Happy birthday, L. Frank Baum

It is the birthday of author L. Frank Baum (1856), whose children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) was an immediate success and has since become a classic of American literature, with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion taking their place in American popular culture. Because of the demand of his youthful readers, Baum wrote 19 sequels. Although he wrote other children's stories under pseudonyms, the Oz books were by far his most successful efforts. A 1902 Broadway musical helped spread the success of the Wizard of Oz franchise as did the popular 1939 Judy Garland film. The story has been translated into many foreign languages and there are millions of copies and numerous editions in English. Baum wrote sequels until his death in 1919. Ruth Plumly Thompson wrote 21 authorized sequels after that. Baum was initially reluctant to continue with the Oz series but finally gave in to requests of youthful readers. In a note to his sister, Baum explained why: "To please a child is a sweet and a lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward."

L. Frank Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz

L. Frank Baum

It is the birthday of author L. Frank Baum (1856), whose delightful children's story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), has enchanted youngsters and adults for generations. Baum's book was immediately successful, and over the years he wrote 13 sequels. Though he often vowed he had written is last Oz book as he turned to other fantasies, he returned to the wonderful land of Oz. Baum was a sickly child and turned early to writing stories and plays, and to publishing. He produced a local newspaper as a child and magazines devoted to stamp collecting and raising poultry. Baum and his wife Maud moved to the Dakota Territory in 1888, where he operated a store that went bankrupt. He edited the local paper, The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. He moved to Chicago in 1891, worked as a reporter and wrote a collection of Mother Goose stories written in prose. That was followed by Father Goose, His Book (1899). He moved to California in started a movie production company that failed in a year. Baum wrote numerous children's fantasy books, short stories and plays. He also wrote novels under pseudonyms, including Edith VanDyne (Aunt Jane series), Floyd Akers (Boy Fortune Hunter series), Schuyler Staunton, John Estes Cooke, Suzanne Metcalf  and Laura Bancroft.