Glinda of Oz

Did You Know?

• The book was dedicated to Baum's second son, Robert Stanton Baum.
• It was followed by The Royal Book of Oz (1921).

Plot

Princess Ozma and Dorothy travel to a remote part of Oz to prevent war between the Skeezers and the Flatheads. The leaders refuse to stop, and Dorothy and Ozma become imprisoned on the Skeezers' glass-covered island, which is magically submerged to the lake bottom. Their captor, Queen Coo-ee-oh, is transformed into a swan during battle and forgets her magic, leaving everyone trapped. Ozma and Dorothy summon Glinda, who with other magicians works to raise the island.

Writing

The printed text differs from Baum's manuscript in one notable way: Red Reera originally appeared as a skeleton with wired bones and glowing red eyes, but the published version shows Reera as a gray ape in an apron and lace, likely changed at Baum's editors' suggestion. Other manuscript alterations by an unknown editor at Reilly & Lee are more minor. The submerged Skeezer city may have been inspired by the semi-submerged Temple of Isis at Philae in Egypt, which Baum saw in 1906.