John Dough and the Cherub

John Dough and the Cherub is a children's fantasy novel written by L. Frank Baum, about a living gingerbread man and his adventures. John Dough was illustrated by John R. Neill, 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 ... more

John Dough and the Cherub is a children's fantasy novel written by L. Frank Baum, about a living gingerbread man and his adventures. John Dough was illustrated by John R. Neill, 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. 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 Brown haircut that could fit either a boy or a girl. The publishers wanted Baum to resolve the ambiguity, but he refused.... less