John Dough and the Cherub
Encyclopedia
John Dough and the Cherub is a children's
fantasy
novel written by L. Frank Baum
, about a living gingerbread man and his adventures.
, and published in 1906
by the Reilly & Britton
Company. The story was serialized in the Washington Sunday Star and other newspapers from October to December 1906. Like the Oz books but unlike many of the author's other works, John Dough was issued under Baum's name rather than one of his pseudonyms.
The book was popular; as late as 1919 it was selling 1500 copies a year.
The 1974 Dover Publications
edition features an introduction by Martin Gardner
.
haircut that could fit either a boy or a girl.
The publishers wanted Baum to resolve the ambiguity, but he refused. Eventually they made the best of the situation: in the publicity campaign for the original edition, Reilly & Britton conducted a contest in which the book's child readers could vote on the gender of Chick. The children who gave the best answers, in 25 words or less, won prizes.
The contest's second-place prize was won by a boy who read the story in the Seattle Times. His entry read, "The Cherub was a girl because if it had been a boy he would have eaten the ginger-bread man at once whether it agreed with him or not."
and ethnic sensitivity will find grounds for complaint in John Dough. The villain of the story, Ali Dubh, is an Arab; he spends most of the book chasing after the gingerbread protagonist, determined and eager to...eat him. Baum exploits aspects of Western culture's negative stereotypes of Arabs; Baum's Arabs have "dark, beady eyes" and move with a "sly, cat-like tread." One unfortunate Arab is trampled to death by a "mad camel."
Neill does not help matters with his illustrations. He incorrectly pictures his Arabs wearing turbans, like Sikh
s; they garb themselves in sinister cloaks. Along with his turban and cape, Ali Dubh wears curly-toed slippers, and a military-style uniform like a member of a marching band; he keeps his scimitar tucked into the sash around his waist when he isn't brandishing it at John Dough. Ali Dubh is a circus costumer's idea of an Arab.
The novel includes characters with ethnic prejudices. In the book's fourth chapter, an American housewife opines, "I always knew there was something wrong with those Frenchies." However, she turns out to be an extremely nasty character.
Then there are the mifkets. If the mifkets are seen as parodies of pre-modern, "primitive" people, they would certainly be offensive by modern standards of judgement. Yet the mifkets are described by Baum, and pictured by Neill, more as fairyland goblins than as any type of human being; Baum notes specifically that a mifket is "neither an animal nor a man," leaving it in some third category.
On the other hand, the novel also features successful integration of two extremely different ethnic groups, under John Dough's benevolent rulership in Hiland and Loland.
In addition to being rheumatic, however, Leontine is also colorblind; she confuses the gold and silver bottles. She pours the Great Elixir into a bowl of water and bathes her sore limbs in it. Instantly the pain is gone, and she feels "as light and airy as a fairy...It occurred to her that she would like to dance; to run and shout, to caper about as she used to do as a girl." Since she is a sensible older woman, she goes to bed instead.
Her husband Jules comes into the bakery at 3:00 AM; it is the Fourth of July, and he decides to bake a large gingerbread man to display in his store window. He mixes his dough — and uses the water in the bowl at hand. He forms a gingerbread figure the size of a "fourteen-year-old boy," but in the shape and appearance of a "typical French gentleman." Jules gives the figure glass eyes, white candies for teeth, and lozenges for his suitcoat buttons. He bakes the gingerbread man in his oven — and is astonished to find that the figure comes to life when done. The full dose of the Great Elixir has endowed John Dough
the gingerbread man not only with life, but with intelligence and multilingual speech. Jules flees in panic; John Dough equips himself with the baker's top hat and a candy-cane cane, and sets out to see the world.
Ali Dubh is outraged when he learns what has happened; but he also sees a solution for his problem. He simply needs to eat the gingerbread man to gain the benefits of the Elixir. With that realization, the Arab sets out in pursuit of John Dough.
; a girl executioner who never gets to kill anybody and weeps over the fact; and a two-legged talking horse that bullies its rider. The Isle is also the home of crank inventors. One of them, the least cranky of the lot, has created a workable flying machine. Once Ali Dubh shows up on Phreex (he purchased a magic spell from a witch to track his quarry), John and Chick depart in the flying machine for parts unknown.
