Who wrote the original novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?

L. Frank Baum wrote the original novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Baum’s book was first published in the United States in 1900, with illustrations by W. W. Denslow. It tells the story of Dorothy Gale, a Kansas farm girl swept by a cyclone into Oz, where she meets the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion.

The novel was the first in Baum’s Oz series. Its success led him to write thirteen official sequels, expanding Oz into a larger fictional world with new countries, characters, and histories. The original book was published by the George M. Hill Company and became one of the best-known works of American children’s literature.

A common mix-up comes from later adaptations. The title “The Wizard of Oz” is often used for the novel, the 1902 stage musical, and the famous 1939 film, but the original book’s title is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. C. S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, J. M. Barrie created Peter Pan, and Lewis Carroll wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.