It was so successful that Baum's readers demanded more Oz books. The following year, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published. Father Goose: His Book (1899), a book of children's verse, earned Baum critical acclaim.
He did and soon found success as a children's author. The couple had four sons and moved frequently, eventually settling in Hollywood where medical care was available for Baum's declining health.īaum's mother-in-law was impressed with the imaginative stories she heard Baum telling the children, and she encouraged him to submit them for publication. They wed in 1882 and built a strong marriage as Maud provided stability for the family while Baum pursued his varied interests. Although the elder Gage opposed the union, Maud was determined to marry Baum. While touring with an acting troupe performing his play The Maid of Arran, Baum met and fell in love with Maud Gage, the youngest daughter of suffragette Matilda Josilyn Gage. Over the years, he was a newspaperman, an actor, a playwright, an axle grease maker, a dime store owner, a salesman, a Hollywood entrepreneur, and a chicken breeder. The Baums' loss of four of their nine children in infancy and Frank's heart condition led the parents to indulge and shelter their young son.Īs an adult, Frank Baum had a wildly varied career. Benjamin was a wealthy barrel-maker and sawyer who made his fortune during the Pennsylvania oil rush. Lyman Frank Baum was born on May 15, 1856, in Chittenango, New York, to Cynthia and Benjamin Ward Baum. Although the book did not win any awards during Baum's lifetime, it was given the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1968. Readers fell in love with the wonders of Oz and demanded more books about this enchanted land. Critics applauded Baum's simple storytelling, his message, and his imaginative, believable characters. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz received praise from critics and readers alike. Baum, however, presented a thrilling adventure from a child's point of view, showing the child's ability to solve her own problems and return to the security of her home. By presenting a female protagonist, casual language, characters such as the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and settings such as Kansas, Baum created a new approach to children's writing that is distinctly American.īefore The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, children's books were stilted morality tales designed to instruct or to frighten readers into behaving properly. Baum wanted to write a fairy tale that was American, not European, although he introduced elements of traditional European fairy tales (witches, castles, forests) into the story.
Although he wrote numerous books, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is easily his most enduring. Frank Baum never imagined the impact The Wonderful Wizard of Oz would have on children's writing or the appeal the book would have to generations of readers.
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