Their first stop is a small island that contains the Palace of Romance. There, the heroes fall into a Sheherazade
predicament: they need to keep telling stories to avoid being killed. They soon make their escape in the flying machine, which crashes onto another island of strange creatures. They meet Pittypat, a talking white rabbit, and Para Bruin, a big and bouncing rubber bear. The mifkets, who also inhabit the island, are malicious gnome-like beings who cause the protagonists major problems, even eating the fingers from John's left hand. Things look dire when Ali Dubh arrives and conspires with the mifkets.
John sacrifices the rest of his hand to save the life of a pretty young girl trapped on the island, who is wasting away; his Elixir-rich gingerbread flesh saves her life. Pittypat the rabbit introduces the heroes to the King of the Fairy Beavers, who accepts them into his subterranean domain and resolves their difficulties with his magic. The girl is restored to her parents; John and Chick, joined by Para Bruin, are borne into the sky by friendly flamingoes. After a brief and unpleasant stop on Pirate Island, the flamingoes carry the three adventurers to their final destination. (Ali Dubh is left stranded on the mifket island; his witch-bought spell was good for two uses only.)
The twin countries of Hiland and Loland occupy opposite halves of an island, separated by a high wall and a large and richly-furnished castle. The people of Hiland are tall and thin, and live in tall thin houses; those of Loland are short and stout, with dwellings to match. The king who ruled the two lands has died, and both peoples await the arrival of a prophesied, non-human replacement. John Dough fits the bill, and becomes the new King of Hiland and Loland. A local baker repairs the damage John has endured in his travels. Para Bruin becomes Chief Counselor, while Chick promotes himself to Head Booleywag — "the one that rules the ruler." Together, the three manage very well for many years to come.
, then the poet laureate
of the United Kingdom. In John Dough, he appears as "Sir Austed Alfrin," poet laureate of the Isle of Phreex. Sir Austed is "a man with a pale, thin face" in a grease-stained frock coat. When the "kinglet" of Phreex demands a "sonnet," Sir Austed responds with a series of ridiculous limericks. ("There is a wise Kinglet of Phreex," etc.)
, Baum had published his most "classic" fairy tale, Queen Zixi of Ix
. With John Dough in the following year, Baum returned to the unique hybrid fantasy world of his Oz books and related works. Like Dorothy Gale
, John Dough can travel (by air) from a contemporaneous United States (c. 1900) to extraordinary countries of the imagination; the types of creatures he meets are those of the world of Oz — fairies, talking animals, and animated artificial beings (scarecrow; wooden Indian). Chick the Cherub is another of Baum's unrealistically free-spirited and fearless child protagonists. The Great Elixir is comparable to the Powder of Life that is a key element in Baum's fantasy domain. Baum mixes technology into his Oz fantasies and into John Dough as well; aircraft and incubators were recent developments in 1906. The divided country of Hiland and Loland foreshadows the similarly divided country of Sky Island
(1912
). The "fairy beavers" are a kind of animal spirit Baum employs in his The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
. The gem-encrusted underground realm of the fairy beavers resembles the domain of the Nome King
in the Oz books.
John Dough, Chick the Cherub, and Para Bruin make cameo appearances in the fifth Oz book, The Road to Oz
(1909
). A mifket makes a brief appearance in the tenth Oz book, Rinkitink in Oz
(1916
). Jack Snow
adapted the story of John Dough for his 1949 book The Shaggy Man of Oz
.
, first as a 40-minute segment of The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
(1908), then again as a ten-minute short in 1910. Both of these films are lost.
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
novel written by L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
, about a living gingerbread man and his adventures.
The book
John Dough was illustrated by John R. NeillJohn R. Neill
John Rea Neill was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson's, and three of his own. His pen-and-ink drawings have become identified almost exclusively with the Oz series...
, and published in 1906
1906 in literature
The year 1906 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* December 24 - Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio program, a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech, broadcasts....
by the Reilly & Britton
Reilly & Britton
The Reilly and Britton Company, or Reilly & Britton was an American publishing company of the early and middle 20th century, famous as the publisher of the works of L. Frank Baum.-Founding:...
Company. The story was serialized in the Washington Sunday Star and other newspapers from October to December 1906. Like the Oz books but unlike many of the author's other works, John Dough was issued under Baum's name rather than one of his pseudonyms.
The book was popular; as late as 1919 it was selling 1500 copies a year.
The 1974 Dover Publications
Dover Publications
Dover Publications is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward Cirker and his wife, Blanche. It publishes primarily reissues, books no longer published by their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books in the public domain. The original published editions may be...
edition features an introduction by Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature , philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion...
