Having this thought in mind, the story of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was written solely to please children of today.

It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the won- derment and joy 九_九_藏_書are retained and the heartaches and night- mares are left out.

This book is dedicated to my good friend and comrade My Wife L. F. B.

Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child se九*九*藏*書eks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.

Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as "historical" in ｈｔｔｐｓ://ｒead.９９ｃｓｗ•ｃｏmthe childrens library; for the time has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdlin九_九_藏_書g incidents de- vised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale.

L. Frank Baum Chicago, April, .

Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy yo九-九-藏-書ungster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, mar- velous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.