Uncle Henry is a fictional character from The Oz
Books by L. Frank Baum. He is the uncle of orphan Dorothy
Gale and husband of Aunt Em, and lived with them on a farm in Kansas. After their house was famously carried off to
the land
of Oz by a tornado in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Henry mortgaged
his farm in order to rebuild. This crisis, combined with the stress of
Dorothy's prolonged disappearance and sudden reappearance, took a toll on his
health, and his doctor ordered him to take a vacation. He took Dorothy with him on an ocean voyage to
Australia,
where he had relatives, but during this trip (in Ozma of Oz)
Dorothy was lost again during a storm, and for several weeks a despondent Henry
believed she had drowned, until she suddenly returned again, courtesy of the Nome King's
Magic Belt. In The Emerald City of Oz, Henry and Em
finally confessed to Dorothy the extent of their financial problems, and
revealed to her that their farm was on the verge of foreclosure. Dorothy solved this problem for them by
bringing them to live with her in the Emerald
City, as permanent guests of Princess
Ozma. Henry was given the job of
being Keeper of the Jewels in Ozma's treasure hoard for the purpose of keeping
him occupied. Unlike Aunt Em, who is
questioning everything about the Land of Oz, Uncle Henry accepts his new life
and home with surprising ease, having traveled and seen the world a lot more
than his wife had. By Glinda of
Oz, he has become one of Ozma's closest advisers, having taught his
agricultural abilities to Ozite farmers, getting them producing surplus for the
Emerald City storehouses. Uncle Henry
has been featured slightly more than Aunt Em in the Oz books, despite being
less featured than Auntie Em in the film, The Wizard of Oz (1939). In MGM's musical adaptation The Wizard of Oz, Uncle Henry is
played by Charley Grapewin. The name "Gale" appears on his
mailbox and Miss Almira Gulch (Margaret
Hamilton) addresses him as "Gale". Baum never gave the character's surname nor
made whether Henry or his wife Em is Dorothy's blood relative. (It is also possible that "Aunt" and
"Uncle" are affectionate terms of a foster family and that Dorothy is
not related to either of them). Henry
ends up losing his hat as he tells Em to seek shelter when the tornado
approaches their farm. Hickory (Jack Haley)
and Hunk (Ray
Bolger) also lose their hats as they struggle to pry open the cellar.
In this film, Uncle Henry is the only
character whose role is limited to the Kansas sequence and does not make an
appearance in the Oz sequence.
Before he wrote the Oz books, L. Frank Baum
(1856-1919) wrote Mother Goose in Prose which was the best selling book of
1897. Taking 22 beloved nursery rhymes,
he explains their meaning and fascinating history.
Link to the text and to articles at: http://librivox.org/mother-goose-in-prose-by-l-frank-baum-2/
Mother Goose in Prose was L. Frank Baum's first literary work. It was also the first book illustrated by Maxfield Parrish. It was published in 1897 by Way & Williams. The book contained 22 prose fables based on famous nursery rhymes. Twelve of the stories are complemented with black-and-white illustrations by Parrish. Parrish's illustrations were also issued separately in portfolio; Parrish is known to have signed 27 sets. The stories in the collection were also published individually as part of a promotional effort: Pettijohn's Breakfast Food offered the stories to its customers in return for mailed-in labels. Way & Williams, the book's publisher, went out of business in 1898. The rights to Mother Goose in Prose were acquired by Baum's new publisher the George M. Hill Co. That firm released the second edition of the book in 1901, which included Baum's Introduction to the volume. Baum's next publisher, Bobbs-Merrill, issued a third edition in 1905. http://oz.wikia.com/wiki/Mother_Goose_in_Prose
A fifth (21%) of American adults have read an e-book in the past year and the number
of e-book readers grew after a major increase in ownership of e-book reading
devices and tablet computers during the holiday gift-giving season. The average reader of e-books says she has
read 24 books (the mean number) in the past 12 months, compared with an average
of 15 books by a non-e-book consumer. 30%
of those who read e-content say they now spend more time reading, and owners of
tablets and e-book readers particularly stand out as reading more now. Find more information in "The Rise of E-Reading" by the Pew Internet
& American Life Project at: http://libraries.pewinternet.org/files/legacy-pdf/The%20rise%20of%20e-reading%204.5.12.pdf
Cites &
Insights 12:5 (June 2012) is now available for downloading at http://citesandinsights.info/civ12i5.pdf A single-column 6x9 version,
suitable for ereaders, is available at http://citesandinsights.info/civ12i5on.pdf The 24-page issue (43 pages in the
single-column version) is PDF as usual. The
individual essays are also available in HTML form at http://citesandinsights.info
or use the essay name links below. This
issue includes: The Front (pp. 1-4), Give Us a Dollar and We'll Give You
Back Four, a study of public library benefits and funding designed to
help libraries see where they stand and work to improve funding. Also noting "the books your library
needs"--two recent books published by professional library-oriented publishers, The Middle: Forecasts (pp.
