The Annotated Wizard of Oz  (Centennial Edition)
An updated version of the definitive guide,The Annotated Wizard of  Ozprovides a facsimile color version of the first edition of L. Frank  Baum's children's classic along with extensive notes and a thorough history of  the immense Oz project. In his excellent introduction, Michael Patrick Hearn  describes the author's early life and interests and the development of his  collaboration with W.W. Denslow, the original illustrator for his books.An energetic and excitable fellow, Baum's devotion to make-believe began in  his early 20s, when he joined a small touring theatrical troupe on the East  Coast. Later attempts to run a general store and a newspaper in South Dakota  (then the Wild West) failed miserably. Although few of his business ventures or  artistic efforts had met with success, in 1897 Baum's "Father Goose" rhymes  (designed and illustrated by Denslow) became a surprise bestseller, and Baum was  able to buy his family a summer cottage on Lake Michigan, christened "The Sign  of the Goose," for which he made most of the furniture (goose-themed, of course)  and stenciled the walls with a frieze of green geese.The idea forThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz, "a modern fairy tale," as he  considered it, soon followed, and the book appeared in May 1900. The 10,000-copy  first printing sold out in two weeks, and about 90,000 sold within the first  year. Hearn goes on to describe the many books that followed, as well as the  1902 musical extravaganzaThe Wizard of Ozand Baum's subsequent,  ill-starred attempts to depict the world of Oz on film. (He died long before the  1939 MGM musical made his fairy tale known around the globe.) In 1907, he told a  reporter for the Grand RapidsHeraldwhy he preferred young readers:To write fairy stories for children, to amuse them, to divert restless children,  sick children, to keep them out of mischief on rainy days, seems of greater  importance than to write grown-up novels. Few of the popular novels last the  year out, responding as they do to a certain psychological demand,  characteristic of the time; whereas, a child's book is, comparatively speaking,  the same always, since children are always the same kind of folks with the same  needs to be satisfied.Hearn has gone to great lengths in his notes to this facsimile ofThe  Wonderful Wizard of Oz, often referring to subsequent volumes in the series,  slowly building a key to the rules and history of Oz, pointing out  inconsistencies as well as hints to Baum's literary sources (such as Bunyan'sPilgrim's Progress), and  providing, among other delights, a mini-treatise on malevolent vegetation in Oz.  This is an essential volume for the Oz aficionado or the student of children's  literature, and a wonderful resource for parents of young readers.--Regina  Marler