THE WIZARD OF OZ

"I was reacquainted with the Oz books while reading them to my son. I intended to read the series to him in order, starting with 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,' but I couldn't get my hands on it right away. When I finally found it, I noticed the copyright page original publication date, 1900 and realized we had an anniversary to celebrate! I'm especially pleased to be paying homage to the great Oz illustrators, W.W. Denslow and John R. Neill - that's their insignias 'carved' into the fence post in the image foreground. Denslow, who illustrated the first book, gave us portraits of Dorothy and her friends that are almost inseparable from the text, as definitive as the Tenniel illustrations for 'Alice in Wonderland.' As for Neill, who illustrated all 14 remaining books in the series . . . well, if L. Frank Baum paved the yellow road, Neill made every brick shine."