A History of Oz Books

"A Nightmare in Oz" follows a long trajectory of stories that first began in 1900, when Lyman Frank Baum published the first novel in what would become the most prolific children's fantasy series of all time. The success of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was so immediate that it eventually roused Hollywood to an adaptation, further cementing the legacy in a 1939 MGM film that is still considered one of the great motion pictures of the Golden Age.

But did you know that Baum's publisher, Reilly & Lee, went on to commission the printing of 40 original titles in the series? Over the course of a 60-year stint, they acquired the talents of seven distinct writers to put their spin on the famous fairy kingdom. Baum himself wrote the first 14 of these, while Ruth Plumly Thompson, his successor, penned 19. John R. Neil wrote three additional, while Jack Snow, Baum's own illustrator, wrote two. Rachel Cosgrove submitted the manuscript that would become book number 39, as did the mother/daughter writing team of Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren Lynn McGraw, who closed out the series with "Merry-Go-Round in Oz" in 1963. (More recently, Shepherd Smith has written a trilogy of Oz books that are now considered canon by the Baum Family Trust.)

Since then, many of the titles have fallen into the public domain -- most notably all of Baum's original 14 titles. This means that additional books, short stories and even graphic novels have shown up in a variety of places utilizing his creations as a foundation. Some of them involve total departures, showing us twisted versions of the world we knew, while others follow the original lineage. Further still, previously unreleased manuscripts by the original writers have since been released by independent publishing houses; though these are not considered canon, they are accepted as direct follow-ups to the original catalog.

Below is a catalog of the official forty-three, with links to either the public domain texts or places to purchase copies of the books. For completion purposes, a separate list below contains most of the notable publications that exist outside of the famous forty; these are a good resource for understanding how the mythos has evolved in the 100+ years that Oz has been with us.

THE FAMOUS FORTY [1900-1963]:

By L. Frank Baum:
1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
2. The Marvelous Land of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
3. Ozma of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
4. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
5. The Road to Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
6. The Emerald City of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
7. The Patchwork Girl of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
8. Tik-Tok of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
9. The Scarecrow of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
10. Rinkitink in Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
11. The Lost Princess of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
12. The Tin Woodman of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
13. The Magic of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
14. Glinda of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]

By Ruth Plumly Thompson:
15. The Royal Book of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
16. Kabumpo in Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
17. The Cowardly Lion of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
18. Grampa in Oz [AMAZON.COM]
19. The Lost King of Oz [AMAZON.COM]
20. The Hungry Tiger of Oz [AMAZON.COM]
21. The Gnome King of Oz [AMAZON.COM]
22. The Giant Horse of Oz [AMAZON.COM]
23. Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz [AMAZON.COM]
24. The Yellow Knight of Oz [AMAZON.COM]
25. Pirates in Oz [AMAZON.COM]
26. The Purple Prince of Oz [AMAZON.COM]
27. Ojo in Oz [AMAZON.COM]
28. Speedy in Oz [AMAZON.COM]
29. The Wishing Horse of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
30. Captain Salt in Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
31. Handy Mandy in Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
32. The Silver Princess in Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
33. Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]

By John R. Neil:
34. The Wonder City of Oz [AMAZON.COM]
35. The Scalawagons of Oz [AMAZON.COM]
36. Lucky Bucky in Oz [AMAZON.COM]

By Jack Snow:
37. The Magical Mimics in Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]
38. The Shaggy Man of Oz [PUBLIC TEXT FILE] [AMAZON.COM]

By Rachel Cosgrove:
39. The Hidden Valley of Oz [AMAZON.COM]

By Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren Lynn McGraw:
40. Merry Go Round in Oz [AMAZON.COM]

By Sherwood Smith:
41. The Emerald Wand of Oz [AMAZON.COM]
42. Trouble Under Oz [AMAZON.COM]
43. Sky Pyrates Over Oz [AMAZON.COM]

LATER PUBLICATIONS BY 'HISTORIAN' AUTHORS:
Yankee in Oz (By Ruth Plumly Thompson) [INTERNATIONAL WIZARD OF OZ CLUB]
The Enchanted Island of Oz (By Ruth Plumly Thompson) [INTERNATIONAL WIZARD OF OZ CLUB]
The Forbidden Fountain of Oz (By Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren Lynn McGraw) [INTERNATIONAL WIZARD OF OZ CLUB]
The Wicked Witch of Oz (By Rachel Cosgrove) [INTERNATIONAL WIZARD OF OZ CLUB]
The Runaway in Oz (By John R. Neil) [AMAZON.COM]
The Rundelstone of Oz (by Eloise Jarvis McGraw) [AMAZON.COM]

ADDITIONAL BOOKS [NON-CANON]:
Bucketheads in Oz (by Assorted Writers) [AMAZON.COM]
Paradox in Oz (by Edward Einhorn) [AMAZON.COM]
The Living House of Oz (by Edward Einhorn) [AMAZON.COM]
The Salt Sorcerer of Oz (by Eric Shanower) [AMAZON.COM]
The Giant Garden of Oz (by Eric Shanower) [AMAZON.COM]
Toto of Oz (by Gina Wickwar) [AMAZON.COM]
The Hidden Prince of Oz (by Gina Wickwar) [AMAZON.COM]
The Ozmapolitan of Oz (by Dick Martin) [AMAZON.COM]
Adolf Hitler in Oz (by Sam Sackett) [AMAZON.COM]
The Magic Umbrella of Oz [AMAZON.COM]
Yookoohoos of Oz (by Paul Dana) [AMAZON.COM]
Immortal Longings of Oz (by Paul Dana) [AMAZON.COM]
The Silver Tower of Oz (by Margaret Baum) [AMAZON.COM]