The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

This book is for my dear friend and partner, my wife.
— L.F.B.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chapter I. The Cyclone
• Chapter II. The Council with the Munchkins
• Chapter III. How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow
• Chapter IV. The Road Through the Forest
• Chapter V. The Rescue of the Tin Woodman
• Chapter VI. The Cowardly Lion
• Chapter VII. The Journey to the Great Oz
• Chapter VIII. The Deadly Poppy Field
• Chapter IX. The Queen of the Field Mice
• Chapter X. The Guardian of the Gates
• Chapter XI. The Emerald City of Oz
• Chapter XII. The Search for the Wicked Witch
• Chapter XIII. The Rescue
• Chapter XIV. The Winged Monkeys
• Chapter XV. The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible
• Chapter XVI. The Magic Art of the Great Humbug
• Chapter XVII. How the Balloon Was Launched
• Chapter XVIII. Away to the South
• Chapter XIX. Attacked by the Fighting Trees
• Chapter XX. The Dainty China Country
• Chapter XXI. The Lion Becomes the King of Beasts
• Chapter XXII. The Country of the Quadlings
• Chapter XXIII. Glinda The Good Witch Grants Dorothy's Wish
• Chapter XXIV. Home Again

Introduction

Old stories, legends, and fairy tales have always been part of childhood. Every child loves stories that are exciting and a little bit magic, even if they are not real.

Old fairy tales are still loved. But those old stories often had scary parts, made to teach a lesson. This new story is different. It does not have scary parts. It is just for fun.

That is why I wrote "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." I wanted children today to enjoy the wonder and joy of a fairy tale — without the scary parts or bad dreams.

L. Frank Baum
Chicago, April, 1900

Chapter I

The Cyclone

A cyclone is a giant, spinning windstorm. This story starts just before one comes.

Dorothy lived on the wide, flat farmland of Kansas. She lived with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, his wife. Their house was small. It had four walls, one floor, and a roof, all making just one room. Inside were an old cookstove, a cupboard for dishes, a table, some chairs, and beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em slept in a big bed in one corner. Dorothy had a small bed in the other corner.

There was no attic and no basement — just a small dug-out hole in the ground called a cyclone cellar. Families could hide there if a cyclone came, since a cyclone is strong enough to crush a house. A trap door in the floor opened to a ladder that led down into this dark little hole.

When Dorothy stood in the doorway, she saw only flat gray land in every direction. There were no trees and no other houses. The sun had baked the plowed dirt until it cracked. Even the grass was gray, not green, because the hot sun had burned it. The house used to be painted, but the sun and rain wore the paint away. Now the house was gray too, just like everything else.

When Aunt Em first came to live there, she had been young and pretty. But the hot sun and windy weather changed her. Her eyes lost their sparkle and turned gray. Her cheeks lost their red color. She became thin, and she never smiled anymore. Dorothy was an orphan, which means both of her parents had died, so she came to live with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. When Dorothy first arrived, her laughter surprised Aunt Em so much that she would gasp and hold her heart. Aunt Em still looked puzzled whenever Dorothy laughed, as if she couldn't understand what there was to be happy about.

Uncle Henry never laughed either. He worked hard from morning to night. He didn't know what it felt like to have fun. He looked stern and serious, and he barely spoke.

It was Toto who made Dorothy laugh. Toto was Dorothy's little dog, and he kept her from becoming as gray and sad as everything around her. Toto was not gray at all — he was small and black, with soft, silky fur and shiny black eyes. He played all day, and Dorothy played with him. She loved him very much.

But today, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat on the front step, looking worried at the sky. The sky looked even grayer than usual. Dorothy stood in the doorway with Toto in her arms, watching the sky too. Aunt Em was washing dishes inside.

From far in the north, they heard the wind start to howl. The tall grass bent low, showing the storm was coming. Then they heard a sharp whistling sound from the south. They turned and saw the grass moving that way too.

Suddenly, Uncle Henry jumped up.

"There's a cyclone coming, Em!" he shouted to his wife. "I'll go check on the animals!" He ran toward the barn where the cows and horses were kept.

Aunt Em dropped what she was doing and rushed to the door. One look at the sky told her the danger was near.

"Quick, Dorothy!" she cried. "Run to the cellar!"

Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed. Dorothy went to get him. Aunt Em, very scared, threw open the trap door and climbed down the ladder into the dark little room below.