.
Gender ambiguity
Throughout his text, Baum is careful never to specify the gender of his character Chick the Cherub, even to the point of referring to Chick as "it" instead of "he" or "she." Chick dresses in androgynous pajamas; Neill pictures Chick in a Buster BrownBuster Brown
Buster Brown was a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard Felton Outcault who was known for his association with the Brown Shoe Company. This mischievous young boy was loosely based on a boy near Outcault's home in Flushing, New York...
haircut that could fit either a boy or a girl.
The publishers wanted Baum to resolve the ambiguity, but he refused. Eventually they made the best of the situation: in the publicity campaign for the original edition, Reilly & Britton conducted a contest in which the book's child readers could vote on the gender of Chick. The children who gave the best answers, in 25 words or less, won prizes.
The contest's second-place prize was won by a boy who read the story in the Seattle Times. His entry read, "The Cherub was a girl because if it had been a boy he would have eaten the ginger-bread man at once whether it agreed with him or not."
Non-P.C.
Advocates of political correctnessPolitical correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
and ethnic sensitivity will find grounds for complaint in John Dough. The villain of the story, Ali Dubh, is an Arab; he spends most of the book chasing after the gingerbread protagonist, determined and eager to...eat him. Baum exploits aspects of Western culture's negative stereotypes of Arabs; Baum's Arabs have "dark, beady eyes" and move with a "sly, cat-like tread." One unfortunate Arab is trampled to death by a "mad camel."
Neill does not help matters with his illustrations. He incorrectly pictures his Arabs wearing turbans, like Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
s; they garb themselves in sinister cloaks. Along with his turban and cape, Ali Dubh wears curly-toed slippers, and a military-style uniform like a member of a marching band; he keeps his scimitar tucked into the sash around his waist when he isn't brandishing it at John Dough. Ali Dubh is a circus costumer's idea of an Arab.
The novel includes characters with ethnic prejudices. In the book's fourth chapter, an American housewife opines, "I always knew there was something wrong with those Frenchies." However, she turns out to be an extremely nasty character.
Then there are the mifkets. If the mifkets are seen as parodies of pre-modern, "primitive" people, they would certainly be offensive by modern standards of judgement. Yet the mifkets are described by Baum, and pictured by Neill, more as fairyland goblins than as any type of human being; Baum notes specifically that a mifket is "neither an animal nor a man," leaving it in some third category.
On the other hand, the novel also features successful integration of two extremely different ethnic groups, under John Dough's benevolent rulership in Hiland and Loland.
The set-up
The story begins in the bakery of Jules and Leontine Grogrande, French immigrants to the United States. Their mysterious local customer, Ali Dubh, comes to the bakery one day with an urgent request. He is being pursued by three of his countrymen, because he possesses the Great Elixir — "the Essence of Vitality, the Water of Life." A mere drop of this liquid can endow a person with pronounced health, strength, and longevity. Ali Dubh pleads with Madame Grogrande to hide the golden vial of the Elixir for him; she is reluctant, but relents when the Arab also provides her with a silver vial that contains a cure for her rheumatism.In addition to being rheumatic, however, Leontine is also colorblind; she confuses the gold and silver bottles. She pours the Great Elixir into a bowl of water and bathes her sore limbs in it. Instantly the pain is gone, and she feels "as light and airy as a fairy...It occurred to her that she would like to dance; to run and shout, to caper about as she used to do as a girl." Since she is a sensible older woman, she goes to bed instead.
Her husband Jules comes into the bakery at 3:00 AM; it is the Fourth of July, and he decides to bake a large gingerbread man to display in his store window. He mixes his dough — and uses the water in the bowl at hand. He forms a gingerbread figure the size of a "fourteen-year-old boy," but in the shape and appearance of a "typical French gentleman." Jules gives the figure glass eyes, white candies for teeth, and lozenges for his suitcoat buttons. He bakes the gingerbread man in his oven — and is astonished to find that the figure comes to life when done. The full dose of the Great Elixir has endowed John Dough
John Dough
John Dough was a common name for a gingerbread man at the turn of the 20th century, though the best-remembered John Dough is the character created by L. Frank Baum in his 1906 novel, John Dough and the Cherub; the character also makes a cameo appearance in Baum's The Road to Oz...
the gingerbread man not only with life, but with intelligence and multilingual speech. Jules flees in panic; John Dough equips himself with the baker's top hat and a candy-cane cane, and sets out to see the world.
