot from California to Oz.

Synopsis: Cap'n Bill and Trot (a relationship which probably would not find its way into modern kiddie lit) go for a recreational row and get caught in a whirlpool.The whirlpool transports them to a fairy land which they escape with the help of an orc (a magical flying creature, not the nasties in Tolkein) and some magical shrinking berries.They spend a little bit of time in the Land of Mo (another Oz series) before escaping once again with recurring character Button-Bright (from the Road to Oz), the help of some adventuresome birds and magical growing berries.They land in Jinxland, a semi-autonomous region within Oz, where they accidentally insert themselves into the nuptial politics of the local ruler, an elderly but wealthy courtesan, the daughter of a deposed king, and the son of another deposed king.The three characters are unable to do anything other than get into serious trouble with a local witch and are eventually bailed out by the combination of the Scarecrow's planning, a sudden re-appearance of the original orc with an army of his friends, and a bit of lucky timing.After restoring the king's daughter to her rightful throne and true love, they make their way back to the Emerald City where they meet everyone.The story abruptly ends at this point - the reader can assume Capn' Bill and Trot have found a home in Oz although the story's beginning did not make it seem as if Trot's family was either lost or worth leaving.

Good characters
This book brings in some nice characters--Trot and Cap'n Bill, from the two non-Oz books Baum wrote between EMERALD CITY and PATCHWORK GIRL, the better of which is the fabulous SKY ISLAND which every Baum fan should read.And a wonderful, funny, petulant but endearing non-human creature (the Ork, who is nothing at all like JRR Tolkein's Orcs.)The Ork gets some hilarious lines, like "If I'm going to starve, I'll do it all at once, not by degrees!"He's a little like the Woggle-Bug but more distinct and more appealing.

Plotwise this book is more or less nowhere; it's beginning is exceptionally grim (the protagonists face the apparent prospect of dying of thirst); then it becomes a walking and flying tour, with an attempt to cram an implausible story about one-dimensional characters (and the Scarecrow) in at the end.The story sort of threatens to become interesting when Cap'n Bill gets turned into a grasshopper--something which has happened to only one other Oz character--but doesn't quite work; it's too late in the book.Baum should have shortened the journey to Jinxland and focused on what happened there, or put more plot into the journey itself, like in WIZARD, PATCHWORK GIRL, and TIKTOK.

In spite of the plot problems I give it four stars for vivid portrayal of the main characters and Baum's special on-the-road atmosphere.If you like Trot and Cap'n Bill be sure to read SKY ISLAND.

Buyer's review of The Scarecrow of Oz
The book arrived promptly via standard shipping. The dust cover and the book were in excellent condition. I am very pleased with the book and Amazon's service.

"When the children have had enough of them, I hope they will let me know"
The Scarecrow of Oz is the ninth in the series and the only one which I did not pay much attention to as a child. It may justly claim to be one of the best structured of the Oz books, but the combination of characters and locations simply did not do much to capture my imagination back then. I liked Trot and Cap'n Bill, but I did not really like them as much as some of the other possible main characters.

As an adult I found that I admired the book much more-- even if the Scarecrow does not appear until much later, it is always good to see Button Bright back. The plot is also well-developed and Trot shows a side of her nature that fades later in the series when Baum sets her next to Dorothy and Ozma.

In short, a worthy entry into the Oz canon, if not a natural favorite. ... Read more

Product Description
After destroying the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy, accompanied by her dog Toto, the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, returns to the Wizard of Oz who has promised to send her home to Kansas. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Much better than I expected
I'd only seen parts of the 1939 movie, so I didn't know as much about the book as most probably do.

It was a very readable book.I was shocked how little the Wicked Witch of the West is actually in it.I always thought she was a much more important character.

The history of the flying monkeys is quite interesting.

Quite a bit more violent, also, than expected.

