''Little Wizard Stories of Oz'' is a set of six short stories written for young children by

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

, the creator of the Oz books. The six tales were published in separate small booklets, "Oz books in miniature," in 1913, and then in a collected edition in 1914 with illustrations by

John R. Neill John Rea Neill (November 12, 1877 – September 19, 1943) was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson's, and three o ...

. Each booklet is 29 pages long, and printed in blue ink rather than black.

Development

The stories were part of a project, by Baum and his publisher

Reilly & Britton The Reilly and Britton Company, known after 1918 as Reilly & Lee, was an American publishing company of the early and middle 20th century, best known for children's and popular culture books from authors like L. Frank Baum and Edgar A. Guest. Found ...

, to revitalize and continue the series of

Oz books The Oz books form a book series that begins with ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) and relates the fictional history of the Land of Oz. Oz was created by author L. Frank Baum, who went on to write fourteen full-length Oz books. All of Baum's bo ...

that Baum had written up to that date. The story collection effectively constitutes a fifteenth Oz book by Baum. Baum had attempted to end the Oz series with the sixth book, ''

The Emerald City of Oz ''The Emerald City of Oz'' is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em ...

'' (1910). In the final chapter of that book, he sealed off the Land of Oz from the outside world. He began a new series of books with ''

The Sea Fairies ''The Sea Fairies'' is a children's fantasy novel written by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by John R. Neill, and published in 1911 by the Reilly & Britton Company, the publisher of Baum's series of Oz books. Genre As an underwater fantasy, Baum' ...

'' (1911) and ''

Sky Island Sky islands are topographic isolation, isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau, and has extended to similarly isolated montane ecosystems, hi ...

'' (1912). Also, he reacted to his 1911 bankruptcy by increasing his literary output. He produced five books that year, his greatest output since 1907. Baum tried to launch two other juvenile novel series in 1911, with ''

The Daring Twins ''The Daring Twins: A Story for Young Folk'' is a mystery novel for juvenile readers, written by L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. It was first published in 1911, and was intended as the opening installment in a series of similar books. B ...

'', released under his own name, and ''

The Flying Girl ''The Flying Girl'' is a novel written by L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. It was first published in 1911. In the book, Baum pursued an innovative blending of genres to create a feminist adventure melodrama. The book was followed by a seque ...

'', under his " Edith Van Dyne" pseudonym. None of the new series was as successful as the previous Baum and Van Dyne series; the Oz books and ''

Aunt Jane's Nieces ''Aunt Jane's Nieces'' is the title of a juvenile novel published by Reilly & Britton in 1906, and written by L. Frank Baum under the pen name " Edith Van Dyne." Since the book was the first in a series of novels designed for adolescent girls, its ...

''. Both the ''Flying Girl'' and ''Daring Twins'' series ended with their second volumes, ''The Flying Girl and Her Chum'' and ''

Phoebe Daring ''Phoebe Daring: A Story for Young Folk'' is a mystery novel for juvenile readers, written by L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books. Published in 1912, it was a sequel to the previous year's '' The Daring Twins'', and the second and final ins ...

'', both published in 1912. Disappointing sales through 1911 and 1912 convinced Baum and Reilly & Britton that a return to Oz was needed. Baum wrote ''

The Patchwork Girl of Oz ''The Patchwork Girl of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum is a children's novel, the seventh in the Oz series. Characters include the Woozy, Ojo "the Unlucky", Unc Nunkie, Dr. Pipt, Scraps (the patchwork girl), and others. The book was first published on ...

'' for a 1913 release, and in the same year his publisher issued the six ''Little Wizard'' stories in individual booklets at a cost of $0.15 each. The goal was to reach the youngest beginning readers, and create in them an interest in the larger Oz canon, as part of a "promotion of L. Frank Baum and all of his books."

Content and publication

The six tales in the ''Little Wizard Stories'' are: * "The

Cowardly Lion The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak. Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...

and the

Hungry Tiger This is a list of characters in the original Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. The majority of characters listed here unless noted otherwise have appeared in multiple books under various plotlines. ''Land of Oz, Oz'' is made up of four ...

" * "Little

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters *Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...

and Toto" * "

Tiktok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

and the

Nome King The Nome King is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is introduced in Baum's third Oz book ''Ozma of Oz'' (1907). He also appears in many of the continuing sequel '' Oz'' novels also written by Baum. Although the c ...

" * " Ozma and the Little Wizard" * "

Jack Pumpkinhead Jack Pumpkinhead is a fictional character from the Land of Oz and appears in several of the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. The Classic Oz Books Jack first appeared as a main character in the second Oz b ...

and the

Sawhorse In woodworking, a saw-horse or sawhorse (saw-buck, trestle, buck) is a trestle structure used to support a board or plank for sawing. A pair of sawhorses can support a plank, forming a scaffold. In certain circles, it is also known as a ''m ...

" * "The

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley B ...

and the

Tin Woodman Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, also known as the Tin Man or—mistakenly—the "Tin Woodsman," is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. Baum's Tin Woodman first appeared in his classic 1900 book ''The ...

" The strategy of reaching beginning readers was successful enough for Reilly & Britton to repeat it within a few years. The publisher released selections from ''

L. Frank Baum's Juvenile Speaker ''L. Frank Baum's Juvenile Speaker: Readings and Recitations in Prose and Verse, Humorous and Otherwise'' is an anthology of literary works by L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. The book was first published in 1910, with illustrations by veter ...

'' (1910) in six smaller books called ''The Snuggle Tales'' in 1916–17, and again as the ''Oz-Man Tales'' in 1920. Four of the ''Little Wizard Stories'' were re-issued in 1932 in a new form, as ''The Little Oz Books with Jig Saw Oz Puzzles''. A year or two later the four tales were released again, as part of a promotion for a ''Wizard of Oz'' radio program (sponsored by

Jell-O Jell-O is an American brand offering a variety of powdered gelatin dessert (fruit-flavored gels/jellies), pudding, and no-bake cream pie mixes. The original gelatin dessert (genericized as jello) is the signature of the brand. "Jell-O" is a reg ...

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping, software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation and education markets. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with a distribution c ...

published the six stories in three booklets in 1939.Green and Martin, p. 38.

References

External links

* * {{L. Frank Baum Books by L. Frank Baum Oz (franchise) books 1913 short story collections Fantasy short story collections Children's short story collections 1913 children's books American children's books Books about lions