L. Frank Baum and John R. Neill's fantasy book The Sea Fairies is for young readers. A little child named Mayre Griffiths, also known as Trot, resides on the southern Californian coast. Cap'n Bill Weedles, a former sailor with a wooden leg, is her regular friend and her father is the skipper of a sailing schooner. Trot expresses a desire to see a mermaid one day, and the next day, her dream is accomplished after being overheard.
One of the very few completely unredeemable, pure-evil characters in Baum's novels, Zog the Magician is one of the monsters Trot and Cap'n Bill face. He is a grotesque hybrid of a man, an animal, and a fish. They see incredible sights in the kingdom of Queen Aquarine and King Anko, including an embarrassed octopus who discovers he is the emblem of the Standard Oil Company. The two main characters learn that many sailors who were believed to have drowned were really seized and sold into slavery by Zog.
The dominant characters in Oz Baum's Oz and his fantasy tales, in particular, are strong, morally upright women; the stereotype of the father figure is barely present. This general pattern is broken only by The Sea Fairies, who describe King Anko, a sea serpent, as being the closest thing to a strong, loving father figure.
Lyman Frank Baum was an American writer best known for his children's books, especially The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the Oz series, plus 41 other novels, 83 short stories, above 200 poems, and at least 42 scripts. He made many attempts to lead his works to the stage and screen; the 1939 adaptation of the first Oz book became a milestone of 20th-century cinema. Baum was born on 15 May 1856, near Syracuse, New York. His father, Benjamin, was a rich oil businessman, and young Frank developed in comfort. As a young child Frank was teached at home with his kins, but at the age of 12 he was sent to study at Peekskill Military Academy. He followed a variety of careers varying from acting to newspaper reporting to theatrical management to writing plays. Baum married Maud Gage, daughter of Matilda Joslyn Gage, a famous women's suffrage campaigner. His famous works are Mother Goose, Father Goose, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, The Master Key, etc. He made and headed The Oz Film Manufacturing Company in 1914. Baum expired on 6 May 1919 and was buried in Glendale, California.
