Peter Brown is a major character in the Oz novels of

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' ...

, who continued the series of Oz books after the death of their creator,

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 ...

. Thompson used Peter as the protagonist in three of her books: ''

The Gnome King of Oz ''The Gnome King of Oz'' (1927) is the twenty-first in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the seventh by Ruth Plumly Thompson. Like nineteen of the twenty previous books, it was illustrated by John R. Neill. ...

'' (1927), ''

Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz ''Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz'' (1929) is the twenty-third of the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and continued by other writers; it is the ninth Oz book written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It was Illustrated by John R. Neill. Synopsis A ra ...

'' (1929), and '' Pirates in Oz'' (1931). Peter constitutes the first time in the Oz series in which a boy from the United States serves as the protagonist in the novels, rather than a supporting character. (Contrast Zeb in ''

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz ''Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz'' is the fourth book set in the Land of Oz written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by John R. Neill. It was published on June 18, 1908 and reunites Dorothy Gale with the humbug Wizard from ''The Wonderful Wizard ...

'',

Button-Bright 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. '' Oz'' is made up of four divisions ...

in ''

The Road to Oz ''The Road to Oz: In Which Is Related How Dorothy Gale of Kansas, The Shaggy Man, Button Bright, and Polychrome the Rainbow's Daughter Met on an Enchanted Road and Followed it All the Way to the Marvelous Land of Oz.'' is the fifth of L. Frank B ...

'' and other books, and Bob Up in Thompson's earlier ''

The Cowardly Lion of Oz ''The Cowardly Lion of Oz'' (1923) is the seventeenth in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the third written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It was illustrated by John R. Neill. Plot The story opens with Mustafa o ...

''.) Peter is not only the protagonist of the three novels but the

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

, in that his positive actions and traits bring about the affirmative resolution of the plot conflicts in the books. When Thompson introduces him in ''Gnome King'', Peter is a nine-year-old boy from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. Peter is being raised by his grandfather; he is one of the long list of orphans or apparent orphans in

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

(they are notably frequent in the Oz books themselves). His travels to the world of Oz provide him opportunities to display courage, independence, loyalty and other traditional virtues; in this, he differs from Button-Bright and Bob Up, younger children with less effect on their plots. At the end of ''Gnome King'', Peter has a chance to become a prince of Oz — which he rejects, out of loyalty to his friends and fellow baseball-team members at home in Philadelphia. Peter brings bags of gold home to his grandfather. His attitude toward life is somewhat insouciant and devil-may-care; in the opening chapter of ''Jack Pumpkinhead'' he wonders idly if "the Gnome King has gotten into any more mischief" — giving little serious consideration to the most persistent villain in the Oz universe. ''Pirates in Oz'', the third book in which Peter appears, contains a contradiction on Peter's age. The book identifies him as eleven years old, but also states that five years have passed since the events of ''Gnome King'', which would make Peter fourteen, however, she may be referring to four years in Oz, and not Philadelphia. Thompson herself noted her tendency to favor boy heroes, in contrast to Baum's preference for girl protagonists (

Dorothy Gale Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of it ...

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 ...

Betsy Bobbin 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 ...

, and

Trot The trot is a ten-beat diagonal horse gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a wide variation in possible speeds, but averages about . A very slow trot is someti ...

).Snow, pp. 16, 58-9, 151-2, and 221. Peter Brown is the most prominent of these boy characters.

References

External links

On ''The Gnome King of Oz''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Peter (Oz) Oz (franchise) characters Fictional characters from Philadelphia Child characters in literature Male characters in literature Literary characters introduced in 1927 Orphan characters in literature