The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

Chapter I: The Cyclone

Dorothy lived in Kansas.
It was flat land, called a prairie.
Uncle Henry lived with her.
He was a farmer.
Aunt Em lived with her too.
She was Uncle Henry's wife.

Their house was small.
It had one room.
There was a stove, a table, and beds.

There was no cellar under the house.
But there was one small hole in the ground.
It was called a cyclone cellar.
A cyclone is a big spinning windstorm.
It can crush houses.
The family could hide there if a storm came.

Dorothy looked outside every day.
She saw only gray land.
No trees. No hills. Just flat gray ground.
The sun had burned everything gray.
Even the house was gray now.

Aunt Em used to be pretty.
But hard work made her thin and tired.
She never smiled anymore.
Uncle Henry never laughed.
He worked hard, morning to night.

Dorothy had a little dog named Toto.
Toto was small and black.
He had silky fur.
Toto loved to play.
He made Dorothy laugh every day.

One day, the sky turned darker gray.
Uncle Henry looked worried.
He heard the wind moaning.
The tall grass bent low.

"A cyclone is coming!" he said.
He ran to check on the animals.

Aunt Em was scared.
"Dorothy! Run to the cellar!" she cried.

Aunt Em climbed down first.
Dorothy tried to grab Toto.
But Toto hid under the bed.

Suddenly, the wind roared loud.
The house shook hard.
Dorothy fell down.

Then something strange happened.
The whole house spun around.
It lifted up into the air!

The cyclone had picked up the house.
It carried the house high into the sky.
It was very dark.
The wind howled all around.

Dorothy felt like she was floating.
She was scared at first.
But soon the ride felt gentle.
Like being rocked in a cradle.

Toto ran around, barking.
He fell through a hole in the floor.
Dorothy grabbed him just in time.
She pulled him back to safety.

Hours passed by.
Dorothy stopped being afraid.
She grew tired.
She crawled to her bed.
Toto lay down beside her.

Soon, Dorothy fell asleep.

Chapter II: The Council with the Munchkins

A sudden bump woke Dorothy up!
The house had landed.
It was not dark anymore.
Bright sunshine filled the room.

Dorothy jumped up.
She ran outside with Toto.

She could not believe her eyes!
The cyclone had set the house down softly.
It landed in a beautiful place.

There was green grass everywhere.
Trees were full of yummy fruit.
Flowers bloomed all around.
Birds sang pretty songs.
A little stream sparkled nearby.

Then Dorothy saw some people coming.
They looked strange to her.
They were not very tall.
They were about as big as Dorothy herself.

There were three men and one woman.
They wore funny round hats.
The hats had little bells on them.
The bells jingled as they walked.

The men wore blue clothes.
The woman wore a white dress with stars on it.
She looked very old.
Her hair was almost white.

The people stopped near Dorothy's house.
They looked afraid to come closer.
But the old woman walked up to Dorothy.
She bowed low and said:

"Welcome, great Sorceress!
A sorceress is someone with magic powers.
Thank you for saving us!
You killed the Wicked Witch of the East.
Now our people are free!"

Dorothy was confused.
"What does she mean?" Dorothy thought.
"I haven't killed anyone."

Dorothy said, "You are kind. But there's a mistake.
I haven't killed anything."

The old woman laughed.
"Your house did it," she said.
"That's the same thing! Look!"

She pointed to the corner of the house.
Dorothy looked down.
She gasped in fright!

Two feet stuck out from under the house.
They wore silver shoes.