1900年，《綠野仙蹤》（The Wonderful Wizard of Oz）在芝加哥出版問世，獲得廣大迴響。兩年後，被改編成百老匯舞台劇，亦大獲成功。作家鮑姆（L. Frank Baum, 1856–1919）遂於隔年開始陸續出版續作，在二十年間，一共創作了十四本系列故事。鮑姆辭世之後，由女作家Ruth P. Thompson接棒創作，另外也有其他作家的個別創作，於是講述奧茲國故事的創作，至少多達四十餘本。

《綠野仙蹤》被翻譯成各種語言，廣被改編成舞台劇、電影、動畫等。作者秉持著寫作「現代童話」的信念，希望降低童話故事的道德意味，給予孩子們歡樂時光與趣味的想像。因此創作出這本充滿想像力、情節詼諧卻不失純真的幻想故事。跟著桃樂絲一起冒險，與腦袋只有草的稻草人、沒有心的錫人、膽小怯懦的獅子邂逅，學習如何在困境與艱難中，堅持自己的夢想，最後面對自己的缺陷，尋回內心遺失的一角。

本書為《綠野仙蹤》的完整故事版本，採用英漢雙語編排，並穿插原著彩色插圖，不論是文學欣賞或是英語閱讀，都是最佳讀本。

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, later known as The Wizard of Oz, is one of the most famous modern American children's novels. It tells the story of Dorothy, who is carried by a cyclone to the land of Oz. There, she is befriended by the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion.

In an introduction to this novel, the author points out the spirit of this modern fairy tale: "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."

前言
民間傳奇和神話故事伴隨著孩子們走過童年，每個健康的孩子，相信都對神奇有趣又虛幻的故事愛不釋手。就像格林童話和安徒生童話，帶給孩子的心靈許多歡笑，絕非其他作品可比。
然而，在兒童的圖書館中，代代相傳的老式童話已經被分類成「老故事」了，現在的「奇幻故事」已不再需要刻板印象中的精靈、侏儒和仙女。而且，以往的童話作者為了在童話中達到教化目的，所設計的血腥駭人故事，現在也已經不適用了。因為現代教育已經納入道德倫理，兒童想從神奇的童話故事中得到的是趣味，而不樂見令人感到不適的情節。
有了這樣的想法，我寫了《綠野仙蹤》這本書來取悅現代的兒童。我想讓這本書成為一種現代童話，讓孩子們能在這本書中獲得趣味與喜悅，不會感到憂傷或留下夢魘。

法蘭克．巴姆
一九○○年四月於芝加哥

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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.
──L. Frank Baum (Chicago, April, 1900)