His concept of Nature and the supernatural beings that populate it owes much to the beliefs of the Theosophical Society, of which he was a member. His feminism -- evident in his heroes, are usually self-reliant girls, and his good rulers, who are all female -- was reinforced by his mother-in-law, the suffragist leader Matilda Gage.

The essential appeal of Baum's fairyland is that it is filled with wonders and still seems to be real. Readers enter a world free from the restrictions of ordinary life, where they will constantly encounter delightful new experiences. Baum created original characters and situations of unending inventiveness, and yet he kept them believable with consistent treatment and realistic detail.

Baum's world provides harmony and security of an ideal family; he celebrates traditional American values such as egalitarianism, self-reliance, and practicality; and always shows effort leading to success and good overcoming evil. But his world is not insipid. It includes evil creatures and subversive ideas, even a daring burlesque of the orthodox heaven. The satiric edge on Baum's humor and his engagement with genuine philosophical questions like the nature of identity make his work interesting to adults and well as chi