L. Frank Baum was a writer of a great many other books other than the OZ titles for which he is justly famous. Some are what I call OZ-adjacent, in that they are either inspirations for the OZ stories or are merged into the mythology in some way. I am far from a Baum authority, but here are some titles I've come across which should be considered when one sits down to read Baum's greatest creation.
A New Wonderland was first published in 1899 under the title The Surprising Adventures of the Magical Monarch of Mo and His People. After the success of The Wonderful Wizard of OZ, Baum revised the story very slightly by changing the name of this weird territory to "Phunnyland" and issued it again in 1903. It's a rather ridiculous collection of absurd stories set in a land made literally of milk and honey and fruitcake and whatever confection Baum could imagine. (Think of Milton-Bradley's Candy Land.)
The titular Monarch and his people are immortal and suffer outrageous wounds and whatnot as the individual stories develop. This is a collection of stories called "Surprises" which are trapped somewhere between a set of fairy tales and a short novel. Utterly impossible things happen like the King getting his head bitten off and replaced by a series of regrettable objects, and a dog which is kicked into the air so far that it's flattened enough to serve as a rug for a time. The antagonist is a Purple Dragon who appears several times and meddles. And there is King Scowleyow who sends a metal man to upset things in the candy kingdom. (The iron man did put me in mind of TikTok in some ways.) Another story reminded me of the Black Knight from Monty Python when the hero has all his limbs nipped off, but he's still going strong. We even get some clever monkeys and a yellow hen. The candy motif wears thin and is abandoned in many of the stories which see the protagonists popping into other worlds. These seem to be pretty good stories if read aloud to kids, story by story, and that is likely the intent. Sadly, my edition lacked the illustrations which were done for the original publication.
The Woggle-Bug Book features one of Baum's more delightful and genuinely funny creations. This is an exceedingly slim book and a rare one to boot. The 1905 book unfortunately is rife with ethnic humor and more than a few slurs. It is a product of its time, but still it's easy to see why this book is not fit for a child's reading. But as the intended adult audience I can adjust my settings and dig out that it's a really funny yarn about H.M. Woggle-Bug T.E. (Highly Magnified and Thoroughly Educated), a character first seen in The Marvelous Land of OZ. The character was used in a musical as well. And this story was taken from the Woggle-Bug's appearance in Queer Visitors from the Land of OZ, a comic strip featuring Baum's characters. In the story the Woggle-Bug is visiting New York City, and he falls in love with a dummy wearing a very loud pattern dress. He then transfers his love for the dress to the woman who buys it, then to the woman she gives it way to, and so on and so forth. Always the loud fabric is what he's chasing. The original had lots of illustrations, but sadly my copy does not.
The Enchanted Island of Yew was published in 1903 and tells the tale of a fairy that wished to be a human. Three girls named Sesely, Helda and Berna find the fairy and turn her into a young man named Prince Marvel. He magically acquires a horse and gear and sets out to feel life for one year. He quickly gets a squire named Nerle who comes from a pampered life and seeks discomfort. After reforming a large gang of thieves led by a guy named Wul-Takim, the duo travel to Spor at the center of the island to see an enigmatic king named Terribus and discover he is a hideous creature who first tries to kill them and then keep them prisoner. Later they visit a weird territory hidden behind a giant hedge where everyone is doubled. Once again, their lives are threatened by the people there. They survive that with help from the friends they've made along the way. Finally, the Red Giant of Dawna kills Sesely's father, and Marvel and gang go to rescue her and her friends. After that the year is over and Marvel happily becomes a fairy again. This is a diverting fairy tale with surprises, but little stands out about it despite the clever invention.
John Dough and the Cherub was first published in 1906. The titular John Dough is a gingerbread man of the highest order. He was fashioned with great care and then accidently infused with a mysterious elixer owned by a greedy Arab, which gave him both life and sentience. He soon learns that folks would love to take a bite out of him to partake of the magic which brought him to life and so he heads out of town and by fluke and firework ends up on Phreex Island where he finds an array of oddball characters. One of these is Cherub who is reputedly the first test-tube baby. A curious thing about Cherub is that Baum never tells the reader what sex Cherub is. He or she is dressed androgynously throughout the story and is never referred to by either "he" or "she". The two escape the Arab in a flying machine and then have more travels finding other territories with things like retired pirates, talking rabbits and fairy beavers. They encounter a strange race called the Mifkets who are like little roly-poly elves or something like that. A rubber bear named Para Bruin joins them on their journey as they help a sick princess before John Dough himself becomes the ruler of the twin kingdoms of Hiland and Loland. John Dough and Cherub show up very briefly in The Road to OZ. The mifkits appear in Rinkitink in OZ.
Queen Zixi of Ix, Or the Story of the Magic Cloack was first published in 1905. The story deals with a brother and sister who are orphaned and end up with their rather stern aunt. Through a series of flukes, the sister ends up with a magic cloak made by the fairies which can grant one wish to whomever is wearing it. Then later the brother is made king after an even more random chance. Now they are rich and powerful, and we see how they cope with that as well as seeing a parade of the characters get hold of it and we see a series of bizarre accidental wishes. We finally meet the titular Queen Zixi of Ix a third of the way into the novel and find out she's a six-hundred-year-old witch who appears young and beautiful. She decides she wants the cloak and uses both trickery and force to try and get it. Then come the Roly-Rogues, strange ball-like creatures who invade the kingdom and drive out the populace. Needless to say, since this is a fairy tale, things ultimately turn out fine. I should also note that the bountiful illustrations by Frederick Richardson are gorgeous.
Despite not being an OZ book it was nonetheless the basis for The Magic Cloak of OZ in 1914, the second film from the OZ Film Manufacturing Company operated by Baum himself. Because of the relative failure of the earlier The Patchwork Girl of OZ this movie and its successor His Majesty, the Scarecrow of OZ lacked decent distribution. The movie adds a donkey who meets an array of other critters to save a young girl stolen by robbers. Visit this link this link to watch the movie.
These books showcase L. Frank Baum's range to some extent as well as his industry. All the tales reviewed here were published between 1899 and 1906, and they are just some of the output from this prolific and important American writer.
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