A Wonderful Classic
"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is one of the best well known and beloved modern fairy tales. However, most people have only come to know it thanks to the wonderful film adaptation of the same name. To be sure, the film version is probably one of the best movies of all time, but there is something to be said for reading the book in its own right. The book turns out to be as wonderful and endearing as I had expected, with all the main characters portrayed in greater depth and with even more attention to their human distinctiveness. There are also a few scenes in the book that had not made it to the movie, and it was interesting to read these for the first time. The book is charming and well written, although some people today might have an issue with a few violent scenes that tend to be more graphic than what acceptable in children's books these days. Personally I was not bothered by this one bit, and view the book as good, clean fun.

Prefer Wicked.
I thought it would be much deeper and more sinister than the judy garland movie but it wasn't. The graphic description of the tin woodsman cutting off heads was about the only thing that might have made it less than a kid story. I was mainly interested in this because of my love of the novel Wicked, and wanted to make some comparisons as to some of the characters and places mentinoed in both Gregory Maguire's novel and the fantastic play. While it is true that the musical is a much lighter, simplified version of the book, I have seen it said that the same is true for the Wizard of Oz. I dissagree. It is a disappointment; I only like Wicked.

Thoroughly enjoyable!
Somehow as a kid I never got around to reading this classic novel, although I did read the first sequel ("The Marvelous Land of Oz"), which seemed rather dark to me at the time.As other reviewers have noted, there are quite a few differences between the book and the beloved 1939 film version.Most of these differences are insignificant, and the majority of the scenes and lines that make the film so enjoyable are also in the book (although sometimes altered a bit).However, I would have loved to see the land made of China (porcelain) depicted in the film!Fortunately, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" more than stands on its own, even to this adult reader.The novel is charming and contains some great messages for children that could also serve the typical adult quite well.Recommended for readers of all ages.

This version is formatted for the Kindle.I wish that it included some of the pictures from the original printings, but the formatting is nicely done.

A Solid Read
While I agree with Penny that this book is very creepy, I have to disagree about the rest.This book does describe the Scarecrow as a fool, but this is only to highlight that he is not.Every plan that they use to survive on their journey is devised by the Scarecrow.Throughout the book, he continues to be thw wisest of the four.It's one of the things thatlove about th book, the fact that in it, the Scarecrow is wiser, the Tin Woodsman is braver, andthe Lion is far more courageous than their movie counterparts.

Example:When the Woodsman weeps and rusts, Baum makes a point of the fact that Dorothy and the Lion are confused, whereas the Scarecrow just reaches for the oil can and solves the problem.These characteristics of the characters are still present in the book, even moreso than the movie, they are just more subtly done. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
In the first major literary biography of L. Frank Baum, Rebecca Loncraine tells the story of Oz as you've never heard it, with a look behind the curtain at the vivid life and eccentric imagination of its creator.

L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1899 and it was first published in 1900. A runaway hit, it was soon recognized as America's first modern fairy tale. Baum's life story, like the fictional world he created, is uniquely American, rooted in the transforming historical changes of his times. Baum was a complex and eccentric man who could never stay put for long; his restless creative spirit and voracious appetite for new projects led him across the U.S. during his lifetime, and he drew energy and inspiration from each new dramatic landscape he encountered,. Born in 1856, Baum spent his youth in the Finger Lakes region of New York as amputee soldiers returned from the Civil War; childhood mortality was also commonplace, blurring the lines between the living and the dead, and making room in Baum's young imagination for vividly real ghosts. When Baum was growing up, P. T. Barnum ruled the minds of small towns and his traveling circus was the most famous act around. Baum married a headstrong young woman named Maud Gage and they ventured out west to Dakota Territory, where they faced violent tornadoes, Ghost Dancing tribes and desperate droughts, before trading the hardships on the Great Plains for the excitement of Chicago and the fantastical White City of the World's Fair.

Baum's writing tapped into an inner world that blurred his own sense of reality and fantasy. The Land of Oz, which Baum believed he had "discovered" rather than invented, grew into something far bigger and more popular than he'd ever imagined. After the roaring success of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, he became a kind of slave to his creation, trapped inside Oz as his army of demanding child fans kept sending him back there to create new adventures for Dorothy, Toto and the humbug wizard. He went on to write thirteen sequels to his first Oz book. He also wrote the first Broadway adaptations of his Oz tales, and turned his Oz books into some of the first motion pictures in a small and undiscovered rural settlement called "Hollywood". Baum co-founded the Oz Film Manufacturing Company, even as critics warned that no one would pay to see a children's story. And they were right- his early ventures were box office flops and the world was not ready for Oz on screen until 1939, when MGM released "The Wizard of Oz" in brilliant Technicolor. Baum was not around to see it-he'd died in bed in 1919 just weeks after completing his final Oz book. But the book and film alike have become classics, just as well-loved today as they were when they first appeared.

