The Complete Book Series In Chronological Order

Summary

• The Wizard of Oz was an entertainment franchise before franchises were a concept.
• The original 14-book series by Baum is a rich tapestry of dark fantasy with bizarre characters and settings.
• Many popular adaptations are based on Baum’s books, like Return to Oz, which borrowed heavily from “Ozma of Oz.”

The Wizard of Oz was an entertainment franchise before the concept even existed. It also helped to develop and even invent the genres of dark fantasy and what we now call “isekai.” Frank L. Baum, who wrote the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, wrote a 14-book series about the wonderous land of Oz, and only a few have been adapted for television or films.

The books are considered to be young adult novels, but the dark fantasy and bizarre, even grotesque creatures and settings make them just as entertaining for adults. The original volumes written by Baum are just a part of a much bigger library of spinoffs and compilations known as “The Famous Forty.” This collection doesn’t include alternative books by other authors or the various other volumes recognized by L. Frank Baum’s Family Trust as true Oz books.

Updated January 11, 2025 by Kristy Ambrose: With the recent launch of Wicked, the lore of Frank Baum’s Oz has surged into the spotlight again, this time in the form of a movie musical. The movie isn’t just an adaptation of the actual musical of the same name by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, but also the novel “Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch of the West” written by Gregory Maguire and released in 1995. It goes to show how endearing the whole IP is, and how it continues to inspire new creators.

1

The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz

Release Date: May 17, 1900

• Illustrator: W. W. Denslow
• Publishing Company: George M. Hill Company

The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz was one of the first in the realm of dark fantasy as a genre, and decades later, the movie would break similar ground when it came to movie-making. There are so many pop culture icons in this movie, that it’s hard to keep track of them. The yellow brick road, the ruby slippers, and lines like “I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!” live forever in Hollywood history.

Despite the massive amount of Wizard of Oz-related media out there, a vast majority of that media is derived from this single book. Even those who have never read the book or seen the movie, the now-familiar story of how Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto were swept away to the colorful Oz from her dull, native Kansas. Some key details were changed, like the famous slippers that were originally silver, but the designers and costume artists determined that red would look better on film.

2

The Marvelous Land Of Oz

Release Date: July 1904

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

The full title of this book is The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and just like the title suggests it recounts the further adventures of two popular characters from the first volume. It also introduces the characters of Princess Ozma, Princess Mombi, and Jack Pumpkinhead, who appear extensively in later books and also appear in the film Return to Oz.

Instead of Dorothy, however, the protagonist of this story is a little boy named Tip, who runs away from his evil guardian. After meeting some of the new friends listed above, he also meets the Scarecrow and Tin Woodsman and is recruited to join some of their adventures.

3

Ozma Of Oz

Release Date: July 30, 1907

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

The plot of this book starts with Dorothy traveling to Australia, which makes the setting of the Wizard of Oz parody film 20th Century Oz a pop culture reference point but still no less bizarre. Although the live-action movie Return to Oz, released in 1985, is intended as a direct sequel to the 1939 film, it borrows most of its storyline from Ozma of Oz.

Details like the chicken coop and Billina the chicken as a companion instead of Toto are two examples, but one twist is that the adventure takes place in the neighboring land of Ev, which is next to Oz. Other characters, on the other hand, are mostly from The Marvelous Land Of Oz, such as Mombi, but the now famous Wheelers that children of the 1980s recognize as early night-mare fuel are lifted directly from this book.

4

Dorothy And The Wizard In Oz

Release Date: June 18, 1908

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

A close sequel to the last book on the fictional timeline, Dorothy is visiting California on her way back from Australia when an earthquake swallows her up and sends her to an underground cavern. This time the animal companions are her cousin’s cat, named Eurkea, and her uncle’s horse, Jim.

Adventures ensue in the mysterious subterranean world, which includes kingdoms of gargoyles and caves with no exit. Most of the book happens in the realm beneath, with Oz being the eventual goal. After meeting the Wizard, which also involves some wacky and grusome events, they travel together to the Emerald City.

5

The Road To Oz

Release Date: July 10, 1909

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

A fun volume that was written more for publicity than for literary reasons, movie viewers who have seen Oz The Great And Powerful might recognize some of the same plot elements. Dorothy returns to Oz in a much less dramatic way than usual, simply by taking a wrong turn while showing a stranger the road to a nearby town, and travels to the Emerald City to attend Princess Ozma’s birthday party.

It’s more like a typical feel-good YA novel than an exploration of dark fantasy. Although Dorothy has the usual adventures and meets some strange and interesting friends on the way to Butterfield, her final destination, the story is as strange as its predecessors but less dark than other books.

6

The Emerald City Of Oz

Release Date: July 20, 1910

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

Dorothy discovers that her aunt and uncle are still having some financial troubles as a result of the damage left behind by the tornado, so our hero pulls a few strings and arranges for them to move to Oz permanently. All is not well, however, as the Gnome King is preparing to attack the city from a network of underground tunnels as Uncle Henry and Aunt Em are preparing to settle in.

Baum originally intended The Emerald City of Oz to be the final book in the series, which is why magic is used to seal off Oz from the real world at the end. This spell was never intended to be broken, and was supposed to protect Oz from any other meddling from Kansas, California, or Australia forevermore, but it was defeated by Baum’s empty wallet.

