The books were translated (some by Baum) into successful theatrical productions in Chicago, New York and eventually throughout the world. He would go on to write 14 Oz books in all, and even today, more than a century later, Baum’s characters are among the best loved in all children’s literature.
Readers loved Dorothy and her strange traveling companions, and Baum followed up his big success with The Marvelous Land of Oz. It is probably no coincidence that notes of The White City could be heard throughout The Emerald City, as Baum experienced the radiance of that fantastical creation at the World’s Columbia Exposition shortly after his resettlement in Chicago. Then, in 1900, came The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Now in his forties, Baum finally found his calling: in 1897, a Chicago publisher put out his Tales from Mother Goose, and two years later Father Goose: His Book sold 60,000 copies. In Chicago, living with his family on Humboldt Blvd., Baum took work as a reporter, department store window dresser and traveling chinaware salesman. He had dabbled, with limited success, as an actor, newspaper reporter, playwright, salesman and chicken breeder.
When Baum moved his family to Chicago in 1891, he was a washout as an oil tycoon, shop owner and newspaper publisher.
I have learned to regard fame as a will-o-the-wisp, which when caught, is not worth the possession but to please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one’s heart and brings its own reward.
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