Glinda of Oz (Oz Series #14)

The last book in Baum's series sees Princess Ozma and Dorothy travel through a remote region of Oz

Dorothy travels with Princess Ozma to an obscure corner of the Land of Oz in order to prevent a war between the Skeezers and the Flatheads. The leaders of the two tribes are determined, and Dorothy and Ozma find themselves imprisoned on the Skeezers' glass-covered island, which has been magically submerged to the bottom of its lake. They summon Glinda, the most powerful sorceress of Oz who, with help from several magicians and magical assistants, must find a way to raise the island and liberate its trapped inhabitants.

The Sorceress and Wizard of Oz attempt to save Princess Ozma and Dorothy from the dangers which threaten them when they try to bring peace to two warring tribes.

The last book in Baum's series sees Princess Ozma and Dorothy travel through a remote region of Oz

Dorothy travels with Princess Ozma to an obscure corner of the Land of Oz in order to prevent a war between the Skeezers and the Flatheads. The leaders of the two tribes are determined, and Dorothy and Ozma find themselves imprisoned on the Skeezers' glass-covered island, which has been magically submerged to the bottom of its lake. They summon Glinda, the most powerful sorceress of Oz who, with help from several magicians and magical assistants, must find a way to raise the island and liberate its trapped inhabitants.

Biography

Baum was born in 1856 to a family that had made a fortune in the oil business. Because he had a heart condition, his parents arranged for him to be tutored privately at the family’s Syracuse estate, “Roselawn.” As an adult, though, Baum flourished and failed at a dizzying variety of ventures, from writing plays to a stint with his family’s medicinal oil business (where he produced a potion called “Baum’s Castorine”), to managing a general store, to editing the Aberdeen Pioneer in Aberdeen, South Dakota. In 1897, following his mother-in-law’s advice, Baum wrote down the stories that he told his children. The firm of Way & Williams published the stories under the title Mother Goose in Prose, with illustrations by Maxfield Parrish, and Baum’s career as a writer was launched.

With the publication of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, Baum gained instant success. The book, lavishly produced and featuring voluptuous illustrations by William Wallace Denslow, was the bestselling children’s book of the year. It also set a new standard for children’s literature. As a commentator for the September 8, 1900 New York Times described it, “The crudeness that was characteristic of the oldtime publications...would now be enough to cause the modern child to yell with rage and vigor...” The reviewer praised the book’s sheer entertainment value (its “bright and joyous atmosphere”) and likened it to The Story of the Three Bears for its enduring value. As the film industry emerged in the following years, few books were as manifestly destined for adaptation, and although it took almost four decades for a movie studio to translate Baum’s vision to film, the 1939 film did for the movies what Baum’s book had done for children’s literature: that is, raised the imaginative and technical bar higher than it had been before.

The loss of parents, the inevitable voyage toward independence, the yearning for home -- in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Baum touched upon a child’s primal experiences while providing a rousing story of adventure. As his health declined, Baum continued the series with 14 more Oz books (his publisher commissioned more by other authors after his death), but none had quite the effect on the reading public that the first one did. Baum died from complications of a stroke in 1919.

Good To Know

Buam was married to Maud Gage, a daughter of the famous women’s rights advocate Matilda Joslyn Gage.