The Real Wizard of Oz is an imaginatively written work that stretches the genre of biography and enriches our understanding of modern fairytales. L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its thirteen sequels, lived during eventful times in American history-- from 1856 to 1919-- that influenced nearly every aspect of his writing, from the Civil War to Hollywood, which was emerging as a modern Emerald City full of broken dreams and humbug wizards, to the gulf between America's prairie heartland, with its wild tornadoes, and its cities teeming with "Tin Man" factory workers. This is a colorful portrait of one man's vivid and eccentric imagination and the world that shaped it. Baum's famous fairytale is filled with the pain of the economic uncertainties of the Gilded Age and with a yearning for real change, ideas which many contemporary Americans will recognize. The Wizard of Oz continues to fascinate and influence us because it explores universal themes of longing for a better world, homesickness and finding inner strength amid the storms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Friends Flip for this Book
A very interesting and well written book, especially in light of Gregory Maguire's "Wicked" series of novels.I have it out as a coffee table book, and my friends can't keep their hands off it---they flip and flip, which I think is great.This is a good book that's given a lot of pleasure to many people.

Underwhelming
Like many of the other reviewers, I have been a life long fan of Oz.When I saw this book, I had to read it.L. Frank Baum was an interesting man living in interesting times.Unfortunately the book is choppy and insufficiently researched.The author appears to have been unable to gather the appropriate information to allow her to convey legitimate occurrences.The book is absolutely filled with "might have" and "must have" statements.One example of many is that based on Baum's early residence in Syracuse and knowledge that P.T. Barnum's show traveled through Syracuse during the same period, that Baum may have visited the show or must have seen the parade.The author then takes the liberty to suppose that Baum's thing and therefore later works were influenced in some way by Barnum.Making this sort of supposition now and then is one thing, but this book is overrun with them.The first hundred pages (the early years of Baum's life) are especially ponderous.The few facts that the author was able to locate are over expanded by repetition, relation of parallel events and the author's attempt to psychoanalyze the subject.The book flows better as Baum relocates his family to South Dakota and he takes over the reins of a local newspaper.Obviously his newspaper clippings were available and this book begins to more closely resemble a biography.Unfortunately, the momentum is short llived and the last few chapters become a running superficial review of one Oz book after the next.This work is a complete tease.I have to believe that a more accomplished biographer could do wonders with the subject matter.If you must read this book, save your money and borrow it from the library.

Interesting, Though Somewhat Impersonal
Lyman Frank Baum created the first really American fantasy when he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its sequels during the last twenty years of his life.This biography by Rebecca Loncraine does a reasonable job of recreating Baum's life and the times in which he lived, though at times the writing seems somewhat impersonal and even passive.This is not really the fault of the writer, but rather the result, apparently, of there being so few of Baum's letters and other first-person accounts of his life.Thus Ms. Loncraine was forced to write many times that Baum "probably visited" or "must have seen" or other variations.

Lyman Frank Baum was born into a family that had already lost several children and was to lose several more before he grew up.Loncraine does a masterful job of explaining the psychological impact that had on Baum, as well as the impact of the development of spiritualism, the Civil War, the economic ups and downs of the late nineteenth century, and countless other events in Baum's life.Despite the poor circumstances of his birth, Baum grew up a happy man willing to try his hand at almost anything.He was an actor for awhile, later owned and managed a store, then a newspaper, then worked as a travelling salesman, and all the while developing and writing fantastic stories for his own, his customers, and his children's delight.Eventually he became a successful children's author and attained literary immortality with the Oz series.He continued to have financial ups and downs, but he was fortunate in that he was always able to get back onto his feet and try again.He was also fortunate in his love life, meeting and marrying a woman who was his ideal partner.