Dorothy finally caught Toto and started to follow her aunt. But halfway across the room, the wind let out a huge shriek. The house shook so hard that Dorothy fell down.

Then something strange happened.

The whole house spun around two or three times and slowly lifted into the air! Dorothy felt like she was floating up in a balloon.

The wind from the north and the wind from the south crashed together right where the house stood. This made the house the very center of the cyclone. Usually, the middle of a cyclone is calm and still. But the wind pushed so hard on every side of the house that it rose higher and higher, up to the very top of the storm. There, the house stayed, floating and being carried far, far away — as easily as a feather blowing in the wind.

It was very dark, and the wind howled loudly around her. But Dorothy found that the ride was actually smooth. After the first few spins, and one time the house tipped a little, she felt like she was being rocked gently, like a baby in a cradle.

Toto did not like it one bit. He ran back and forth across the room, barking loudly. But Dorothy sat still on the floor and waited to see what would happen next.

At one point, Toto got too close to the open trap door and fell in! At first, Dorothy thought she had lost him forever. But then she saw one of his ears poking up through the hole. The strong wind pressing up from below was actually holding him up so he couldn't fall all the way down. Dorothy crawled over, grabbed Toto by the ear, and pulled him back into the room. Then she closed the trap door so nothing like that could happen again.

Hours passed. Slowly, Dorothy's fear faded, but she felt very lonely. The wind screamed so loudly that her ears almost hurt. At first, she worried that the house might crash and break into pieces when it finally landed. But as more time passed and nothing terrible happened, she decided to stop worrying. She would just wait calmly and see what happened next. Finally, she crawled across the shaking floor to her bed and lay down. Toto came and lay down beside her.

Even with the house swaying and the wind howling, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

Chapter II

The Council with the Munchkins

Dorothy woke up suddenly with a hard bump. If she hadn't been lying on her soft bed, she might have gotten hurt. The bump made her catch her breath. Toto pressed his cold little nose against her face and whined. Dorothy sat up and noticed the house wasn't moving anymore. It also wasn't dark — bright sunshine was pouring in through the window. She jumped out of bed, and with Toto right behind her, ran and threw open the door.

Dorothy gasped in amazement. Her eyes grew wide as she looked around at the wonderful things she saw.

The cyclone had set the house down gently — gently for a cyclone, anyway — in a beautiful, magical land. Green grass covered the ground. Tall trees grew rich, juicy fruit. Colorful flowers bloomed everywhere. Birds with bright, rare feathers sang and flew among the trees and bushes. Nearby, a little stream rushed and sparkled between green banks. To a girl who had lived so long on the dry gray prairie, it sounded wonderful.

While Dorothy stood staring at these strange, beautiful sights, she noticed some very odd-looking people walking toward her. They were not as big as the grown-ups she was used to. But they weren't very small either. In fact, they were about as tall as Dorothy herself, even though they looked much older.

There were three men and one woman, and they all wore strange clothes. They wore round hats that rose to a point, with little bells on the edges that jingled sweetly as they walked. The men's hats were blue. The woman's hat was white, and she wore a white dress with little sparkling stars on it, like tiny diamonds. The men wore blue clothes to match their hats, along with shiny boots. Dorothy thought the men looked about as old as Uncle Henry — two of them even had beards. But the little woman looked much older. Her face had many wrinkles, her hair was almost white, and she walked stiffly, as older people sometimes do.

When these people got close to Dorothy's house, they stopped and whispered to each other, as if they were afraid to come any closer. But the little old woman walked right up to Dorothy. She bowed low and said, in a sweet voice:

"Welcome, great Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins! We are so thankful to you for killing the Wicked Witch of the East. You have set our people free!"

(A sorceress is a woman with magic powers.)

Dorothy listened, confused. What did the woman mean, calling her a sorceress and saying she had killed a Wicked Witch? Dorothy was just a kind, harmless little girl who had been carried far from home by a cyclone. She had never killed anything in her whole life.

But the little woman seemed to expect an answer. So Dorothy said, unsure, "You're very kind, but I think there's a mistake. I haven't killed anything."

"Your house did, though," said the old woman, laughing, "and that's just the same thing! Look!" She pointed to the corner of the house. "There are her two feet, still sticking out from under that big block of wood."

Dorothy looked — and gasped in fright. There, under the corner of the house, two feet stuck out, wearing silver shoes...