The Scarecrow and Tin-man of Oz

by W.W. Denslow

Come adventuring with the Scarecrow and Tin-Man as they cheer up little Dorothy, visit Santa Claus, and come to America for an incredible journey to New York City, New Orleans, Bermuda, and the Wild West! This action-packed volume includes all twelve of W. W. Denslow’s 1904-1905 newspaper stories plus the 1904 SCARECROW AND TIN-MAN picture book! W. W. Denslow was the original illustrator of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ. In this little-known series of Oz adventures you’ll be magically transported back to 1904. All of Denslow’s artwork for the stories has been pain-stakingly restored from the rare newspaper printings and thus provide crisp black-and-white line art for almost every spread of this beautiful Oz-book style volume. First ever book Collection of these hundred-year-old Oz tales!

Hardcover

Published February 1, 2006

About the author

William Wallace Denslow (W. W. Denslow) was an American illustrator and caricaturist. He is best known for his collaboration with author L. Frank Baum, especially the illustrations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Reviews

[K.A. Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful collection of the now-obscure newspaper stories & cartoons from the early 1900s based on the two characters from The Wizard of Oz. Denslow and L. Frank Baum both held equal copyright to the first Oz book, and both continued the characters' adventures in their own separate newspaper stories (which led to a falling-out between the two). In these adventures, the Scarecrow and Tin Man learn about Christmas from Dorothy in Oz; travel from Oz to the United States; and embark on a continent-traversing journey by sled, boat, bronco, and parade. The jokes are very silly, the illustrations fantastic. You can see Denslow's evolution in drawing the Scarecrow from the rather dumpy figure in The Wizard of Oz to a lanky, floppy straw man in these cartoons. The only negative thing about these stories and drawings is the racial stereotyping of Indigenous, Mexican, and even Italian people the duo meet along their journey. It's dated, and somewhat offensive. Barring those episodes, the rest of the tales are enjoyable.