I loved the Oz books when I was growing up and I still like to dip back into them every now and then.Rebecca Loncraine's biography gave me a better sense of who L. Frank Baum was and how his life experiences shaped his fictional world.

A Wealth of Detail
Almost everyone in the United States knows the story of the Wizard of Oz. Whether you're familiar with it from TV reruns of the 1939 MGM classic or from reading the books, chances are you're well acquainted with Dorothy and her quest to follow the Yellow Brick Road.

What you may not know is that like Dorothy, her creator, L. Frank Baum, experienced a tornado when he was young. Or that Baum's interest in spiritualism informed his creation of the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion.

In his Oz books, Baum clearly followed the old adage: write what you know. He may not have physically been to Oz and walked through the Emerald City, but he used everything from his life to inform his creations. Rebecca Loncraine [...] takes a detailed look at Baum's life and its ties to his fiction in The Real Wizard of Oz: The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum.

She begins eight years before Baum's birth with a glimpse at the growing fad for mediums who could contact the dead and the effects of a diphtheria epidemic on Baum's family. Her attention to detail is great, and a reader comes away from the early parts of the biography with a full understanding of growing up in the latter half of the 19th century. At times, the level of detail can frustrate a reader, who wants to get to the good stuff, when Baum comes into his own and begins writing.

Patience is a virtue as each chapter detailing Baum's young life sets the stage for the next chapter. His family newspaper, created when he was a child, holds the seeds of his later fiction. As does his interest in theater. In 1882, Baum married Maud Gage. His close ties with her family would lead him to follow his brother-in-law to Dakota Territory where he experienced droughts and conditions similar to those Dorothy Gale would face before her fateful tornado ride. He also wrote about reports of Sitting Bull's ghost dancers in his Aberdeen Saturday pioneer, a newspaper he acquired in 1889.

Baum began working on The Wizard of Oz in 1898. He drew on his memories of Civil War amputees, his fear of scarecrows, the Chicago World's Fair and a powerful imagination to create his world. His niece, Dorothy Gage, was born one month after Baum started writing. She would die five months later.

Once The Wizard of Oz is published, Loncraine's book picks up momentum. Oz becomes a incredible success, allowing Baum to write other fairy tales and to further explore Oz. He creates a stage musical of the book, which dazzled audiences with its use of electric light and stage trickery.

Financially successful, Baum continues the Oz series, using the books to create a world that should be, rather than the world rapidly growing in the 20th century. Uncle Henry and Auntie Em face bankruptcy in an Oz sequel so Dorothy arranges for them live in a utopian Oz.

Loncraine follows Baum through the wild success of Oz and his alter ego pseudonyms, his financial highs and lows, all the while emphasizing Baum's love of children and childhood and his dedication to imagination. The book continues past his death in 1918 to Maud's attendance at the 1939 MGM premiere.

The Real Wizard of Oz isn't just a biography of L. Frank Baum, but a biography of Oz. The two are intertwined, perhaps just as Baum would have it be.

A Wizardly Wonderful biographical read!
This book is quite simply one of the most entertaining reads I have had for a while.

In coming to write a review, here, I have "stopped to read" Theodore A. Rushton's review, above, and frankly, I find it hard to do so after reading Mr. Rushton's fine take on this wonderful book.

Thus, I bow out, and, instead, send you to his review...it is dead-on, and I cannot say more....

~G ... Read more

Product Description
Collected here are all 14 Oz books written by Oz creator and visionary L. Frank Baum. These timeless original stories have been specially formatted for digital e-readers, in that they can conform to fit any screen size, and each and every chapter of every book in the table of contents have been linked to ease navigation throughout this mammoth anthology. So kick back and join Dorothy, The Tin Man, Scarecrow, and the rest of the gang for a thrilling series of adventures that are sure to keep you entertained!

