Preface
THE SCARECROW of OZ
Dedicated to
"The uplifters" of Los Angeles, California, ingrateful appreciation of the pleasure I have derivedfrom association with them, and in recognition oftheir sincere endeavor to uplift humanity throughkindness, consideration and good-fellowship. They arebig men--all of them--and all with the generoushearts of little children.
L. Frank Baum
THE SCARECROW of OZby L. Frank Baum
"TWIXT YOU AND ME
The Army of Children which besieged the Postoffice,conquered the Postmen and delivered to me its imperiousCommands, insisted that Trot and Cap'n Bill be admittedto the Land of Oz, where Trot could enjoy the societyof Dorothy, Betsy Bobbin and Ozma, while the one-legged sailor-man might become a comrade of the TinWoodman, the Shaggy Man, Tik-Tok and all the otherquaint people who inhabit this wonderful fairyland.
It was no easy task to obey this order and land Trotand Cap'n Bill safely in Oz, as you will discover byreading this book. Indeed, it required the best effortsof our dear old friend, the Scarecrow, to save themfrom a dreadful fate on the journey; but the storyleaves them happily located in Ozma's splendid palaceand Dorothy has promised me that Button-Bright and thethree girls are sure to encounter, in the near future,some marvelous adventures in the Land of Oz, which Ihope to be permitted to relate to you in the next OzBook.
Meantime, I am deeply grateful to my little readersfor their continued enthusiasm over the Oz stories, asevinced in the many letters they send me, all of whichare lovingly cherished. It takes more and more Oz Booksevery year to satisfy the demands of old and newreaders, and there have been formed many "Oz ReadingSocieties," where the Oz Books owned by differentmembers are read aloud. All this is very gratifying tome and encourages me to write more stories. When thechildren have had enough of them, I hope they will letme know, and then I'll try to write somethingdifferent.
L. Frank Baum"Royal Historian of Oz.""OZCOT"at HOLLYWOODin CALIFORNIA, 1915.