The Patchwork Girl of Oz

I was allowed to go to my local library, alone, at a very early age. My joy in the books I found there propelled me into a life in books.

I’m sure my mother took me to see the movie, The Wizard of Oz, so when I got to the library and discovered there were shelves of books about Oz, I was in awe.

For the context of this story, I am going to use a title and picture from one of those books, but know that this one book is representing the full series of Oz books from L. Frank Baum to through Ruth Plumley Thompson. When you are eight years old and discover that there is a whole lot more to Oz than Dorothy and the Wizard an exciting world of fantasy opens up. I loved the continuing eccentric characters. I loved how Oz was divided into four countries, each dominated by a different color. I loved learning that other people had written Oz books beside Baum. They could go on forever.

At the library, the Oz books were shelved on the two lowest shelves. There was a corrugated rubber runner on the floor. I had to get down on my hands and knees to see the titles with the rubber runner pressing into my knees, hoping I would find an Oz book I hadn’t read.

Fast forward many years. I am a nurse, a wife, a mother. As my children get older I am again free to peruse used book shops where every so often I come upon a Reilly & Lee reprint of an Oz book from my generation. Now I have the money to afford them. Gradually I built a collection.

Fast forward again. Many years later, after getting a very late MLIS I had the opportunity to obtain a certificate in children’s literature. One of the assignments was to build a web page. I made mine “The Girls of Oz.” In subsequent years I joined the International Wizard of Oz Club and attended their annual convention in Chittenango, New York, the birthplace of L. Frank Baum. I met many collectors of all kinds of Oz memorabilia. I was even able to participate in the book auction, paying $110 for a Reilly & Lee reprint. The Scalawags of Oz was a welcome addition to my collection. It was the first time I had paid more than $50 for one of these books. Now I am mostly retired. One of my bucket list items is to make an Oz Quilt. So currently, on the bed in my spare room are the beginnings of this quilt. I am working on the centerpiece. She is “the Patchwork Girl of Oz.” I do want to have her finished in the next year or so… before I kick the bucket.

by Sally Michalski