Editing L. Frank Baum (section)

===Literary===
Baum's avowed intentions with the Oz books and his other [[fairy tale]]s was to retell tales such as those which are found in the works of the [[Brothers Grimm]] and [[Hans Christian Andersen]], remake them in an American vein, update them, omit stereotypical characters such as [[Dwarf (mythology)|dwarfs]] or [[Jinn|genies]], and remove the association of violence and [[Morality|moral teachings]].<ref>Sale, p. 223.</ref> His first Oz books contained a fair amount of violence, but the amount of it decreased as the series progressed; in ''[[The Emerald City of Oz]]'', [[Princess Ozma|Ozma]] objects to the use of violence, even to the use of violence against the Nomes who threaten Oz with invasion.<ref>Riley, p. 164.</ref> His introduction is often cited as the beginning of the sanitization of children's stories, although he did not do a great deal more than eliminate harsh moral lessons.

Another traditional element that Baum intentionally omitted was the emphasis on [[Romance (love)|romance]]. He considered romantic love to be uninteresting to young children, as well as largely incomprehensible. In ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', the only elements of romance lay in the background of the [[Tin Woodman]] and his love for [[Nimmie Amee]], which explains his condition but does not affect the tale in any other way, and the background of [[Gayelette]] and the enchantment of the [[winged monkeys]]. The only other stories with such elements were ''[[The Scarecrow of Oz]]'' and ''[[Tik-Tok of Oz]]''; both of them were based on dramatizations, which Baum regarded warily until his readers accepted them.<ref>Hearn, pp. 138–139.</ref>