The Scarecrow of Oz

The Scarecrow of Oz is the ninth book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series, published on July 16, 1915. Baum considered it his personal favorite among the Oz books. It reworks his 1914 silent film, His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz, and was followed by Rinkitink in Oz (1916). Its protagonists, Cap'n Bill, a sailor with a wooden peg-leg, and the girl Trot, had already appeared in Baum's novels The Sea Fairies (1911) and Sky Island (1912).

The story begins when the two are capsized by a freak whirlpool and carried underwater to a cave, then to an island and the land of Mo, where they meet Button-Bright and a flying Ork. They eventually reach Jinxland, a kingdom cut off from the rest of Oz by mountains and a bottomless crevice, whose throne has changed hands through a series of usurpations. King Krewl now rules, and an unpleasant citizen, Googly-Goo, seeks to marry Princess Gloria, who loves Pon. With the help of a witch, her heart is frozen, and the Scarecrow arrives from Glinda's palace to set the wrong right.

The novel is dedicated to The Uplifters of Los Angeles, a social group of prominent businessmen and public figures in which Baum was active. The film company he had co-founded with some of them had invested heavily in the movie, which failed to earn back its costs, and the novel did not meet the author's hopes: its first edition sold about 14,300 copies. Over time, however, it became one of the more popular installments of the series. It contains a romantic element uncommon in the earlier Oz books and marks the last appearance of an American child traveling to Oz.