Ali Dubh is outraged when he learns what has happened; but he also sees a solution for his problem. He simply needs to eat the gingerbread man to gain the benefits of the Elixir. With that realization, the Arab sets out in pursuit of John Dough.
The adventures
On the evening of the Fourth, John Dough accidentally hitches a ride on a large rocket launched during the festivities. The rocket carries him all the way to the Isle of Phreex; John falls from the sky onto a Fresh-Air Fiend, who was, naturally, sleeping outdoors. On Phreex, John encounters a cavalcade of odd beings; most importantly, he meets the cryptic figure of Chick the Cherub, "the first and only Original Incubator Baby." Though only six years old (or eight, depending on who is counting), Chick is a slang-talker, and psychopathically brave and even-tempered, an androgyne Button-Bright. Chick becomes John's friend, companion, and protector in a strange new world. The inhabitants of Phreex — "the Freaks of Phreex," as they are called — are a wildly diverse lot. Among the more memorable are: an animated Wooden IndianCigar store Indian
The cigar store Indian or wooden Indian is an advertisement figure, in the likeness of an American Indian, made to represent tobacconists, much like: barber poles advertise barber shops; Show globe for an apothecary; or the three gold balls of the pawn shop. The figures are often three-dimensional...
; a girl executioner who never gets to kill anybody and weeps over the fact; and a two-legged talking horse that bullies its rider. The Isle is also the home of crank inventors. One of them, the least cranky of the lot, has created a workable flying machine. Once Ali Dubh shows up on Phreex (he purchased a magic spell from a witch to track his quarry), John and Chick depart in the flying machine for parts unknown.
Their first stop is a small island that contains the Palace of Romance. There, the heroes fall into a Sheherazade
Shéhérazade
Shéhérazade is the title of two works by the French composer Maurice Ravel.Shéhérazade, ouverture de féerie, written in 1898 but unpublished, is a work for orchestra intended as the overture for an opera of the same name...
predicament: they need to keep telling stories to avoid being killed. They soon make their escape in the flying machine, which crashes onto another island of strange creatures. They meet Pittypat, a talking white rabbit, and Para Bruin, a big and bouncing rubber bear. The mifkets, who also inhabit the island, are malicious gnome-like beings who cause the protagonists major problems, even eating the fingers from John's left hand. Things look dire when Ali Dubh arrives and conspires with the mifkets.
John sacrifices the rest of his hand to save the life of a pretty young girl trapped on the island, who is wasting away; his Elixir-rich gingerbread flesh saves her life. Pittypat the rabbit introduces the heroes to the King of the Fairy Beavers, who accepts them into his subterranean domain and resolves their difficulties with his magic. The girl is restored to her parents; John and Chick, joined by Para Bruin, are borne into the sky by friendly flamingoes. After a brief and unpleasant stop on Pirate Island, the flamingoes carry the three adventurers to their final destination. (Ali Dubh is left stranded on the mifket island; his witch-bought spell was good for two uses only.)
The twin countries of Hiland and Loland occupy opposite halves of an island, separated by a high wall and a large and richly-furnished castle. The people of Hiland are tall and thin, and live in tall thin houses; those of Loland are short and stout, with dwellings to match. The king who ruled the two lands has died, and both peoples await the arrival of a prophesied, non-human replacement. John Dough fits the bill, and becomes the new King of Hiland and Loland. A local baker repairs the damage John has endured in his travels. Para Bruin becomes Chief Counselor, while Chick promotes himself to Head Booleywag — "the one that rules the ruler." Together, the three manage very well for many years to come.
Sir Austed Alfrin
In the book's fifth chapter, Baum provides a caricature of Alfred AustinAlfred Austin
Alfred Austin was an English poet who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1896 upon the death of Alfred, Lord Tennyson.-Life:...
, then the poet laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
of the United Kingdom. In John Dough, he appears as "Sir Austed Alfrin," poet laureate of the Isle of Phreex. Sir Austed is "a man with a pale, thin face" in a grease-stained frock coat. When the "kinglet" of Phreex demands a "sonnet," Sir Austed responds with a series of ridiculous limericks. ("There is a wise Kinglet of Phreex," etc.)
