几乎每一个伟大国度都有其最具代表性的传世儿童经典，如英国刘易斯·卡罗尔的《爱丽丝梦游仙境》、德国的《格林童话》、丹麦的《安徒生童话》、意大利的《木偶奇遇记》、法国的《小王子》等。那么在美国呢?这本书当属弗兰克·鲍姆的《绿野仙踪》。 1900年，鲍姆写作的奥芝（OZ）系列故事中的第一部《奥芝国的魔法师》（中文版译名《绿野仙踪》）诞生。自问世以来，这本书受到了世界儿童的喜爱，1900年上市便成为畅销书，众多版本畅销至今。1902年，这一故事被改编成舞台剧在百老汇上演，大受欢迎。1939年，米高梅公司将这一经典故事搬上银幕，著名影星朱迪·嘉兰（Judy Garland）主演，于是这部故事在西方家喻户晓。如今该书已被译成五十多种文字在全球出版。
　　《绿野仙踪：（英文原版）》以时间为序，围绕奥芝国的历史，讲述了一个名为多萝西的小女孩被飓风卷到另一个国度奥芝国的历险记，她和狮子、铁皮人、稻草人，还有小狗托托一起，追寻勇气、善良和智慧，最终实现了各自愿望。书中没有传统童话故事中的王子、公主等角色，以引人入胜的系列故事情节、真情美好的画面和没有暴力的场景，在孩子内心植入生活的美德与智慧，让他们敢于冒险，懂得团结互助与善良友爱。这一经典的童话故事，也表达了人们对美好家园的向往，正如书中主题所言：“只有家，才是最美好的”。

　　Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.
　　Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as “historical” in the children’s library; for the time has come for a series of newer “wonder tales” in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.
　　Having this thought in mind, the story of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was written solely to please children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out.