The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Book summary

Dorothy is a young orphan girl that lives on the Kansas prairies with her adoptive parents, Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. Dorothy and her small dog, Toto, are transported to the land of Oz by a cyclone that lifts her entire house and deposits it right on top of the Wicked Witch of the East. By killing the Wicked Witch, Dorothy sets free the Munchkins and earns the goodwill of the Good Witch of the North. Dorothy learns that Oz is divided into four quadrants, and each quadrant is ruled by a witch, while the witches of the north and south are good, the witches of the east and west are wicked. In the centre lies the Emerald City and there sits the Wizard of Oz, a sorcerer of significant repute. Dorothy wishes to return home but Oz is surrounded by a desert that no one has ever crossed. The Good Witch believes that Dorothy can only seek help from Oz and directs her to keep to the yellow path to reach the city. She also gives Dorothy the silver shoes of the Witch of the East and kisses her on the forehead to keep her safe. Dorothy sets out to Emerald City but on the way, she encounters three companions that want to see Oz for their wishes. The first to join the adventure is the Scarecrow stuffed with straw who wishes for brains so that he may be better at his work. The second is the Tin Woodman, who wishes for a heart so thathe may learn to love again the woman he had intended to marry when he was a man of flesh. And the last to join is the Cowardly Lion who wants the wizard to grant him courage so that he may stop feeling afraid. Ironically, all the characters possess the qualities that they believe they lack.

Upon reaching the famed city, Oz meets each one of the companions and makes of them the same condition, that he would be willing to grant them their wishes if the Wicked Witch of the West was killed and proof brought before him. Although Dorothy and her companions have no plan of killing the witch, they still set out west.

The witch sees them enter her land from a long ways away and sends many beasts to stop their advance and to strike them dead. All her plans fail until she uses the Golden Cap to summon the Winged Monkeys who capture the Lion and Dorothy and dispose of the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow. The witch is afraid of Dorothy because of the magical shoes that she wears and because the witch cannot harm Dorothy because she is protected by the power of the Good Witch of the North.

The witch uses Dorothy’s innocence to enslave her and plots to steal her shoes, but she only manages to capture one of the shoes. The theft enrages Dorothy, and she hurls a bucket of water at the witch and this makes the witch melt. Dorothy liberates the Winkies that had been ruled by the Wicked Witch and with their help, she frees and restores all her friends. Before they set back out for the Emerald City, Dorothy takes away the Golden Cap that had belonged to the Wicked Witch. They make use of the Golden Cap to travel to the city. In the meeting with Oz, they come to find out that Oz is not a powerful wizard but an old ventriloquist and balloonist from Omaha. He explains to them that he ended up in Oz when he lost control of his balloon. He attempts to help them in having their wants fulfiled.

Oz and Dorothy build a balloon together but Dorothy fails to get on it just at the last instant, and so Oz leaves with the balloon. They all travel south with Dorothy to the country of the Quadlings, where the Good Witch of the South, Glinda, rules. Their journey is full of peril, but in the end, Glinda helps Dorothy use the silver shoes in exchange for the Golden Cap. Dorothy travels back to her home in Kansas where she is warmly received by her Aunt Em.