Fairy tales have traditionally been considered a European import, but American writers such as Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne and L.Frank Baum created stories that reflected a progressive and independent spirit that was distinctly American. This production, including tales by twelve authors, proves the American fairy tale is indeed alive and well.

She turned the next leaf, and saw a big picture of a clown, dressed in green and red and yellow, and having a very white face with three-cornered spots of red on each cheek and over the eyes. While she looked at this the book trembled in her hands, the leaf crackled and creaked and suddenly the clown jumped out of it and stood upon the floor beside her, becoming instantly as big as any ordinary clown.

 

"In Chicago, an ordinary key unlocks a magical trunk packed with robbers and a pie. In Boston, five magical bon-bons make an ordinary senator, an ordinary professor, an ordinary girl and her ordinary parents do the most extraordinary things! A young cowboy lassoes Father Time; the dummy in Mr. Floman's department store window comes to life; and a tiny beetle gives a New England farm and his wife a pump which pumps not water, but gold! ""Author of the much-loved [Wizard of Oz], L. Frank Baum transforms the familiar with his magical mix of humor and enchantment. Most of the twelve stories in this delightful collection are set in America where, so it seems, modern fairies, knooks and ryls are always causing the most astonishing things to happen! These tales will enchant both young and old."

The BOX OF ROBBERS 2 THE GLASS DOG. 10 THE QUEEN OF QUOK 17 THE GIRL WHO OWNED A BEAR 24 THE ENCHANTED TYPES 30 THE LAUGHING HIPPOPOTAMUS 35 THE MAGIC BON BONS 42 The CAPTURE of FATHER TIME 47 The WONDERFUL PUMP 52 THE DUMMY THAT LIVED 61 THE KING of the POLAR BEARS 67 The MANDARIN and the BUTTERFLY 71

Born Lyman Frank Baum in 1856, just east of Syracuse in Chittenango, NY. He never used his first name since he preferred Frank. A rather sickly child who was both timid and shy, he kept to himself and made up imaginary places and playmates since he had to refrain from any kind of strenuous exercise due to his faulty, weak heart. Throughout Frank’s life, his health was a constant impediment, which became a looming presence and a major controlling factor. Although, it never impeded his creativity, drive and talent.

When Frank was about 5 years old, his father, Benjamin Baum, struck it rich in the oil business, and the family moved to Rose Lawn Estate, a country home near Chittenango. Rose Lawn was an idyllic place for young Frank to grow up. He was very happy there except for the constant reminder of his heart condition. It is possible that young Frank developed his creative side more than most since he was not allowed to play physically like other children his age. It is reasonable to assume that the foundations for his storytelling sensibilities were laid and nurtured during this time. Frank read fairy tales and British writers voraciously, and he especially enjoyed Dickens. But even at his young age, he criticized the fairy tales that were frightening and horrifying, "I demanded fairy stories when I was a youngster…and I was a critical reader too. One thing I never liked then, and that was the introduction of witches and goblins into the story. I didn’t like the little dwarfs in the woods bobbing up with their horrors." These fairy stories contributed to his nightmares or perhaps it was his overly active imagination. Frank made the decision that he would write a different kind of fairy tale.