In 1939, Alexander Volkov’s fairy tale “The Wizard of the Emerald City” with drawings by the wonderful artist Nikolai Radlov was first published. The characters of the book became one of the most beloved among readers of childhood and adolescence. The collection includes two more fairy tales by Volkov, where the main character is a girl from Kansas Ellie (“Oorfene Deuce and his wooden soldiers” and “Seven Underground Kings”). Very little is known about the author himself; his name is not even mentioned in the large biographical dictionary “Russian Writers of the 20th Century”. This book fills this significant gap in the literary life of Russia, including the most complete autobiography of Volkov. On separate pages next to the illustrations are reviews from children and their grandparents about their first impressions after reading the fairy tale about Ellie and her faithful comrades, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and others. Sometimes these letters are sad, even tragic, but it is they who speak of the enduring value of this book.