L. Frank Baum &

PRESENTS:

AN INTRODUCTION

L. FRANK BAUMLyman "L." Frank Baum (May 15, 1856 May 6, 1919) was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He wrote thirteen novel sequels, nine other fantasy novels, and a host of other works (55 novels in total, plus four "lost" novels, 83 short stories, over 200 poems, an unknown number of scripts.

CHILDHOOD & YOUTHBaum was born in Chittenango, New York, in 1856, into a devout Methodist family. He had German, Scots-Irish, and English ancestry, and was the seventh of nine children of Cynthia Ann (ne Stanton) and Benjamin Ward Baum, only five of whom survived into adulthood.He was named "Lyman" after his father's brother, but always disliked this name, and preferred to go by his middle name, "Frank"As a young child, he was sickly, and always daydreaming. He was tutored at home with his siblings, but at the age of 12, he was sent to study at Peekskill Military Academy for two years, which he hated. Baum started writing at an early age, perhaps due to an early fascination with printing. His father bought him a cheap printing press, and with his brother, created a publication called The Rose Lawn Home Journal.

MARRIAGE & FAMILYIn his early adult life, he bounced between several jobs, including raising poultry, publishing books, journals, and articles, and writing, acting, and working in various theaters, none of which were very successful.He also worked in South Dakota as an editor for a local newspaper he later used his memories of drought-stricken Dakotas for his descriptions of Kansas.Frank met his future wife, Maud Gage, while he was performing in a play, and she was a student at Cornell University.They were married in 1882, when Frank was 25, and Maud was 20.They struggled financially until 1900, when Frank published his first successful childrens book: Father Goose: His Book

THE BEGINNINGS OF OZOne night, Frank told his family a story about how a cyclone propelled a young boy to an enchanted world. Asked by his son what the name of this place was, Frank peered down at a file cabinet marked OZ, and answered: "Oz". His wife, Maud encouraged her husband to write down and submit for publication these stories that he made up for his children.

THE SUCCESS OF OZThe book's publisher, George M. Hill, predicted a sale of about 250,000 copies. In spite of this favorable conjecture, Hill did not initially predict the book would be phenomenally successful.Written in 1899 and published in 1900, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was a huge success with the public and critics alike. In a scrapbook once owned by Baum there were 202 reviews, of which only two were unfavorable. Many of the reviewers, such as The Bookseller, compared it with Alice in Wonderland.By 1938, over one million copies of the book had been printed. Less than two decades later, in 1956, the sales of his novel grew to 3 million copies in print.

OZ CONTINUEDThe Wizard of Oz was so popular, that Baum was encouraged to continue the series by children all over the country.He tried his hand at writing other kinds of stories, but none of them had the same appeal of his OZ stories, and he returned to them again and again.He eventually wrote fourteen stories in the OZ series!

THE OZ SERIES1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)2. The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)3. Ozma of Oz (1907)4. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908)5. The Road to Oz (1909)6. The Emerald City of Oz (1910)7. The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913)8. Tik-Tok of Oz (1914)9. The Scarecrow of Oz (1915)10. Rinkitink in Oz (1916)11. The Lost Princess of Oz (1917)12. The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918)13. The Magic of Oz (1919)14. Glinda of Oz (1920)

BAUM FORSEES THE FUTUREL. Frank Baums writing contains many imaginative characters and places. Also, his works anticipated such century-later inventions as:television, augmented reality, laptop computers (The Master Key), wireless telephones (Tik-Tok of Oz), women in high risk, action-heavy occupations (Mary Louise in the Country), and the proliferation of advertising on clothing (Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work).

OZ ON FILM & MEDIAWhen most people think about The Wizard of Oz, they think of the classic 1939 film starring Judy Garland.But before that movie, there were six silent film adaptions made (including this one in 1910, and this one in 1925), a trio of 1914 films: The Scarecrow of Oz, The Magic Cloak of Oz, and The Patchwork Girl of Oz, and a 1933 animated cartoon short.There have also been numerous television adaptions and homages, several stage productions, as well as comic books, games and other adaptions.

OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFULIn 2013, Walt Disney Studios released a brand-new movie adventure Oz: The Great and Powerful telling the story of how the Wizard of Oz came to be. [trailer]The movie was box office success, proving that the allure of the OZ stories continue to appeal to new audiences of all ages.Since the original stories have passed into the public domain, anyone can write and publish an OZ story!

THE NEVER-ENDING OZAfter L. Frank Baum died in 1919, the demand for new OZ stories continued. Several new authors, including Ruth Plumly Thompson, John R. Neill, Jack Snow, Rachel R. Cosgrove, Edward Einhorn, Dave Hardenbrook, James Howe, Sherwood Smith, and Margaret Baum have all contributed and expanded the world of OZ.Even Franks great-great grandson Roger S. Baum has written several OZ books; as of 2013, hed penned sixteen novels two more than his great-great grandfather!To date, there are dozens of OZ books, and more are being written every year!

A NUTSY THE SQUIRREL PRODUCTIONCOPYRIGHT 2013 OAK HILLS MEDIA CENTERALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

BIBLIOGRAPHYhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Ozhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Gage_Baumhttp://oz.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Oz_bookshttp://www.pumperdink.org/BCF/Default.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptations_of_The_Wizard_of_Ozhttp://www.youtube.comhttp://www.oz-central.com/history.html

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