'''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''' is a children's book written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. This was part of his effort to create a body of American literature in the fairy tale genre. It was a great success and he followed it with thirteen more books set in the land of Oz. He was never able to recapture the success of his original work. Ruth Plumly Thompson continued the series with nineteen more stories, and other authors wrote additional books. The Land of Oz was one of the earliest of what fantasy fans now call "fictional universes." Like the Sherlock Holmes stories it has attracted a large number of devoted fans, who like to discuss and write about the land of Oz as if it actually existed. | '''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''' is a children's book written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. This was part of his effort to create a body of American literature in the fairy tale genre. It was a great success and he followed it with thirteen more books set in the land of Oz. He was never able to recapture the success of his original work. Ruth Plumly Thompson continued the series with nineteen more stories, and other authors wrote additional books. The Land of Oz was one of the earliest of what fantasy fans now call "fictional universes." Like the Sherlock Holmes stories it has attracted a large number of devoted fans, who like to discuss and write about the land of Oz as if it actually existed. |