Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919) was an American writer of children's books, best known for creating the marvelous Land of Oz in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." This fanciful kingdom was catalogued in a series of children's books beginning with the publication of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Baum's Oz series compasses the first fully developed fantasy world created by an American author. In 1900, Baum and Denslow, famous illustrator with whom he shared the copyright, published "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," making it one of the first commercially successful uses of color illustrations in American publishing. Dorothy and her friends soon began their journey toward becoming an integral part of the American consciousness. "The Scarecrow of Oz" is the ninth book to the Land of Oz series. This story tells of the Scarecrows efforts at helping characters Captain Bill and Trot on their journey to Oz to overthrow the evil King Krewl of Jinxland. "The Scarecrow of Oz" was a way for Baum to introduce readers to another one of his book series ("The Sea Fairies" and "Sky Island").