Czarnoksieżnik z Krainy Oz

L. Frank Baum

Daughters of Destiny

L. Frank Baum

Danger, intrigue, and adventure await you in one of L. Frank Baums rarest works! Baum published the novel under the pen name Schuyler Staunton, one of his several pseudonyms (Baum arrived at the name by adding one letter to the name of his late maternal uncle, Schuyler Stanton). Daughters of Destiny unfolds in the Middle Eastern country of Baluchistan and is an exciting page-turner from start to finish. Conflict occurs when the American Construction Syndicate wants to build a railroad across a city in Pakistan, as part of their plans for global development. The company appoints a commission, headed by Colonel Piedmont Moore, to obtain the right of way from the Baluchi ruler. What follows is a complex but tightly-woven plot that involves subterfuge and conspiracy, poisonings and attempted assassinations, sword fights and a pursuit in the desert, a scheming femme fatale, disguises and false identities all the ingredients of melodrama.

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

L. Frank Baum

Originally published in 1908, while Baum was resident in Coronado, California, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz is considered one of the darker of the Oz tales. However, it also is enlivened by Baums considerable wit, penchant for puns, and dry social commentary. This fourth Oz novel sees Kansas farm-girl Dorothy Gale once again transported to magical lands, this time thanks to a California earthquake, during which our heroine falls into the depths of the earth, together with a boy name Zeb, his carriage-horse Jim, and Dorothys mischievous kitten, Eureka. Deep beneath the earth, Dorothy is reunited with her old friend the Wizard of Oz and his troupe of nine tiny piglets. Together, they embark on an adventure through the earth dealing with angry vegetables, invisible people and bears, and wooden gargoyles. Eventually, after confronting a cave full of dragonettes, the travelers are rescued by Ozma of Oz, who transports them to the Emerald City. Here Dorothy and Wizard meet many old friends, while Eureka meets trouble...

Glinda of Oz

L. Frank Baum

As this last Oz story from L. Frank Baum opens, Dorothy Gale and Ozma have been dispatched by Glinda on a peacekeeping mission. Dorothy and Ozma discover that a war is brewing in a distant and unexplored part of Oz, between two mysterious races, the Flatheads and the Skeezers, both of whom have come under the power of cruel dictators. They have never heard of either of these people but they worry that people might be harmed in a war. The girls set out to try to prevent the fighting, not knowing what dangers await them. This begins a quick but grand adventure for the two friends, which will eventually involve all of her other friends, and quite an assortment of strange but wonderful beings they are; the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, but also Tik Tok, Jack Pumpkinhead, and so many others. A rousing tale of suspense, magic, and adventure, Glinda of Oz is the fourteenth and final Oz book and its a grand conclusion to Baums chronicles of Americas favorite fairyland.

John Dough and the Cherub

L. Frank Baum

Originally published in 1906, John Dough and the Cherub remains a whimsical fantasy tale for all ages, by the author of the classic Oz books. John Dough is a gingerbread man who has come alive because the baker who made him poured quite unwittingly a great quantity of the precious Essence of Vitality into the dough from which he was formed. John escapes from several people who want to eat him, and arrives on the Isle of Phreex. His new friend and constant companion is Chick, the Cherub, a very beautiful child of indeterminate sex. After a good deal of travel and many adventures, John becomes ruler of the Twin Kingdoms of Hiland and Loland, where a prophecy stated that the next king would not be made of flesh and blood. So come journey with John Dough the gingerbread man, his good friends Chick the Cherub and Para Bruin the Rubber Bear, and as Baker par excellence Jules Grogrande would say, Bon appetite!

Mother Goose in Prose

L. Frank Baum

None of us, whether children or adults, needs an introduction to Mother Goose. Those things which are earliest impressed upon our minds cling to them most tenaciously. Published three years before L. Frank Baum achieved fame with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, this engaging volume added an exciting new dimension to old, much-loved verses. The book contains 22 prose fables based on famous nursery rhymes: Old King Cole, Little Miss Muffet, The Cat and the Fiddle and many others. Baum gives the stories English settings and ambience, with mentions of London, the Sussex downs, and the River Dee. His tactic in the book is to take the often-nonsensical nursery rhymes and weave coherent, or at least self-consistent, stories from them. This wonderful collection of short stories is another delightful addition to anyone who is a fan of Baums work. Based on famous Mother Goose rhymes, all stories are fascinating background tales of the various characters involved.

Ozma of Oz

L. Frank Baum

Dorothy Gale returns in this third entry in L. Frank Baums Oz series, after her notable absence in the second volume, The Marvelous Land of Oz. Here you will meet such beloved old friends as the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion. Dorothy is shipwrecked and lands on the shores of a fairy country that adjoins Oz, the land of Ev. There she meets that oozy marvel: Tiktok, a wind-up mechanical man; a talking chicken, Billina; the Hungry Tiger, whose appetite is never quite satisfied; and Ozma, the girl Ruler of Oz who is leading a quest to rescue the royal family of Ev from their captivity by the Nome King. She also meets some strange people too: Princess Langwidere who wears a different head a day and strange Wheelers with wheels for hands and feet. But even Ozma is no match for the clever king, and its up to Dorothy to save everyone from terrible danger. But will the Nome Kings enchantments be too much even for the plucky little girl from Kansas?

Queen Zixi of Ix. Or, The Story of the Magic Cloak

L. Frank Baum

Another enchanting tale of juvenile literature from the creator of The Wizard of Oz. L. Frank Baum dedicated the book Queen Zixi of Ix, or The Story of the Magic Cloak to his oldest son, Frank Joslyn Baum. In it, the queen of fairies creates a magic cloak which grants its wearer a single wish. Meanwhile, an orphan boy becomes the new king of Noland and his sister gains the cloak which is stolen by the Queen of Zixi, who wishes her mirror to show her as the beautiful young woman she appears instead of showing her appearance at her true age of 683 years. Adventures ensue, armies attack and retreat, and good wins out when the fairy queen takes back the magic cloak. The cloak turns out to be a source of trouble as well as a blessing. Baum packs this adventure with his customary humor, inventive fantasies, and captivating characters.