A Faithful Record of
Their Amazing Adventures
in an Underground World; and How with the
Aid of Their Friends Zeb Hugson, Eureka
the Kitten, and Jim the Cab-Horse,
They Finally Reached the
Wonderful Land
of Oz
by L. Frank Baum "Royal Historian of Oz"
To My Readers
It's no use;
no use at all. The children
won't let me stop
telling tales of the Land of
Oz. I know lots of other stories,
and I hope to tell them, some
time or another; but just now
my loving tyrants won't allow
me. They cry: "Oz--Oz! more about
Oz, Mr. Baum!" and what can I
do but obey their commands?
This is Our Book--mine and
the children's. For they have
flooded me with thousands of
suggestions in regard to it,
and I have honestly tried to
adopt as many of these suggestions
as could be fitted into one story.
After the wonderful
success of "Ozma of Oz" it is evident
that Dorothy has become a firm
fixture in these Oz stories.
The little ones all love Dorothy,
and as one of my small friends
aptly states: "It isn't a real
Oz story without her." So here
she is again, as sweet and gentle
and innocent as ever, I hope,
and the heroine of another strange
adventure.
There were
many requests from my little
correspondents for "more
about the Wizard." It seems the
jolly old fellow made hosts of
friends in the first Oz book,
in spite of the fact that he
frankly acknowledged himself "a
humbug." The children had heard
how he mounted into the sky in
a balloon and they were all waiting
for him to come down again. So
what could I do but tell "what
happened to the Wizard afterward"?
You will find him in these pages,
just the same humbug Wizard as
before.
There was one thing the children
demanded which I found it impossible
to do in this present book: they
bade me introduce Toto, Dorothy's
little black dog, who has many
friends among my readers. But
you will see, when you begin
to read the story, that Toto
was in Kansas while Dorothy was
in California, and so she had
to start on her adventure without
him. In this book Dorothy had
to take her kitten with her instead
of her dog; but in the next Oz
book, if I am permitted to write
one, I intend to tell a good
deal about Toto's further history.
Princess Ozma, whom I love
as much as my readers do, is
again introduced in this story,
and so are several of our old
friends of Oz. You will also
become acquainted with Jim the
Cab-Horse, the Nine Tiny Piglets,
and Eureka, the Kitten. I am
sorry the kitten was not as well
behaved as she ought to have
been; but perhaps she wasn't
brought up properly. Dorothy
found her, you see, and who her
parents were nobody knows.
I believe, my dears, that I
am the proudest story-teller
that ever lived. Many a time
tears of pride and joy have stood
in my eyes while I read the tender,
loving, appealing letters that
came to me in almost every mail
from my little readers. To have
pleased you, to have interested
you, to have won your friendship,
and perhaps your love, through
my stories, is to my mind as
great an achievement as to become
President of the United States.
Indeed, I would much rather be
your story-teller, under these
conditions, than to be the President.
So you have helped me to fulfill
my life's ambition, and I am
more grateful to you, my dears,
than I can express in words.
I try to answer every letter
of my young correspondents; yet
sometimes there are so many letters
that a little time must pass
before you get your answer. But
be patient, friends, for the
answer will surely come, and
by writing to me you more than
repay me for the pleasant task
of preparing these books. Besides,
I am proud to acknowledge that
the books are partly yours, for
your suggestions often guide
me in telling the stories, and
I am sure they would not be half
so good without your clever and
thoughtful assistance.
L. FRANK BAUM
Coronado, 1908.
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