L. Frank Baum, born May 15, 1856, wanted to create a new kind of fairy tale. He loved the old European stories by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, but he thought they were too dark and frightening for American children. Grimm's tales had witches who ate children and wolves that swallowed grandmothers whole. Baum wanted wonder without the nightmares. In 1900, he published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The book kept magical elements -- a talking scarecrow, flying monkeys, a powerful wizard -- but set them in a world where courage, kindness, and intelligence were rewarded. Dorothy does not defeat the Wicked Witch through violence or trickery. She defeats her accidentally, with a bucket of water. The book was an immediate sensation. It sold 90,000 copies in its first year, making it the bestselling children's book of 1900. Readers demanded more, and Baum eventually wrote thirteen more Oz books. He was reluctant at first, wanting to write other stories, but the public appetite for Oz was too strong. Baum tried several other careers before becoming a writer, including chicken farming, newspaper editing, and selling fireworks. None of them worked. He found success only when he started writing down the stories he had been telling his children at bedtime.