The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (Baum)

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum (1902)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Note that this was finished in 2022, but I didn't catch up on the final reviews of the year.

I grew up at the perfect time to watch all the Rankin/Bass Christmas (and other holiday) specials. And yet despit that, I only saw The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus for the first time just a few years ago. It's the pinnacle of their storytelling ability. No songs, just pure fantasy. Some time after this, I discovered that it was based on a book by L. Frank Baum (the Oz guy, don't you know).

This year I decided to get a copy. It's been in public domain for a while.

A baby is found by Forest of Burzee by Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World. Burzee is home to immortals and no human has ever set foot there. He places the baby in the care of the lioness Shiegra (who had thought the baby might make a good snack before then). The baby is then adopted by the Wood Nymph, Necile. He's given the name "Claus", meaning "little one", but gets called "Neclaus", meaning Necile's little one.

He grows up with the Nooks and Ryls and the nymphs and the animals until Ak decides to take him on a trip about the world to see others of his kind. He leaves the immortals and starts making toys for children. The immortals aid him in this. There are villains, in the form of the Awgwas, which are creatures who could turn invisible, who steal his toys. They are eventually defeated.

When Claus ages to the point of death, the immortals meet to grant the mantle of immortality onto Claus. There is only one that could be given in all of history. It was made to be bestowed, and if one such as Claus isn't worthy of it, no human ever would be. So it is a unanimous decision among the immortals.

I copied this list from Wikipedia (which got it from the text) just because I love the variety of it: a council, headed by Ak (Master Woodsman of the World), Bo (Master Mariner of the World), and Kern (Master Husbandman of the World) gathers together the Gnome King, the Queen of the Water Spirits, the King of the Wind Demons, the King of the Ryls, the King of the Knooks, the King of the Sound Imps, the King of the Sleep Fays, the Fairy Queen, Queen Zurline of the Wood Nymphs, and the King of the Light Elves with the Princes Flash and Twilight, to decide the fate of Santa Claus.

Also amusing was a song that Claus would sing. It reminded me of the song sung in the Merry Old Land of Oz, and with good reason. I wonder if the lyricists used Baum's other works for inspriration. I don't recall a similar song in the text of the Wizard of Oz.

I enjoyed this. Maybe I'll read it again next year. Maybe not -- I tend not to reread books because I have so many "to be read".

Ozma of Oz (Baum)

Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum (1907)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

I've read The Wizard of Oz as an ebook in the past few years. I read The Land of Oz as a paperback many, many years ago, and then again more recently as a rather interesting set of graphic novels. Next up in the series is Ozma of Oz. The fact that I was looking for short reads to pad out the year is not exactly coincidental.

Many years ago, I saw the movie Return to Oz when it was first released (at Radio City Music Hall, no less). I recognized a lot of the characters from "Land", except that it had Dorothy, and not Tip. Also, it had different villains, namely the Nome King (an underground rock creature of sorts, not a gnome) and the Wheelers (creatures with wheels for hands and feet, and long arms, too.)

This book starts with Dorothy and Uncle Ben on the boat going to Australia. Dorothy gets washed overboard in a storm and clings to a chicken coop for safety. In the morning, she finds a hen has also survived. The hen's name is Bill, and Dorothy calls her "Billina" instead. She discovers this because the hen is able to talk because they are close a a fairy land. Except that Oz doesn't border any oceans. Instead they wash up on the land of Ev, where their adventure begins.

Ozma and the rest of the gang from Land of Oz (except Pumpkinhead) show up in the second part of the book. They rescue Dorothy, and then take her with them to rescue the royal family of Ev from the Nome King, who has turned them into knickknacks in his palace. The King gives every member of the party (including each soldier) a chance to rescue the royal family -- and each other. If they fail to find anyone, then the searcher will also be turned into a knickknack in the palace.

If I remember the movie, Dorothy discovered the secret to finding the rest of the party. Here, it's Billina who is the King's undoing.