 Baum's avowed intentions with the Oz books and his other fairy tales was to retell tales such as those which are found in the works of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, make them in an American vein, update them, avoid stereotypical characters such as dwarfs or genies, and remove the association of violence and moral teachings.His first Oz books contained a fair amount of violence, but it decreased as the series progressed; in "The Emerald City of Oz", Ozma objects to the use of violence, even to the use of violence against the Nomes who threaten Oz with invasion.His introduction is often cited as the beginning of the sanitization of children's stories, although he did not do a great deal more than eliminate harsh moral lessons.