L. Frank Baum: Royal Historian of Oz

by Jean Shirley, Angelica Shirley Carpenter

A biography of the author of "The Wizard of Oz," who invented a new kind of fairy tale, uniquely modern and American

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Rob Chappell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many people know that L. Frank Baum is the author of the OZ series of children's novels, along with other classics of children's literature, such as THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS. Few people, however, also know that he was an actor, a songwriter, a newspaper editor, a filmmaker, a devoted family man, and much more besides! This biography brings LFB to life, with photos and maps, quotations from his family and friends, and summaries of -- and passages from -- LFB's writings. I've been a longtime admirer of LFB and his literary achievements, and this book only confirmed my admiration for this very talented and gifted man who has shared the joy of storytelling with millions of readers and moviegoers for over a century. I will continue to explore LFB's fantasy worlds and promote his writings to anyone and everyone who is young at heart!

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 2 out of 5]

C-. children's, nonfiction, grade 6, Mom's stash, discard. Did not do justice to the story of Baum . One particularly distracting habit of the author(s) was to include the conversion (in parentheses) of each standard unit of measurement to metric. Choosing one would have been sufficient.

[Meltha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure what the difference is between a modern children's/young adult biography and an adult one other than length and perhaps a tendency towards fewer sexual situations being discussed. This is just a good, solid, well done biography of Baum, period. I think the average fifth grader or so is capable of understanding the text, and adults would probably learn a great deal about him as well. I certainly didn't know about all of his theatrical and movie projects, or that he wrote such a huge number of books, not only about Oz but with lots of different characters. I really liked the photography from the era being included along with some of the original illustrations. One of the best bits, though, was the final chapter on the various reasons people have tried to ban or censor the Oz books. The reader gets to see just how bizarre some of the complaints are or how nonsensical the reasoning is (Dorothy might give girls the idea they can take on traditionally masculine roles? The horror! And that was in 1986 for crying out loud). Overall, it's a good book that might work well after a reader has been exposed to the Oz books.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though this book did help me learn about one of my favorite authors, it sometimes seem to have issues with the percieved audience. At times, the information was rather in depth and seemed to push it towards more of an adult biography than the child and/or teen focus that it appears to be aimed at. However, then it would explain or define words in a child-like manner. The wealth of photographs and passages from Baum, his family, or reviewers of the time did help round out the edges. True fans of Oz or Baum should pick up this book jus to add to their experience, but most people may find it dry and poorly paced. This could have been truly great biography, but it just suffered some unfortunate set backs. I would love to see a new editor or even the authors revise and expand and make it better.

[Nathan Dehoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although there are now several biographies of Baum in existence, for a long time there really weren't any other than To Please a Child, which contained a lot of apocryphal information in an attempt to mythologize Baum. (For that record, I haven't read it.) This children's biography, published in 1992, is better in terms of scholarship. When it retells one of the less likely anecdotes, it makes clear that it might not be entirely true. While quite short and purposely avoiding some of the more controversial aspects, it's a good overview of Baum's life and works. It also contains some photographs I hadn't seen before. I think it's worth the two dollars I paid for it. Michael Patrick Hearn has apparently been working on a definitive Baum biography for years, but I don't know how that's going.

[Samuel Valentino · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent resource, especially considering that it's juvenile biography. I not only learned about the Oz books, but the many other books and series that he authored, that I had never heard about. One series in particular was "Aunt Jane's Nieces," written under a pseudonym, that earned Baum as many royalties as the Oz books! Plus other fantasies and series that I want to track down.

The list of his works also helped explain the end of "The Road to Oz," where a bunch of characters come to Ozma's birthday party. It always had a "special guest star" feel to it, and that's exactly what it is - all of the characters come from other Baum books.

It is somewhat sparse, given the audience it's written for, but a great introduction to the man and his (much more extensive than I realized) work.

[Deborah W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only a very entertaining and thorough biography, but chock full o' great illustrations from Baum's Oz books and other books that he wrote. I really enjoyed this book. It's written for the younger audience, but still had a ton of info and I learned a lot about this fascinating author.