help save the Emerald City from being conquered
by the Red Baron of Baffleburg. Thompson in-
vents several new and amusing characters in this
one, including a gryphon who has lost his voice.
The title character in Handy Mandy of Oz(1937)
is improbably equipped with seven functional
arms. A horse with telescoping legs battles a sea
serpent in The Giant Horse of Oz(1928), and The
Cowardly Lion of Oz(1923) sees that Baum char-
acter locked up in a zoo and in need of rescue.
Thompson wrote very little other fiction, but a
collection of her shorter work was recently pub-
lished as Sissajig and Other Surprises(2003). Thomp-
son was never as polished a writer as Baum or even
some of the others who added to the Oz story, but
she had the most consistently inventive imagination
and created several memorable characters.
Through the Looking Glass Lewis Carroll
(1871)
The popularity of Lewis CARROLL’s ALICE IN WON-
DERLAND(1865) logically resulted in a sequel relat-
ing Alice’s further adventures, published under
several variations of the title Through the Looking
Glass.In her first outing Alice entered a fabulous, ir-
rational world by following an unusual rabbit down
his hole, but this time she steps through a magical
mirror to visit the world that exists behind the glass.
Although Carroll engaged his wild imagination as
fully as before, there was an underlying pattern to
this novel because it is based very loosely on a clas-
sic chess game. The two novels are frequently con-
fused in readers’ minds, however, although the
sequel is generally of more interest to adult readers.
As with the first book, Carroll included mem-
orable characters and poetry. “The Walrus and the
Carpenter” and “Jabberwocky” are both from
Through the Looking Glass.Alice finds herself this
time in a fabulous land where everything is the op-
posite of what she would ordinarily expect. The
birds are capable of speech, the kings and queens
are all a bit mad, and she herself becomes a pawn
in an elaborate chess game that involves a variety
of unusual characters such as Tweedledee and
Tweedledum, Humpty Dumpty, and other familiar
figures from nursery rhymes. Although Alice even-
tually becomes a queen herself, she is frustrated by
the very strict rules in this reality and becomes
more than slightly rebellious. Along with the first
volume, with which it is often jointly published,
this is one of the true classics of children’s fantasy.“Thus I Refute Beelzy”John Collier(1941)
John Collier had a very unique, intense, and witty
story technique that has rarely been imitated. This
very short tale is probably his most famous, one
that initially bears a strong resemblance to “SREDNI
VASHTAR” (1911), by Saki, although Collier has a
different twist at the end and his story lacks the
ambiguity of the other. Both involve young boys
who are living a solitary life among adults who are
theoretically affectionate but quietly cruel and
smothering in their relationship. Saki’s protagonist
lives with a guardian, but Collier’s is the son of a
presumably happily married couple with a good in-
come and a nice home.
The young Simon Carter prefers his own com-
pany to that of other children, engaging in a series
of mysterious rituals that his parents interpret to be
part of an elaborate game. Although his mother is
perfectly willing to tolerate this behavior, Simon
senior, who prefers to be known as Big Simon as
opposed to Little Simon, has decided that he is an
expert on the psychological development of his son
and is also determined that the boy shall have no
secrets, no world of his own. He insists upon de-
tails of the game and is told that his son plays with
a mysterious being known as Beelzy, who is invisi-
ble to everyone else and whose shape and nature
vary from visit to visit.
Big Simon assumes that Beelzy is an imaginary
companion, but rather than accept that fact and
tolerate it, he decides that Little Simon must ac-
knowledge that it is all make believe. Uncharacter-
istically, Little Simon balks, refuses to cooperate,
and warns his parents that Beelzy will protect him.
Unimpressed, Big Simon orders him to his room,
where he plans to follow shortly to administer a
spanking. Moments after he climbs the stairs his
wife hears a terrible scream and investigates, but
all that is ever found of her husband is a single foot
still in its shoe, as though it had been bitten off.
Collier sets the reader up for the predictable reve-
lation that Beelzy is, in fact, imaginary and then“Thus I Refute Beelzy” 351