The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

About the book

A cyclone carries Dorothy and her dog Toto from Kansas into an unfamiliar country. To find a way home, she sets out towards the Emerald City and the powerful Wizard said to live there. Her companions join the journey with requests of their own, each convinced that a missing quality prevents a fulfilled life. Baum builds the adventure from colourful places, practical obstacles, unlikely friendships, and encounters with competing forms of authority. Dorothy's straightforward concern for others gives continuity to a world that repeatedly changes its rules. The story invites readers to compare what its travellers say about themselves with what they actually do. Its pleasures include both imaginative spectacle and the ordinary resources of courage, thoughtfulness, and cooperation brought to extraordinary circumstances.

• Home
• Friendship
• Confidence and ability

Why read it

For an imaginative journey whose companions make mutual help as important as magical possibility.

English text