L. Frank Baum's Juvenile Speaker facts for kids
First edition
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| Author | L. Frank Baum |
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| Illustrator | Maginel Wright Enright John R. Neill |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Poetry, Humor, Fantasy, Drama |
| Publisher | Reilly & Britton |
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Publication date
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1910 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 196 pp. |
L. Frank Baum's Juvenile Speaker is a special collection of stories, poems, and plays by L. Frank Baum. He is the famous author who wrote the Oz books, like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This book was first published in 1910. It had cool pictures drawn by John R. Neill and Maginel Wright Enright, who often worked on Baum's books. In 1912, the book got a new name: Baum's Own Book for Children.
Baum created this collection especially for schools. He wanted it to help students learn about public speaking. The book includes many different types of writings. Some parts were new, while others were updated versions of stories from his Oz books and other works. For example, it included a short play called Prince Marvel, which was made for kids to act out.
Stories and Changes
One of the stories in Juvenile Speaker is "Little Bun Rabbit." This story first appeared in Baum's 1897 book, Mother Goose in Prose. In that first version, the main character was a little girl named Dorothy. She could talk to animals. When Baum put this story in Juvenile Speaker, he changed the girl's name to Doris. He did this so readers wouldn't get her confused with Dorothy Gale from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Baum also made other small changes to his older stories for this book. For instance, a chapter from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz called "The Dainty China Country" became a separate story called "In Chinaland." In this new version, Baum removed a part where the Cowardly Lion accidentally broke a small china church with his tail.
Later Editions
Many stories from Juvenile Speaker were printed again in other books later on. Between 1916 and 1917, Baum's publisher, Reilly & Britton, released six smaller books. These were called The Snuggle Tales. Each book had 62 pages and black-and-white pictures by John R. Neill. They were sold for 40 cents each. The publisher had done something similar with the Little Wizard Stories of Oz a few years earlier. This was a good way to reach kids who were just learning to read.
The six Snuggle Tales books were:
- Little Bun Rabbit and Other Stories (1916)
- Once Upon a Time and Other Stories (1916)
- The Yellow Hen and Other Stories (1916)
- The Magic Cloak and Other Stories (1916)
- The Gingerbread Man (1917)
- Jack Pumpkinhead (1917)
Later, in 1920, The Snuggle Tales were printed again. This time, they were called the Oz-Man Tales and included colorful pictures.
To give you an idea of what was inside, here are the stories from one of the Snuggle Tales books, The Magic Cloak and Other Stories:
- "The Weaving of the Magic Cloak" — from Queen Zixi of Ix
- "When the Whistle Blows" (poem)
- "In Chinaland" — from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
- "The Greedy Goldfish" (poem) — from Father Goose, His Book
- "Santa Claus's First Journey" — from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
- "The Head of the King" — from The Magical Monarch of Mo
- "The Tramp" (poem) — from By the Candelabra's Glare
- "The Mantle of Immortality" — from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
- "The King of Thieves" — from The Enchanted Island of Yew
- "Melting a Wicked Witch" — from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
- "Miss Violin's Beau" (a funny poem)
- "The Beautiful Valley of Mo" — from The Magical Monarch of Mo