Collected books include:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Marvelous Land of Oz
Ozma of Oz
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
The Road to Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Patchwork Girl of Oz
Tik-Tok of Oz
The Scarecrow of Oz
Rinkitink in Oz
The Lost Princess of Oz
The Tin Woodman of Oz
The Magic of Oz
Glinda of Oz ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Get a free sample
I read these reviews and had concerns after reading all the issues people seemed to have with the formatting. I just downloaded the free sample, the formatting is fine and the first link at least took me straight to the first book. If you have any doubts as to how it will look just get the free sample, problem solved!

No Table of Contents for My Kindle 1 (Bedford Park Books Version)
Others have mentioned that the Bedford Park Books version that is currently available is in fact formatted properly with a linked table of contents.So I purchased this version thinking that it would be easy to navigate.Well there is not a table of contents on my Kindle.I don't know if this is because I have the original Kindle and it's just not compatible or if they have changed the formatting.It is still readable and appears to have all of the books listed.It just does not have a table of contents to easily navigate between books.So if you want to read the entire series from beginning to end, and do not need to jump from book to book, this version will work fine for you.You will know when you start a new book because each book starts with the title page.You just won't be able to jump easily to each book.It's going to take a little guess work as to what location number the book you want might start at.Again this could simply be an issue with Kindle 1 compatability.I only have the original Kindle 1 so I cannot compare it to the Kindle 2 or other generations.

Bedford Park Books version (14 book collection)
This is another glowing review for the Bedford Parks Books version of the Complete Wizard of Oz collection.I am dismayed to read the bad reviews, of which most actually belong to a completely different collection of 15 Oz books.

I have a Kindle 2, and the Bedford Park Books set is formatted for the Kindle.I have had no problems with it. The table of contents is fully functional, with easy access to each chapter of each of the 14 books.

As one recent reviewer noted, this collection does not include The Woggle-Bug Book. However, that book is technically not an Oz series book, even if it does feature an Oz character visiting our world.Also, it clearly states on the cover of this collection that this is a 14 book set of the Oz series by L. Frank Baum.

I grew up with these stories, and I love them.I like that these wonder tales, unlike older fairy tales (Grimm, Perrault, Anderson), involve characters from late 19th/early 20th Century America that are transported to Oz.

Some other reviewer complained that you can find all of these books available as individual books for free.That is true.Nevertheless, I totally do not regret paying $0.95 for the convenience of getting all 14 beloved books together in one volume AND formatted for Kindle with an active Table of Contents.For me, that is well worth it.

I also have the Bedford Parks Books versions of the Complete Sherlock Holmes and the Complete Jane Austen for the Kindle.I have no complaints with those either.I would definitely buy more collections put together by them.

Not Worth the Dollar
I bought this version because it was the cheapest complete collection, but it really isn't worth it. Most of the books are free, so you might only pay a couple of bucks for all 15 books. Using the Kindle app, the flow of the stories is completely interrupted when it says "FULL PAGE LINE DRAWING" then has the description and caption. The chapter headings and titles just kind of ran into each other, and the whole thing was not at all aesthetically pleasing. I ended up removing it from my Amazon library - even after paying for it - because it was just too annoying to finish.

Not a complete collection, and no bookmarks.
I recently switched from Nook to Kindle, and rather than jump through all the hoops to convert this BN purchase to the Kindle's format, I just re-purchased it for 0.95 (it is also available on bn for 0.95).What a disappointment.I was in the middle of the Woggle-Bug Book on the bn version, which is completely missing from this collection.Also, it took me quite a while to find it as there isn't a working table of contents!The bn version also had a table of contents.
I suppose if I hadn't just come from the other version I would be as disappointed, but as it is, I feel ripped off. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
The Wizard of Oz was just the beginning of this classic children's series of books. Due to popular demand, the "Official Historian of the Land of Oz," as author L. Frank Baum called himself, wrote many tales continuing the saga of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and even Dorothy's dog Toto!

The publisher of this edition has worked hard to make the layout clear and with large letters for young readers. (Unfortunately, some other editions have crammed many books into one or two volumes, sacrificing legibility.)

Volume Two contains the next 3 stories.

Children of all ages will delight in these classic tales! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Silly publishing errors
I understand that Baum's Oz stories are now out of copyright and that this book was compiled by these freely available stories. I apologise if I'm wrong. But this would take into account the somewhat shoddy layout that this and Volume 2 possess.
Lines of text will inexplicably break into two paragraphs. Inverted commas are in the wrong places. Capital letters of names come and go. While it does no harm in the reading of such lovely tales (my first time and enjoying them immensely), these grammatical and printing errors do jar a smooth reading. Punctuation and the like should be invisible to the reader and, at times, I can't help wishing that the publishers had taken just a little bit more effort and its production.
Also, two columns would have made this so much easier to read, both for the eye and for ease in reading.
It should be noted that these annoyances can't ruin a good tale, and the Oz books are good tales, so points lost only for the publication, not for the content.

Nice enough, but not what I expected
There are two books with the same title. One by Trilogus Books (gold cover), and one from Seven Treasures Publications (green cover). The reviews are mixed together. I bought the one from Seven Treasures, and itonly contains three Oz novels. It's OK, but there are no illustrations, and there will have to be at least volumes three and four to finish the set.

a wonderful book
This is volume 2 of the "The Complete Oz" series. It is a large, easy to read edition, perfect for any fan of the Oz series. Another reviewer commented that this edition is not complete - they are absolutely wrong. I have both volumes of the set and it is complete and a worthwhile puchase. My 11 year old daughter loves it!!

Description is wrong
This book contains only "The Road to Oz," "The Emerald City of Oz," and "The Patchwork Girl of Oz." Amazon incorrectly lists this as a paperback edition of The Complete Oz: Volume 2, but it is a different book entirely. ... Read more

Product Description

Few fantasy lands have captured our hearts and imaginations as has the marvelous land of Oz. For over four generations, children and adults alike have reveled in the magical adventures of its beloved folk. Now, for the first time in over seventy years, the second book about Oz is presented here in the same deluxe format as the rare first edition, complete with all 16 of the original John R. Neill color plates, its colorful pictorial binding, and the many black-and-white illustrations that bring it to joyous life.

First issued in 1904, L. Frank Baum's The Marvelous Land of Oz is the story of the wonderful adventures of the young boy named Tip as he travels throughout the many lands of Oz. Here he meets with our old friends the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, as well as some new friends like Jack Pumpkinhead, the Wooden Sawhorse, the Highly Magnified Woggle-Bug, and the amazing Gump. How they thwart the wicked plans of the evil witch Mombi and overcome the rebellion of General Jinjur and her army of young women is a tale as exciting and endearing today as it was when first published over eighty years ago.

Customer Reviews (23)

in great condition
Book was like brand new, in almost perfect condition. Came earlier than expected, great seller.

Never a dull moment; also, great pictures
First of all, in reply to all the reviewers who complain about the "sexism", let me just point out that at the time this was a radically feminist book and LFB a radically feminist author.How many girl-protagonists at the time were as plucky as Dorothy, who smacks a lion in the nose?A male lion.It's hard to imagine Alice doing something like that.In fact LFB was already a serial gender-bender, see for instance JOHN DOUGH AND THE CHERUB and THE ENCHANTED ISLAND OF YEW.He's chock-full of forceful, powerful women from the Good Witch of the North to Glinda to Rosalie and Tormaline (SKY ISLAND) to Mrs. Yoop to Red Reera.Plus the most powerful characters--Ozma, Glinda, and the offstage but nigh-omnipotent fairy Lurline.Is there any good, ruling, MALE authority?One that really rules rather than being a figurehead for a female like King Bud of Noland and Prince Evardo the Fifteenth?OK, the King of Mo gets his own way.Rinkitink, too.(Maybe John Dough--he presumably yields to his Head Booleywag (Chick the Cherub) but we don't know that person's gender.)But these are comic rulers, not serious benevolent forces like Ozma and Glinda.Here's one: Tititi-Hoochoo.And Anko the Sea-Serpent.Gugu the Leopard.Well, if you can find a less sexist author between 1901 and 1919, please leave a comment.

With this book the excitement starts right away, continues until the end, and manages to remain interesting the whole time.When the characters aren't fighting, or flying, or tumbling, or trying out interesting new magic, they're exchanging some of the funniest dialogue in Baum, including punnery equaled only in EMERALD CITY (and parts of JOHN DOUGH).My complaints are trivial: Jack Pumpkinhead is too drippy for a rugged adventure like this; I never understood how Jinjur hooked up with Mombi toward the end; and you cannot count to seventeen by twos starting with one-half; you need to start with one.

One other thing: This was Jno R. Neill's first Oz book and one of his better ones.The illustration of Mombi casting her spell at the end is a masterpiece and so is the flock of jackdaws descending on the travellers.

Review of The Marvelous Land of Oz
The book arrived promptly via standard shipping. The dust cover and the book were in excellent condition. I am very pleased with the book and Amazon's service.

Dated but readable
It is my understanding that this book links the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (i.e. not meant to be a serial) and the rest of the books in the series (which I have, admittedly, not read yet).If this is the case, it is a worthwhile read.It begins clumsily in comparison to the WWOO, but finds a groove about halfway through the book and becomes another showcase for Baum's fertile imagination.The synopsis included in other reviews is correct, so I will not belabor that point.

One reviewer mentioned the sexism inherent in the book.Despite the fact that the hero(ine) and the protagonist are ultimately female, this is correct.As I read this to my 2-year old son, I found myself laughing at conceits that would never be published today.Like an army of petulant girls armed with knitting needles.My favorite bit is the end, at which time the women of Oz are happy about being 'liberated' from their position as heads of households since they really wanted the chance to cook a good meal!Wow...If you are reading this to anyone over the age of 2, you might want to point out the difference between 1904 and 2004 and beyond.

I would not recommend this to an adult reader (other than a Baum completist), or to a child who was not reading the entire series.However, for anyone reading more than one Oz books to their children, this will be a good purchase.It is my opinion that many children's books these days are creative within the confines of reality, but not necessarily imaginative.This book is definitely imaginative and should therefore be a nice addition to any child's library.

A fun, creative adventure until.....
I read this as a fourth grade girl and found it the best of all Baum's Oz books.I loved the character Tip and his relationship with all of his friends and even with his enemies: Mombi, the scary witch who raised him; the Wizard, a complex character of good and evil; Jack Pumpkinhead, son to the child.I loved all of the other delighful characters: the sawhorse, the Woggle-bug, the amazing flyin Gump, and so many others.I loved how real Tip seemed; a sometimes grumpy, mischevious boy who nevertheless had a good heart.Reading the story, I truly was caught up into a world of magic,wonderful characterization, and great adventure.But the ending brought it all crashing down: not only was Tip given little choice in being changed by Glinda, once changed his whole free-spirited, well-rounded personality was lost.Instead of being restored to his "true self," it seemed to me that all he had grown to be and all that he considered true of himself was sacrificed to the status quo (of course I didn't know that word in the 4th grade, but I knew Tip had suffered an injustice).I still love the joy and fun of the first part of the book, but I can't help but feel it ended in tragedy.Bad Glinda! ... Read more

Product Description
KATHLEEN KRULL’S LIVELY text traces the life of L. Frank Baum from his dreamy privileged childhood in mid-19th-century upstate New York through the many detours on his road to Oz. A failure as an actor, a breeder of prize chickens, a merchant in a wild west town, among other occupations, he finally made a success doing exactly what he had always loved to do: tell stories for children. Along the way, we see the antecedents of the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, green glasses, and other characters and attributes of the famous fantasy land. This is the first biography of L. Frank Baum that children can enjoy.

With the same verve she brought to her biography of Dr. Seuss, Kathleen Krull’s wry prose couples with Kevin Hawke’s exuberant paintings and drawings to create a book not to be missed by Oz fans of all ages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Made me want to know more!
I picked up this book in my nephew's school library yesterday, and could not put it down.It made me want to know more about L. Frank Baum's life, and so I am going to read his full biography soon.He seemed like a good person, a good husband & a good father in a non-traditional sense for the times he lived in.This book feels full of love.

How the Wizard Came to Be
If you are a fan of the Oz books, you will enjoy how the stories came to be.This is written for a younger reader.However, it does provide solid information about the life of L Frank Baum that matches other biographies written for adults.

