1856-1919 · American children's author, creator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
About L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919) was an American writer born in Chittenango, New York. Before success came he worked as an actor, a newspaper editor in Aberdeen in Dakota Territory, a travelling salesman and a magazine editor in Chicago. His verse collection Father Goose, His Book (1899), illustrated by W. W. Denslow, was a bestseller, and their Wonderful Wizard of Oz followed in 1900. Baum wrote thirteen more Oz books and many other stories for children, and spent his last years in Hollywood.
“There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The True courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.”
Dorothy lives on the grey Kansas prairie with her Uncle Henry, her Aunt Em and her little black dog Toto. When a cyclone strikes, Aunt Em and Uncle Henry reach the cellar, but Dorothy runs back for Toto, and the house is carried away with the two of them inside.