Fantasy Tales of L. Frank Baum (1856-1919)
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Lyman Frank Baum is best known as the author of
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the
introductory volume in a series that eventually included fourteen novels
and an additional volume of short stories.
But Mr. Baum was a productive author who created many more works of
fantasy fiction, as well as other writings. On this page you will find
a few of Frank's books that don't have anything to do with Oz.
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The California coastline near La Jolla, containing the caves that are
mentioned in The Sea Fairies and The Scarecrow of Oz.
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Originally, Baum had intended The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to be
simply a book that stood on its own, and not as the cornerstone of a
series. But, after the book was published in 1900, there was a play
that followed with the title of "The Scarecrow of Oz" (not based upon
the book of the same name, which came much later), which toured the
United States and did much to increase the popularity of the original
story, so that children began to write letters to Mr. Baum asking for
more stories about the land of Oz. In 1904, Frank gave into the pressure
and offered the second volume in the series, The Marvelous Land of Oz.
The publication of this second volume initiated an interval of time, during
which, Frank Baum published successive volumes in the series with about one
year of separation between one volume and the next until 1910. In that year,
Baum offered the sixth volume in the series, The Emerald City of Oz
which closed with a farewell note from Princess Dorothy of Oz, who was
then living in the Emerald City with her own Auntie Em and Uncle Henry.
The author had intended this sixth novel to be the last of the Oz series,
and, in the following year, he brought forth the first volume in a new
series.
The Sea Fairies (1911)
The Sea Fairies introduces the characters of Trot (nickname of Mayre
Griffith) and Cap'n Bill (her father's former employer and current business
partner), two characters that will re-appear in Baum's later novels.
After Trot tells Cap'n Bill that she would like to meet a mermaid, the
pair of them do meet a couple of mermaids while exploring a coastal cave in
Trot's little row boat. When Trot says that she would like to see the land
of the mermaids (Sea Fairies), she and Cap'n Bill are transformed into
mermaids themselves, so that they can swim under water with their hosts.
Then Trot and Bill begin a tour of the undersea world in the company of
Queen Aquareine and Princess Clia of the mermaids, but soon fall into the
clutches of the evil King Zog, a magician and king of the Octopi.
The Sea Fairies
by L. Frank Baum |
Size: 128 KB |
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Sky Island (1912)
Sky Island is the second novel to feature the characters of
Trot and Cap'n Bill, and the first to bring the pair together with characters
from the Oz series; in this case Polychrome and Button-Bright, two characters
that first appeared in The Road to Oz (1909),
the fifth volume in the Oz series.
In this story, Button-Bright comes to California from Philadelphia with
the aid (or at the mercy) of his Magic Umbrella, which will carry him to
any destination that he can name but does not allow any deviation from the
initial travel plan. In California, Button-Bright meets Trot and Cap'n Bill
and, together, they travel to an island in the sky where they will meet
King Boolooroo of the Blues and many other fascinating characters.
Sky Island
by L. Frank Baum |
Size: 164 KB |
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