Book Bearings
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
- 159 pages · about 3 hours
- First published 1900
- 2,049 editions
- Free to read
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1 About this book
Dorothy lives with her aunt and uncle and her dog, Toto, on a gray Kansas prairie farm, until a cyclone lifts the farmhouse and sets it down in the Land of Oz. To get home she is told to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City and ask the great Wizard for help. On the way she is joined by a Scarecrow who wants a brain, a Tin Woodman who wants a heart and a Cowardly Lion who wants courage. The Wizard will grant their wishes only if they first deal with the Wicked Witch of the West. L. Frank Baum's story, illustrated by W. W. Denslow, was published in 1900 and is the first of his Oz books.
- Classics
- Imaginary Voyages
- Adventure
- Fantasy
- Quests (Expeditions)
- Fantasy & Magic
- Fantasy literature
- Witches
2 What to expect
The 1900 children's fantasy behind the famous film: a Kansas girl carried by a cyclone to the Land of Oz sets out to find the Wizard who can send her home. It is a simple quest told in short episodes, each with a new strange country or creature, in a plain, matter-of-fact voice meant for young children. The book differs from the film in many details and has adventures the film left out.
Good for readers who want: a classic children's fantasy, a short quest story, and a book to read aloud.
3 Read it free, right here
A free scan from the Internet Archive opens right here on the page, with no sign-up.
Read it on the Internet Archive4 About L. Frank Baum
Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
5 More by L. Frank Baum
6 Similar books
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
- Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
- Eragon by Christopher Paolini
- The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis
- The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis