The Wizard of the Emerald City 1". The Wizard of the Emerald City The Wizard of the Emerald City () is a 1939 children's novel by Russian writer Alexander Melentyevich Volkov. The book is a re-narration of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Baum's name is sometimes credited in the book (in the appendix by Volkov, which is found in some editions, where Volkov describes the origins of his book). The names of most characters are changed, some elements of Baum's novel are removed, and some new elements are added. The book was illustrated by Leonid Vladimirski in 1959 and became quite popular in
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Hamlin committed to making "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" into a musical stage play to publicize the novel. The play "The Wizard of Oz" debuted on June 16, 1902. It was revised to suit adult preferences and was crafted as a "musical extravaganza", with the costumes modeled after Denslow's drawings. Hill's publishing company became bankrupt in 1901, so Baum and Denslow agreed to have the Indianapolis-based Bobbs-Merrill Company resume publishing the novel. Baum's son Harry Neal told the "Chicago Tribune" in 1944 that L. Frank told his children "whimsical stories before they became material for his books". Harry called his