Baum's short stories make up a significant portion of his literary output. Though he is best known for his fantasy novels, L. Frank Baum wrote shorter pieces throughout his literary career. As with his novels, his short stories were mainly directed toward children; examples fill his collections Mother Goose in Prose, The Twinkle Tales, American Fairy Tales, and Animal Fairy Tales. Except for the first book, the stories in these volumes were published separately prior to collection — The Twinkle Tales in individual booklets, and the stories in the other two collections in periodicals.