4-12) Following up the May essay on futurism with a whole bunch of specific
forecasts--the one-year kind that can be tested and usually found wanting. Policy: Copyright: Fair Use,
Part 1 (pp. 12-24) Two discussions
of fair use in action (or, rather, in court). First, the concluding steps in a farce that
has effectively broadened fair use and the recognition that it's not a defense,
it's the law. Second, earlier steps in a situation more directly relevant to
academic libraries, the Georgia State lawsuit--but not the outcome. http://lisnews.org/cites_insights_125_june_2012_available
In a 2009 study, researchers at the University of
Illinois at Chicago found that many first-generation students, intimidated by
the scale and complexity of the campus library, did their research at their
more familiar, but less resourceful, local public libraries during the first
year of college. Some librarians were
concerned that such habits could arrest the development of students'
information literacy -- a skill set that is difficult to cultivate in most
college students, let alone first-generation ones. But an encouraging new study, The Research Process and the
Library: First-generation College Seniors vs. Freshmen, http://crl.acrl.org/content/early/2012/05/07/crl-348.full.pdf
out of Illinois-Chicago suggests that first-generation students do in fact
improve their information literacy skills over their college careers. “[T]he study showed that regardless of the
disadvantages with which students arrive at college, at some point before they
graduate, college appears to provide them with the tools they need to compete
with their peers,” said Firouzeh Logan and Elizabeth Pickard, assistant
professors at Illinois-Chicago, who co-wrote the study. The new study, which is associated with the
Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries (ERIAL) project, used a mixture
of surveys and open-ended interviews with Illinois-Chicago seniors. Thanks, Julie. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/01/studies-shed-more-light-student-research-skills
Bananas grow on plants, not trees. They are the largest plants in the world that do not have woody stem. Bananas are actually perennial herbs related to ginger, turmeric and cardamom. A banana plant does not grow from seeds, as the tiny dark seeds found in most banana varieties are incapable of germination, but from a rhizome or bulb. Ugandans hold the record for highest per capita banana consumption with an amazing 500 pounds of bananas or more consumed in Uganda, per person, per year. Over 100 billion bananas are eaten each year throughout the world. This makes bananas the fourth most important agricultural crop after wheat, rice and corn. An entire banana stalk is known as a bunch, while the individual clusters on the stalk, which may have anywhere from 10 to 20 bananas, are called hands. Single bananas are known as fingers. Interestingly, the Arabic word ‘banan’ means finger. http://www.infobarrel.com/10_Facts_About_Bananas
Underneath the thick, virgin
rainforest cover in the Mosquitia region of Honduras, archaeologists have discovered
ruins they think may be the lost city of Ciudad Blanca. Legends say the "White City" is full
of gold, which is why conquistador Hernando Cortes was among the first Ciudad
Blanca seekers in the 1500s. But the
method the modern researchers used was a little different from previous
explorers' techniques. The modern-day
researchers flew over the area in a small plane and shot billions of laser
pulses at the ground, creating a 3D digital map of the topology underneath the
trees. This is one of the first times
this technique, called light detection and ranging (LiDAR), has been used to
map ancient ruins.
As usual, the Supreme Court, although less than three weeks away from
the end of its term, is in no hurry to decide its big cases. Among the remaining cases to be decided in the
2011-12 term:
• Broadcast indecency: The
court is weighing whether fines levied by the Federal Communications Commission
against broadcasts it considered indecent violate First Amendment free-speech
rights. The cases at issue include
awards shows where celebrities such as Cher uttered expletives. WSJ coverage of the January arguments is here.• Juvenile sentences: The justices will decide on life sentences without parole for juveniles convicted of homicide. It’s the latest case in which the court is considering whether harsh sentences for people under 18 violate the Eight Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments . More details in this WSJ article on the arguments in March.
• Stolen valor: The Stolen Valor Act, enacted in 2006, makes it a federal crime for a person to claim falsely to have received a U.S. military medal. A California man admits he lied when he said he won the Medal of Honor but says his statements were protected by the First Amendment. WSJ coverage here.
•
Arizona immigration:
The court’s final argument of the term,
on April 25, involved Arizona’s tough anti-immigration law. The justices suggested they were ready to
uphold at least one part of the law—a provision directing police to check the
immigration status of people they stop—but the fate of other provisions was less
clear. WSJ argument story here.
• And, lest we forget, there’s one other
matter before the Supreme Court that has gained some attention. The fate of
President Barack Obama’s health-care law—the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act—is expected to be decided in the last week of June. Our coverage from March 27, the pivotal day of
arguments, is here.
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