The Oz books form a

book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...

that begins with ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz afte ...

'' (1900) and relates the fictional history of the

Land of Oz The Land of Oz is a fantasy world, magical country introduced in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by William Wallace Denslow, W. W. Denslow. Oz consists of four vast quadrants, th ...

. Oz was created by author L. Frank Baum, who went on to write fourteen full-length Oz books. All of Baum's books are in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

in the United States. Even while he was alive, Baum was styled as "the Royal Historian of Oz" in order to emphasize the concept that Oz is an actual place. In his Oz books, Baum created the illusion that characters such as Dorothy and

Princess Ozma Princess Ozma is a fictional character from the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the Oz series except the first, '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and Baum ...

relayed their adventures in Oz to Baum themselves, by means of a

wireless telegraph Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for t ...

Original Oz books by L. Frank Baum

Story compilations and other works by Baum

In addition to the canonical Oz books, several of Baum's works that are not Oz stories are nevertheless nominally set in the same fictional universe as the Oz books, and include several character crossovers. These are: '' Queen Zixi of Ix'', '' The Magical Monarch of Mo'', '' The Sea Fairies'', ''

Sky Island Sky islands are 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 high-elevation forests. The isolation has s ...

'', ''

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus ''The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus'' is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark. Setting Plot As a baby, Santa Claus is found in the Forest of Burzee by Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World ...

'', and '' John Dough and the Cherub''.

Plays by Baum

Baum also wrote Oz-related stage plays: ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1901) with music by

Paul Tietjens Paul Tietjens (; May 22, 1877 – November 25, 1943) was an American composer of the early twentieth century. He is best known for composing music for ''The Wizard of Oz (1902 musical), The Wizard of Oz'', the 1902 stage adaptation of L. Frank Bau ...

and Nathaniel D. Mann, '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1902) (music by Tietjens et al.; with jokes by

Glen MacDonough Glen MacDonough (1870 – March 30, 1924) was an American writer, lyricist and librettist. He was the son of theater manager Thomas B. MacDonough and actress/author Laura Don. Glen MacDonough married Margaret Jefferson in 1896 in Buzzard's Bay, ...

), '' The Woggle-Bug'' (1905) with music by Frederick Chapin, ''The Rainbow's Daughter, or The Magnet of Love'' (February 1909) with music by Manuel Klein, revised in April 1909 as ''Ozma of Oz'', and ultimately produced, with music by Louis F. Gottschalk as ''

The Tik-Tok Man of Oz ''The Tik-Tok Man of Oz'' is a musical play with book and lyrics by L. Frank Baum and music by Louis F. Gottschalk that opened at the Majestic Theatre in Los Angeles, California on March 31, 1913. It is loosely inspired by Baum's book ''Ozma of ...

''. Also in 1909, he wrote a play called ''The Girl from Oz''. The manuscript is held in the archives at Syracuse University, but apparently its relation to Oz is little more than nominal (it is also known as ''The Girl from Tomorrow'' and was later adapted for radio by Frank Joslyn Baum), as is also the case with the short story, "The Littlest Giant", a rather brutal tale designated in two lines to be in the Gillikin country of Oz. With Gottschalk writing the music, he wrote an unproduced stage version of ''The Patchwork Girl of Oz'' in November 1913, that was developed into the film scenario.

Subsequent Oz books by other writers

The Oz books that were written subsequent to Baum's death can be classified into three categories: * ''Authorized continuations of the Oz series''. These consist of works authorized by the original publishers Reilly & Lee, and those authorized by Baum's heirs, represented by the Baum Family Trust. Reilly & Lee had selected

Ruth Plumly Thompson Ruth Plumly Thompson (27 July 1891 – 6 April 1976) was an American writer of children's stories, best known for writing many novels placed in Oz, the fictional land of L. Frank Baum's classic children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' ...

to continue the series, followed by three Oz books written by John R. Neill, two by Jack Snow and one each by Rachel Cosgrove Payes and by Eloise Jarvis McGraw & her daughter. * ''Other books that continue on L. Frank Baum's original canon'': Other publishers have since printed a plethora of additional Oz books, written by the aforementioned authors as well as many other fans (more below). * ''The books that do not follow L. Frank Baum's original canon, but create an alternate Oz'': Most notable among such books is Gregory Maguire's ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...

'' and sequels. The Oz books of

Sherwood Smith Sherwood Smith (born 1951) is an American fantasy and science fiction writer for young adults and adults. Smith is a Nebula Award finalist and a longtime writing group organizer and participant. Smith's works include the YA novel '' Crown Du ...

, published in 2005 and 2006, are officially recognized as canon by The Baum Trust. The first two books were published professionally, with the third book published through lulu.com in 2014.

Subsequent books by other writers published by Reilly & Lee

Ruth Plumly Thompson's style was markedly different from Baum's. Her tales harked back to more traditional fairy tales. She often included a small kingdom, with 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". Illustrator John R. 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 Munchkin Country or Munchkinland, as it is referred to in the famous MGM musical film version, is the fictional eastern region of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). Munchkin Coun ...

, 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. The last two Oz books published by Reilly & Lee:

Subsequent books published by the International Wizard of Oz Club

Other books officially recognized as following the Oz canon by L. Frank Baum's Family Trust

Additional books by the earlier writers

Oz books by other writers

Some are in line with the originals, while others deviate in various ways.

Alternate Oz books

Below are some books that deal with alternate versions of Oz, which do not follow the Oz canon originally established by L. Frank Baum.

by Baum family members

Other authors

References

*Hearn, Michael Patrick (ed). (2000, 1973) ''The Annotated Wizard of Oz''. W. W. Norton & Co. *Greene, David L. and Martin, Dick. (1977) ''The Oz Scrapbook''. Random House. *Trust, Fred (2008)
"Wizard of Oz books Collectors Price Guide."

External links

*

at Syracuse University
Oz books by L. Frank Baum
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

; scanned color illustrated first editions
The Complete Oz Works (Non-Illustrated)

Oz books by L. Frank Baum
at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

The Royal Timeline of Oz: Oz books (canonical and other) listed in chronological order
* The wonderful coloring books of O

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oz Books Book series introduced in 1900 Lists of fantasy books Lists of American books