The Wizard of Oz Read online

  This did not hurt him. But he was rather dizzy when Dorothy picked him up. The Scarecrow went to another tree. The same thing happened!

  “How strange!” said Dorothy.

  “The trees don’t want to let us pass,” said the Lion.

  “I will try it myself,” said the Woodman. He marched up to the first tree. A big branch bent down, and the Woodman cut it in two.

  “Come on!” he shouted to the others. “Be quick!”

  They all ran under the tree into the woods! It seemed that only the first row of trees could bend their branches—as if they were the policemen of the forest.

  Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion walked on until they came to the other side of the wood. To their surprise, they found a high wall.

  They climbed up and jumped down on the other side.

  The country before them was as smooth as a platter. Scattered around were houses made of china. There were also china barns with china fences. And there were cows and sheep and pigs and chickens. They were all made of china. The people were china, too.

  “We must be very careful here,” said the Tin Woodman, “or we may hurt these pretty little people.”

  They walked carefully through the china country. After an hour or so they came to another wall. They scrambled over it and found themselves in a wild forest. They walked through it until they arrived in the country of the Quadlings.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The Good Witch Grants Dorothy’s Wish

  The Land of the Quadlings was rich and happy. There were fields of ripening grain. Everything—fences and houses and bridges—was painted bright red. The Quadlings themselves were dressed all in red.

  Dorothy and her friends walked by the fields and across the red bridges. Soon they came to a beautiful Castle. Before the gates were three girls dressed in red uniforms. As Dorothy and her friends drew near, one of the girls asked, “Why have you come to the South Country?”

  “To see the Good Witch who rules here,” Dorothy replied. “Will you take me to her?”

  They followed the girl into a big room.

  There, Witch Glinda sat upon a throne of rubies. Her hair fell in red ringlets over her shoulders.

  “What can I do for you, my child?” she asked.

  Dorothy told the Witch her story, ending with, “My greatest wish is to get back to Kansas. Aunt Em will think something dreadful has happened to me.”

  Glinda leaned forward. “Your silver shoes will carry you over the desert. If you had known their power, you could have gone home the day you came to this country.”

  “But then I would not have had my brains!” cried the Scarecrow.

  “And I would not have had my heart,” said the Tin Woodman.

  “And I would have lived a coward forever,” declared the Lion.

  “This is all true,” said Dorothy. “And I am glad that I helped you all. But now I would like to go back to Kansas, where I belong.”

  “All you have to do is to tap your heels together three times and command the shoes to carry you wherever you wish to go,” said Glinda.

  Dorothy threw her arms around the Lion’s neck. She kissed him. Then she kissed the Tin Woodman. Then she hugged the soft, stuffed body of the Scarecrow.

  Glinda the Good Witch stepped down from her ruby throne. She gave Dorothy a good-bye kiss.

  Dorothy took Toto up in her arms. Then she tapped the heels of her shoes together three times. “Take me home to Aunt Em!” she said.

  Instantly she was whirling through the air. Then she stopped so suddenly that she rolled over in the grass several times. She sat up and looked about.

  “Good gracious!” Dorothy cried. For she was sitting on the Kansas prairie. Before her was a new farmhouse, one that Uncle Henry had built after the cyclone had carried away the old one.

  Aunt Em came out the front door. She looked up and saw Dorothy running toward her. “My darling child!” she cried. She folded the little girl in her arms. “Where in the world did you come from?”

  “From the Land of Oz,” said Dorothy. “And here is Toto, too. And oh, Aunt Em! I’m so glad to be home!”

  About the Author

  L. FRANK BAUM was born on May 15, 1856, in Chittenango, New York. He grew up on a country estate called Rose Lawn, his father having made a fortune. As an adult, Baum worked in the theater, newspapers, and magazines, manufactured axle grease, managed a general store, and raised chickens! In 1900, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published and became an overnight success. Two years later, a musical version of the book was produced onstage, with Baum writing the lyrics. He wrote fourteen Oz books and nine other fantasies. More authors contributed to the Oz series, making a total of forty books. The famous movie starring Judy Garland came out in 1939, twenty years after Baum’s death in 1919.

  About the Illustrator

  W. W. DENSLOW was born in Philadelphia on May 5, 1856. By the time he turned twenty, he was working for magazines and newspapers all over the country. In the 1890s, he moved to Chicago, where he met L. Frank Baum. They worked on several books together, including The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but they had a disagreement over the profits from the stage musical. As a result, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the only Oz book that Denslow illustrated. He went on to become one of the best-known and most prolific American artists of the turn of the century. He died in 1915.

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