Volkov and the Wizard of OZ

[ROBERT A ROTHSTEIN]

In a postcript to _Volshebnik izumrudnogo goroda_ (Moscow:
Sovetskaia Rossiia, 1978), Volkov writes about the book:

        Napisana ona po motivam skazki amerikanskogo pisatelia
        Frenka Bauma "Mudrets iz strany Oz", no ia ochen' mnogoe
        v nei izmenil, dopisal novye glavy.  V svoei skazke ia
        staralsia pokazat', chto samoe luchshee, samoe dorogoe
        na svete -- eto druzhba i vzaimnaia vyruchka.  Oni
        pomogli Elli i ee druz'iam izbezhat' opasnostei
        v Volshebnoi strane i dobit'sia ispolneniia ikh
        zavetnykh zhelanii.

He goes on to tell how letters from readers prompted him to write
additional stories about the subsequent adventures of the Baum/
Volkov characters.  The second book was called _Urfin Dzhius i
ego dereviannye soldaty_, and was followed by _Sem' podzemnykh
korelei_, _Ognennyi bog Marranov_ and _Zheltyi tuman_.  (There is
a final volume, which Volkov does not mention:   _Taina
zabroshennogo zamka_.  The edition that I have was published in
1982.)

Volkov published an article about these works ("Chetyre
puteshestviia v volshebnuiu stranu") in the journal _Detskaia
literatura_, 1968, no. 9.  The same journal published an
article about Volkov by I. Rakhtanov ("Pisatel' i uchenyi") in
no. 2 for 1962.

                Bob Rothstein