7

The Patchwork Girl of Oz

Release Date: July 1, 1913

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

Baum used this book to restart the Oz series because of real-life financial problems, which is one of the reasons all of the characters, such as Munckin, Ojo, and Uncle Nunkie, are completely new. The Land Oz was sealed off by magic at the end of the last book, but Baum included a prologue that includes an explanation, an early example of literary ret-con.

Dorothy Gale had personally contacted him via telegraph and recounted this amazing story, adding that Princess Ozma herself had permitted him to tell it. The realism is a nice touch, and books about Oz breaking the fourth wall seem to make sense given the weird and fantastic nature of the Land of Oz.

8

Tik-Tok Of Oz

Release Date: June 19, 1914

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

Tik-Tok is a supporting character in Return to Oz, and this book is inspired in part by a stage play based on Ozma of Oz, making this some of the same story told from Tik-Tok’s perspective. This quirky character was one of the supporting characters in the movie Return to Oz and made an impression with his hefty title, “The Army Of Oz.”

The new protagonist is Betsy Bobbin, a girl from Oklahoma who gets shipwrecked in an even stranger part of Oz with her mule, Hank. Fans of Wicked might be interested to know that this was the first Oz-based book that was adapted from a musical, The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, which Baum also wrote and is also based on the story Ozma of Oz.

9

The Scarecrow of Oz

Release Date: July 16, 1915

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

Apparently, this was Baum’s personal favorite of the series, and it must have been fun to write given the quirky characters and their equally strange adventures. There’s the Scarecrow, along with Glinda and others, and their quest is to defeat the evil King Krewl of Jinxland.

Their human friends this time are a sailor named Cap’n Bill, complete with a peg-leg, and his companion, a little girl called Trot. Some of the settings and characters are crossovers from novels Baum wrote about places other than Oz, giving the IP an early version of the multiverse.

10

Rinkitink in Oz

Release Date: June 20, 1916

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

Frank Baum originally wrote this as one of his non-Oz-related books and intended the title to be King Kinkitink, but it evolved into number ten in the original series instead. The main character is Prince Inga of Pingaree, in a quest to restore his fated kingdom by freeing it from the grip of a tribe of angry warriors. He’s helped by King Rinkitink, three magical pearls, and a pet goat.

There are various locations that are entirely new, and the elaborate plot goes to several from previous books, such as the Nome Kingdom, while exploring the lands of Pingaree and various offshore nations. Dorothy makes an appearance to aid the heroes near the end of the book.

11

The Lost Princess of Oz

Release Date: June 5, 1917

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

The first book to take place in a familiar Oz after it was isolated from the real world by magic, Dorothy wakes up to find Princess Ozma has vanished. Movie fans who have seen Return to Oz will recognize this story point, but in the rest of the book the plot is completely different.

It’s not only the princess that seems to be in another castle. Other characters, like the Wizard and Glinda, find their magical items or working tools have also gone missing. Dorothy and the Wizard set off to find her, and they are joined by some other friends including the Frogman and Cakye the Cookie Chef.

12

The Tin Woodman of Oz

Release Date: May 13, 1918

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

It has the craziest long-form title of any other book in the series: The Tin Woodman of Oz: A Faithful Story of the Astonishing Adventure Undertaken by the Tin Woodman, Assisted by Woot the Wanderer, the Scarecrow of Oz, and Polychrome, the Rainbow’s Daughter. Baum might have been inspired by medieval titles that included similar long-form summaries but it more likely a simple marketing ploy to include familiar names in the title.

The Tin Woodman of Oz is intended to be a backstory to the first novel and recounts the sad and grotesque story of how the Tin Woodman, whose real name is Nick Chopper, came to be made out of tin, and the girl he lost along with his human heart. With his heart now restored, he sets off to find her again.

13

The Magic of Oz

Release Date: June 7, 1919

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

Baum passed a month before The Magic of Oz was released, making this the first of the Oz books to be published posthumously. It tells the story of yet another attack on Oz from the Nome Kingdom, this time from the former king Ruggedo. When a young munchkin named Kiki gets his hands on a magic wand, Ruggedo tries to use the child to get into Oz.

The Good Witch Glinda and the Wizard had decreed that only they were allowed to use magic, for the safety of everyone in Oz, but a single munchkin discovers a magic word and hides it. His son Kiki is the one who finds the wand and starts using it to transform people into animals and vice-versa, and it’s up to Dorothy to stop him.

14

Glinda of Oz

Release Date: July 10th, 1920

• Illustrator: John R. Neill
• Publishing Company: Reilly & Britton

Glinda of Oz was the 14th and final book of Frank Baum’s original series and was also published posthumously. There was some controversy over how the publishers and editors handled the manuscript in the author’s absence, with some changes and omissions that seemed trivial and not much of an improvement.

The series was continued by author Ruth Plumly Thompson with The Royal Book of Oz in 1921, making it the 15th book in The Famous Forty collection. As the title suggests, the novel recounts the story of Glinda swooping in to save the day after Dorothy and Ozma are trapped in hostile political territory. Glinda and her magic-using friends have to find a way to raise an island, which is no small feat in any universe, to liberate the inhabitants of a glass-covered island.