Introduction
Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhoodthrough the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome andinstinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal.The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness tochildish hearts than all other human creations.
Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations,may now be classed as "historical" in the children's library; forthe time has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in whichthe stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, togetherwith all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised bytheir authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Moderneducation includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks onlyentertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with alldisagreeable incident.
Having this thought in mind, the story of "The WonderfulWizard of Oz" was written solely to please children of today. Itaspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wondermentand joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out.
L. Frank Baum
Chicago, April, 1900.