Queen Zixi of Ix (Annotated)

Book excerpt: *This Book is annotated (it contains a detailed biography of the author). *This book has been checked and corrected for spelling errors. Queen Zixi of Ix, or The Story of the Magic Cloak is a children's book written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Frederick Richardson. It was originally serialized in the early 20th-century American children's magazine St. Nicholas from November 1904 to October 1905, and was published in book form later in 1905 by The Century Company. The events of the book alternate between Noland and Ix, two neighboring regions to the Land of Oz, and Baum himself commented this was the best book he had written. In a letter to his eldest son, Frank Joslyn Baum, he said it was "nearer to the 'old-fashioned' fairy tale than anything I have yet accomplished," and in many respects, it adheres more closely to the fairy tale structure than the Oz books. Although Oz remains the more popular region, many readers have held that Queen Zixi of Ix is a better book than The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.