AN OVERVIEW OF The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which was first published in 1900 follows the story of a young girl who is whisked away by a cyclone from her dreary gray existence on the Kansas prairie to the magical and colorful land of Oz The plot differs in some ways from the familiar 1939 film starring Judy Garland Baum's story opens by introducing Dorothy an orphaned girl who lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry in a sparsely furnished farmhouse in Kansas As the young girl looks around her all she sees is gray Dorothy's small dog Toto is the only happiness in her bleak world and he saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings 12
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the story of Dorothy's quest to the Emerald City and beyond 13
Whisked Off to Oz When Dorothy fails to make it to the storm cellar when a cyclone descends on the family farm she and Toto are trapped in the house The cyclone lifts the house and carries it for hours before setting it down in a strange land Dorothy soon learns her house landed on and killed the wicked Witch of the East The good witch of the North comes to help with the fallen house She believes Dorothy must be a noble sorceress She welcomes Dorothy to the land of Oz Dorothy insists she has no magical powers and asks for assistance in returning to Kansas The Witch of the North advises Dorothy to travel to the Emerald City where the Great Wizard of Oz might be able to help her The good witch instructs Dorothy to follow a road paved with yellow bricks which will lead her to the city Dorothy puts on the silver shoes the deceased Witch of the East was wearing and packs a basket with some bread from a cupboard in her house Then she and Toto start off on their quest for the Emerald City The Scarecrow and Tin Woodman Dorothy soon discovers a scarecrow in a cornfield She is surprised to hear him speak Dorothy explains her 14
Dorothy's first two traveling partners are the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow quest and the Scarecrow asks if he might join her explaining that the farmer who made him failed to give him any brains Dorothy welcomes him to join her and they set off together The next day the two find a tin woodman in the woods who is rusted firmly in place Dorothy oils his joints with his oilcan so he can move again The Tin Woodman asks whether the Wizard of Oz might be able to give him a heart Dorothy supposes it s a possibility and so gains another traveling companion on her quest The Cowardly Lion The small group travels through a thick forest and comes upon the Cowardly Lion who tries to scare them but 15
