The Bluebird Books

Children's novel series

The Bluebird Books is a series of novels popular with teenage girls in the 1910s and 1920s. The series was begun by L. Frank Baum using his Edith Van Dyne pseudonym,[1] then continued by at least three others, all using the same pseudonym. Baum wrote the first four books in the series, possibly with help from his son, Harry Neal Baum, on the third. The fifth book is based on a fragment by Baum and written by an unknown author. The last five books were written by Emma Speed Sampson. The origin of the title is uncertain, but the books were all published in hardcover with blue cloth.

The books are concerned with adolescent girl detectives[2] — a concept Baum had experimented with earlier, in The Daring Twins (1911) and Phoebe Daring (1912). The Bluebird series began with Mary Louise, originally written as a tribute to Baum's favorite sister, Mary Louise Baum Brewster. Baum's publisher, Reilly & Britton, rejected that manuscript, as they felt the heroine was too independent for a female.[3] Baum wrote a new version of the book; the original manuscript is lost.

The title character is Mary Louise Burrows. In the first books of the series, she is a fifteen-year-old girl with unusual maturity (though the other girls in her boarding school find her somewhat priggish). She confronts the fact that her grandfather is suspected of treason against the United States. With her friends' help, she reveals her grandfather's innocence and uncovers the truth. The novel features federal agent John O'Gorman with assistance from his daughter Josie, whom he trained to be an investigator. (Josie O'Gorman, despite preceding Nancy Drew by more than a decade, is much less traditionally feminine.)[4]

Subsequent novels in the series bring changes on this basic formula. The second book, Mary Louise in the Country, involves the then-contemporary struggle for Irish independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Josie O'Gorman, tougher and less ladylike than Mary Louise, has a more prominent role, and eventually takes over the series. Sampson relented and named the last few books after this character.

Marie Louise in the Country contains a passage bearing upon the question of racism in Baum's works. Baum draws a contrast between the crude racist attitude of a local shopkeeper with the more egalitarian attitudes of Marie Louise and her grandfather.[5] Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls is concerned with the strong anti-German sentiments in the United States during World War I.[6]

## Books in the series

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1. Mary Louise (1916)
2. Mary Louise in the Country (1916)
3. Mary Louise Solves a Mystery (1917)
4. Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls (1918)
5. Mary Louise Adopts a Soldier (1919)
6. Mary Louise at Dorfield (1920)
7. Mary Louise Stands the Test (1921)
8. Mary Louise and Josie O'Gorman (1922)
9. Josie O'Gorman (1923)
10. Josie O'Gorman and the Meddlesome Major (1924)

## References

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1. ^ Peter E. Hanff, "Bibliographia Pseudonymiana — Edith Van Dyne: The Bluebird Books," The Baum Bugle, Vol. 18 No. 3 (Winter 1974), pp. 12-13.
2. ^ Bobbie Anne Mason, The Girl Sleuth, Athens, GA, University of Georgia Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8203-1739-X
3. ^ Katharine M. Rogers, L. Frank Baum, Creator of Oz: A Biography, New York, St. Martin's Press, 2002; pp. 219-20. ISBN 0-312-30174-X
4. ^ A poster on The Ozzy Digest once wrote, "Compared to Josie O'Gorman, Nancy Drew's a girly-girl." — John W. Kennedy in The Ozzy Digest, 21 December 2003.
5. ^ Rogers, p. 272.
6. ^ Rogers, pp. 221-2.

## External links

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* The Bluebird Books public domain audiobook at LibriVox

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L. Frank Baum

Bibliography

Novels|

* The Magical Monarch of Mo
* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
* Dot and Tot of Merryland
* The Master Key
* The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
* The Enchanted Island of Yew
* The Marvelous Land of Oz
* Queen Zixi of Ix
* The Fate of a Crown
* The Woggle-Bug Book
* Annabel
* Aunt Jane's Nieces
* Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad
* Daughters of Destiny
* Sam Steele's Adventures on Land and Sea
* The Twinkle Tales
* John Dough and the Cherub
* Ozma of Oz
* Policeman Bluejay
* The Last Egyptian
* The Boy Fortune Hunters in Egypt
* Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
* Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville
* Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work
* The Road to Oz
* Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society
* The Emerald City of Oz
* Aunt Jane's Nieces and Uncle John
* The Daring Twins
* The Flying Girl
* The Sea Fairies
* Aunt Jane's Nieces on Vacation
* Phoebe Daring
* Sky Island
* Aunt Jane's Nieces on the Ranch
* The Patchwork Girl of Oz
* Aunt Jane's Nieces Out West
* Tik-Tok of Oz
* Aunt Jane's Nieces in the Red Cross
* The Scarecrow of Oz
* Mary Louise
* Rinkitink in Oz
* The Lost Princess of Oz
* The Tin Woodman of Oz
* The Magic of Oz
* Glinda of Oz

Short story
collections|

* Mother Goose in Prose
* American Fairy Tales
* Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz
* Animal Fairy Tales
* L. Frank Baum's Juvenile Speaker
* Little Wizard Stories of Oz
* The Runaway Shadows

Poetry
collections|

* By the Candelabra's Glare
* Father Goose: His Book

Plays|

* The Maid of Arran
* The Wizard of Oz (1902)
* Prince Silverwings
* The Woggle-Bug
* The Tik-Tok Man of Oz

Films|

* The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
* The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914)
* The Magic Cloak of Oz
* His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz
* Violet's Dreams
* The Gray Nun of Belgium

Related people
and collaborators|

* Maud Gage Baum (wife)
* Matilda Joslyn Gage (mother-in-law)
* Frank Joslyn Baum (son)
* Harry Neal Baum (son)
* Roger S. Baum (great-grandson)
* Jocelyn Burdick (niece)
* Paul Tietjens
* Edith Ogden Harrison
* Isidore Witmark
* Louis F. Gottschalk
* Nathaniel D. Mann
* Frederic Chapin
* Manuel Klein
* Arthur Pryor
* Byron Gay
* Emerson Hough
* William Wallace Denslow
* John R. Neill

Related|

* The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story (1990 film)

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Juvenile series books (1899–1929)

Girls' books|

* Bobbsey Twins (1904–1979)
* Aunt Jane's Nieces (1906–1918)
* Dorothy Dale (1908–1924)
* Grace Harlowe (1910–1924)
* Camp Fire Girls (1912?–1936)
* The Bluebird Books (1916–1924)
* Marjorie Dean (1917–1930)
* Betty Gordon (1920–1932)
* Honey Bunch (1920–1955)

Boys' books|

* Rover Boys (1899–1926)
* Bobbsey Twins (1904–1979)
* Motor Boys (1906–1924)
* Boy Fortune Hunters (1908–1911)
* Submarine Boys (1909–1920)
* Tom Swift (1910–1941)
* Motor Boat Boys (1912–1915)
* Baseball Joe (1912–1928)
* Dave Dashaway (1913-1915)
* The Saddle Boys (1913-1915)
* Radio Boys (1922–1930)
* Pee-Wee Harris (1922–1930)
* Don Sturdy (1925–1935)
* Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1926–1938)
* X Bar X Boys (1926–1942)
* Ted Scott Flying Stories (1927–1935)

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