The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
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Chapters
- 1. Introduction 1:09 Free
- 2. Chapter 1: The Cyclone 5:50
- 3. Chapter 2: The Council with the Munchkins 10:39
- 4. Chapter 3: How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow 10:15
- 5. Chapter 4: The Road Through the Forest 7:25
- 6. Chapter 5: The Rescue of the Tin Woodman 10:02
- 7. Chapter 6: The Cowardly Lion 7:55
- 8. Chapter 7: The Journey to the Great Oz 8:58
- 9. Chapter 8: The Deadly Poppy Field 9:34
- 10. Chapter 9: The Queen of the Field Mice 7:02
- 11. Chapter 10: The Guardian of the Gate 9:56
- 12. Chapter 11: The Wonderful City of Oz 18:08
- 13. Chapter 12: The Search for the Wicked Witch 18:11
- 14. Chapter 13: The Rescue 5:49
- 15. Chapter 14: The Winged Monkeys 9:37
- 16. Chapter 15: The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible 14:21
- 17. Chapter 16: The Magic Art of the Great Humbug 4:59
- 18. Chapter 17: How the Balloon Was Launched 5:48
- 19. Chapter 18: Away to the South 6:16
- 20. Chapter 19: Attacked by the Fighting Trees 5:06
- 21. Chapter 20: The Dainty China Country 8:04
- 22. Chapter 21: The Lion Becomes the King of Beasts 4:34
- 23. Chapter 22: The Country of the Quadlings 4:43
- 24. Chapter 23: Glinda The Good Witch Grants Dorothy’s Wish 6:12
Read chapter 1
Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal. The winged fairies of Grimm and Andersen have brought more happiness to childish hearts than all other human creations.
Yet the old time fairy tale, having served for generations, may now be classed as "historical" in the children's library; for the time has come for a series of newer "wonder tales" in which the stereotyped genie, dwarf and fairy are eliminated, together with all the horrible and blood-curdling incidents devised by their authors to point a fearsome moral to each tale. Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.
Having this thought in mind, the story of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was written solely to please children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out.
L. Frank Baum Chicago, April, 1900.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
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