First published in 2006, Gina Wickwar’s delightful second Oz novel, Toto of Oz, is now available in two new print-on-demand editions. Order yours here in our online shop.
Both hardback and paperback editions have Anna-Maria Cool’s original dust jacket artwork printed directly on the binding. The “20th Anniversary Edition” cover note further helps distinguish these from the first edition.
“I always wanted to write an Oz book,” Gina said in a 2023 interview. “I think lots of us always have.”
She discovered the Oz Club in the 1960s. By 1968 she was herself completing her thesis on L. Frank Baum. With that finished, Gina turned to fiction by writing an outline for Toto of Oz.
“I sent it to Ruth [Thompson]—she was still alive—it was an outline; I still have it! She was very kind. And she was encouraging me…to flesh it out… to continue because she kind of liked the story.”
Years passed. Gina, always a world traveler, moved from Alaska to California and finally to Utah. Her children were grown and she found the time to become more involved in the Oz Club.
Her first complete manuscript, The Hidden Prince of Oz, won the Oz Club’s contest for a new Oz book to be published in 2000. Eloise Jarvis McGraw served as her editor.
“It was a wonderful year working with her. She was fun! We had a good time working together and she was a wonderful, wonderful editor. She was just very kind about nudging me into being a little more professional and [to make the story] a little more realistic….It was one of the great experiences of my life. I really loved her very much.”
Gina added that though Hidden Prince had been the project she shared with Eloise, the experience had a lasting effect on her writing. “I really learned a lot from her and when I rewrote Toto I used her advice.” 
Anna-Maria Cool, who illustrated Hidden Prince of Oz had been such a pleasure for Gina (“A joy to be with!”) that she was delighted when Anna-Maria agreed to illustrate Toto of Oz as well. The two had become fast friends through many book signings, media appearances, and other events.
Both the new versions include updated author and illustrator biographies in the back of the book.