Baum's fantasy cosmos
In 19051905 in literature
The year 1905 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*L. Frank Baum's Animal Fairy Tales are published in The Delineator magazine from January to September....
, Baum had published his most "classic" fairy tale, Queen Zixi of Ix
Queen Zixi of Ix
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...
. With John Dough in the following year, Baum returned to the unique hybrid fantasy world of his Oz books and related works. Like Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
, John Dough can travel (by air) from a contemporaneous United States (c. 1900) to extraordinary countries of the imagination; the types of creatures he meets are those of the world of Oz — fairies, talking animals, and animated artificial beings (scarecrow; wooden Indian). Chick the Cherub is another of Baum's unrealistically free-spirited and fearless child protagonists. The Great Elixir is comparable to the Powder of Life that is a key element in Baum's fantasy domain. Baum mixes technology into his Oz fantasies and into John Dough as well; aircraft and incubators were recent developments in 1906. The divided country of Hiland and Loland foreshadows the similarly divided country of Sky Island
Sky Island (novel)
Sky Island: Being the Further Adventures of Trot and Cap'n Bill after Their Visit to the Sea Fairies is a children's fantasy novel written by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by John R...
(1912
1912 in literature
The year 1912 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Virginia Stephen marries Leonard Woolf.*Frieda von Richthofen meets D. H. Lawrence.-New books:*Mary Antin - The Promised Land*L...
). The "fairy beavers" are a kind of animal spirit Baum employs in his The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark.-Infancy, Youth, Motivation:...
. The gem-encrusted underground realm of the fairy beavers resembles the domain of the Nome King
Nome King
The Nome King is a fictional character in L. Frank Baum's Oz books. Although the Wicked Witch of the West is the most famous of Oz's villains , the Nome King is the closest the book series has to a main antagonist.-In the novels:The character called the Nome King is originally named Roquat the Red...
in the Oz books.
John Dough, Chick the Cherub, and Para Bruin make cameo appearances in the fifth Oz book, The Road to Oz
The Road to Oz
The Road to Oz: In Which Is Related How Dorothy Gale of Kansas, The Shaggy Man, Button Bright, and Polychrome the Rainbow's Daughter Met on an Enchanted Road and Followed it All the Way to the Marvelous Land of Oz. is the fifth of L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz books...
(1909
1909 in literature
The year 1909 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*L. Frank Baum - The Road to Oz** - Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work *André Billy - La Derive*René Boylesve - La Jeune Fille bien élevée...
). A mifket makes a brief appearance in the tenth Oz book, Rinkitink in Oz
Rinkitink in Oz
Rinkitink in Oz: Wherein is Recorded the Perilous Quest of Prince Inga of Pingaree and King Rinkitink in the Magical Isles that Lie Beyond the Borderland of Oz. is the tenth book in the Land of Oz series written by L. Frank Baum. Published on June 20, 1916, with full-color and black-and-white...
(1916
1916 in literature
The year 1916 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The Journal of Negro History is founded by Carter Godwin Woodson, the father of "Black History" and "Negro History Week."...
). Jack Snow
Jack Snow (writer)
John Frederick "Jack" Snow was an American radio writer and scholar, primarily of the works of L. Frank Baum. When Baum died in 1919, the twelve-year-old Snow offered to be the next Royal Historian of Oz, but was politely turned down by a staffer at Baum's publisher, Reilly & Lee...
adapted the story of John Dough for his 1949 book The Shaggy Man of Oz
The Shaggy Man of Oz
The Shaggy Man of Oz is the thirty-eighth in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the second and last by Jack Snow. It was illustrated by Frank G. Kramer....
.
Films
The novel has been filmed twice, both under the direction of Otis TurnerOtis Turner
Otis Turner was an American director, screenwriter and producer. Between 1908 and 1917, he directed 133 motion pictures and wrote 40 scenarios.He was born in Fairfield, Indiana, and died in Los Angeles, California....
, first as a 40-minute segment of The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays was an early attempt to bring L. Frank Baum's Oz books to the motion picture screen. It was a mixture of live actors, hand-tinted magic lantern slides, and film. Baum himself would appear as if he were giving a lecture, while he interacted with the characters...
(1908), then again as a ten-minute short in 1910. Both of these films are lost.
External links
- Facsimile version of John Dough and the Cherub hosted by the Kerlan Collection at the University of MinnesotaUniversity of MinnesotaThe University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
Library. - A discussion of the book