The Wizard of Oz was an entertainment franchise before franchises were a concept. The original 14-book series by Baum is a rich tapestry of dark fantasy with bizarre characters and settings.

Everyone loves "The Wizard of Oz," except the official arbiters of kid lit: critics and children's librarians. They hate the "Oz" books. Or at least they did. Cheap, commercial, poorly written ...

Grande toted a book-shaped clutch covered in intricate rose stitching and the words Wizard of Oz. The whimsical design was created to look like a real-life copy of the famous fairytale.

In short, people are finding Oz everywhere but in the original books by L. Frank Baum — who invented the place in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1900) and its 13 sequels (after his death in 1919 ...