Baum's life history and inspirations for Oz makes for a wonderful read
Dorothy's creator Frank Baum is revealed in a picturebook biography of his life and times and tells of a daydreamer who had many failed vocations before at age forty-four he did what he loved best: storytelling. In 1900 his WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ was published to acclaim and became a big success around the world. Baum's life history and inspirations for Oz makes for a wonderful read.

Courtesy of Kids @ Teens Read Too
In this biography geared towards children, author Kathleen Krull gives us an up-close-and-personal look at the life of L. Frank Baum.

Beginning with his privileged upbringing in 1860s New York, chronicling his never-ending money woes, and ending with his successful publishing of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ in 1900, Ms. Krull takes us into the life and times of a brilliant author.

Paired with beautiful illustrations by Kevin Hawkes, THE ROAD TO OZ is a testament to the man who brought us a legendary story that still holds the power to entertain.Even now, over one hundred years after its original publication, both the book and the movie are known throughout the world but thousands.

Reviewed by:Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius" ... Read more

Product Description

This is an electronic edition of the complete collection complemented by author biography. This collection features the table of contents linked to every book and chapter. The collection was designed for optimal navigation on the Kindle, PDA, Smartphone, and other electronic readers. It is formatted to display on all electronic devices including the Kindle, Smartphones and other Mobile Devices with a small display.

Customer Reviews (7)

Kate's Review
This collection is great. Everyone thinks that after the three taps the land of Oz is a happy place forever, not! You are constantly wondering what will happen next.

Kindle Edition
This is a good Kindle Edition Book. Unfortunately, many of the reviews in Amazon are not related to the Kindle Edition Books, making it hard to know which books are worth buying. Those of you who have purchased Complete works, know how difficult an Ebook can be, when the Table of Contents is not Active. Rest assured, this is a good navigational book. Great stories and a wonderful addition to my collection.

Very good Kindle edition
Great cheap edition of these books.The table of contents gives links to every book and chapter, and the formatting is strong. This is the one to get if you're looking for a cheap omnibus edition.

I'm a huge Oz fan, but a warning for people getting this collection
I consider myself a huge Oz fan.I have all of the forty original books in the series, I have Russian Oz books (a parallel series), I have the silent Oz movies, and have been to an Oz convention.

I've always considered the first book (the most famous) as one of the weakest in the series.That book doesn't have the light charm (and many puns) of the later books in the series.For example, there are over 120 deaths in the first book, and while death may be threatened later, it isn't a real threat.

I love the books, and highly recommend them (although I do prefer the second author in the series, Ruth Plumly Thompson).

My warning is that this collection includes a book which, while by original author L. Frank Baum, is not typically considered part of the series.There's a good reason for that.

The book is basically a novelization of a play.It takes a popular character from the second book (the Woggle-Bug), and has it interact with people in a modern city.The humor is heavily based on ethnic stereotypes, and ethnic slurs (including "the n word") are used.

The inclusion of this substandard and potentially offensive title makes me warn people about this collection.It's unfortunate, because this is otherwise a wonderful price for a great series of books.It's still a five-star for me...provided you simply skip The Woggle-Bug book (especially for children).

Wonderful Wizard Series for pennies
On a whim I bought this series for the Kindle dx and I have really enjoyed pulling up the tale in odd moments. I wish there were more of the great pictures here, though. I remember there being more as I read these to my children?

For the price, you can't beat this value. ... Read more

Product Description
This file has all 15 original Oz books with a linked master table of contents and each individual book has a linked contents page.


1 - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
2 - The Marvelous Land of Oz
3 - Ozma of Oz
4 - Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
5 - The Road to Oz
6 - The Emerald City of Oz
7 - The Patchwork Girl of Oz
8 - Tik-Tok of Oz
9 - The Scarecrow of Oz
10 - Rinkitink In Oz
11 - The Lost Princess of Oz
12 - The Tin Woodman of Oz
13 - The Magic of Oz
14 - Glinda of Oz
15 - Royal Book of Oz ... Read more