This Week's Oz Short Story

Heading back over to the third story of the 2021 issue of Oziana, I had the pleasure of reading "A Week with Mr. Baum" by Laura DeNooyer, with illustrations by Spinner Martin. This is part of a trend I like in Oziana, with stories about L. Frank Baum and the creation of Oz. Lodemia Jane is a young girl on vacation in Macatawa, Michigan, on the shore of Lake Michigan, in 1904. Unfortunately, even on vacation her parents are strict and impatient with her, punishing her for not doing her chores (on vacation???) properly or dropping things or, worse of all, daydreaming. So when she notices the family next door and how much fun they seem to be having, she is intrigued. The family is Frank and Maud Baum and their two youngest sons, Harry and Kenneth, and they draw her into their world. She visits with them for the week they are there, and they let her be a kid. Frank listens to her stories and shares some of his with her (and imagine her surprise when Janie finds out Frank is the author of her favorite book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!) They go swimming in Lake Michigan, and Frank even breaks out a printing press and helps Janie print her own little book. It all helps Janie to cope with her own life a little better, to see that there is another way to be a good person besides her parents' strict parameters.

This was a charming little slice-of-life tale. The Baums ring very true, based on what most of us know about them, and the contrast between them and Janie's family is stark. But she looks ready to take on whatever life gives her.