L. Frank Baum

By Ms. Nina Jackson, LTM

Ozma of Oz

• In this book, Dorothy Gale rejoins with the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion, plus meets new charaters: the Hungry Tiger, whose appetite is never satisfied; Princess Langwidere, who has thirty heads; Billina, a talking chicken; and Tiktok, a mechanical man.

• Dorothy lands in Ev when she’s sailing with her uncle and is blow overboard. The Queen of Ev and her ten children have been imprisoned by the cruel Nome King. Even Ozma, the wise Ruler of Oz, is no match for this king. Can Dorothy find a way to outwit this wily king and his enchantments?

L. Frank Baum

• Born in 1856, just east of Syracuse in Chittenango, NY.

• His first name was Lyman, but he preferred Frank.

• He was sick and weak as a child because of a heart condition.

• From “L. Frank Baum” <http://www.literarytraveler.com/spring/west/baum.htm>.

L. Frank Baum

• His father became rich in oil when he was five.

• His parents sent him to military school because they were worried about his imagination and flights of fancy.

• At 15, he started printing a newspaper with his younger brother.

• From “L. Frank Baum” <http://www.literarytraveler.com/spring/west/baum.htm>.

L. Frank Baum

• He also raised and breed Hamburg chickens, and even won awards with them.

• He developed an interest in the theater, and soon began writing original plays.

• He married Maud Gage on November 9th, 1882.

• From “L. Frank Baum” <http://www.literarytraveler.com/spring/west/baum.htm>.

L. Frank Baum

• Wrote 14 books about Oz

• From 1888-1891, he lived in Aberdeen, South Dakota

• From “Baum, L. Frank” in The World Book Student

Discovery Encyclopedia.

Chickens

– In Ozma of Oz, Dorothy is traveling with a chicken named Belinda.

– Chickens:• There are many, many different breeds of chickens, including

Australorp, Cornish, Hamburg, Leghorn, and Sumatra.

• Some are raised for meat and/or eggs, while other breeds are strictly raised for ornamental purposes.

From “Breeds of Chickens” <http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/chickens>.

Silver-Penciled Hamburgs From “Breeds of Chickens” <http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/chickens>.

Chicken Names

• All baby chickens are “chicks,” but baby females are “pullets.”

• Females are called “hens” once they reach one year of age, while males are then called “roosters.”

• From Farm Birds.

Chicken History

• Chickens probably are descendents of the “red junglefowl,” a wild fowl from Southeast Asia.

• Records show that the Chinese were raising chickens as early as 1400 B.C.

• Chickens spread around the world because they were carried (live) for food on ships in the 1500’s.

• From “Chicken” in The World Book Encyclopedia.

Bibliography• Austic, Richard E. “Chicken” The World Book

Encyclopedia. 1999 ed.

• Baum, L. Frank. Ozma of Oz. Chicago: RandMcNally, 1907.

• “Baum, L. Frank” The World Book Student Discovery Encyclopedia. 2000 ed.

Bibliography (con.)

• Breeds of Chickens” Feb. 24, 2004<http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/chickens>.

• Haggerty, Edward C. Farm Birds. Danbury, CT: Grolier Educational, 1997.

• “L. Frank Baum” Feb. 24, 2004<http://www.literarytraveler.com/spring/west/baum.htm>.