L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) was born in Chittenago, New York. He worked as a journalist, a playwright, a producer, an actor, a shop merchant, and a salesman. The Wizard of Oz was inspired by a bedtime story Baum told his four sons. Originally published in 1900, this book has become a perennial favorite across generations of readers. Lisbeth Zwerger has been accorded nearly every prize that can be given, including the highest international award for lifetime achievement, the Hans Christian Andersen Medal. Since 1981 she has devoted her extraordinary talents to children s literature, to stories as charming and picturesque as her native Vienna. Always surprising, always engaging, her artwork combines technical mastery with an insight and gentleness so rare and captivating that she has been correctly called one of the finest illustrators of the twentieth century."