The Road to Oz

To My Readers
Well, my dears, here is what you have asked for: another "Oz Book" about Dorothy's strange adventures. Toto is in this story, because you wanted him to be there, and many other characters which you will recognize are in the story, too. Indeed, the wishes of my little correspondents have been considered as carefully as possible, and if the story is not exactly as you would have written it yourselves, you must remember that a story has to be a story before it can be written down, and the writer cannot change it much without spoiling it.

In the preface to "Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz" I said I would like to write some stories that were not "Oz" stories, because I thought I had written about Oz long enough; but since that volume was published I have been fairly deluged with letters from children imploring me to "write more about Dorothy," and "more about Oz," and since I write only to please the children I shall try to respect their wishes.

There are some new characters in this book that ought to win your live. I'm very fond of the shaggy man myself, and I think you will like him, too. As for Polychrome—the Rainbow's Daughter—and stupid little Button-Bright, they seem to have brought a new element of fun into these Oz stories, and I am glad I discovered them. Yet I am anxious to have you write and tell me how you like them.

Since this book was written I have received some very remarkable News from The Land of Oz, which has greatly astonished me. I believe it will astonish you, too, my dears, when you hear it. But it is such a long and exciting story that it must be saved for another book—and perhaps that book will be the last story that will ever be told about the Land of Oz. L. FRANK BAUM Coronado, 1909.

Contents
CHAPTER

1.

2. The Way to Butterfield

3. Dorothy Meets Button-Bright

4. A Queer Village

5. King Dox

6. The Rainbow's Daughter

7. The City of Beasts

8. The Shaggy Man's Transformation

9. The Musicker

10. Facing the Scoodlers

11. Escaping the Soup-Kettle

12. Johnny Dooit Does It

13. The Deadly Desert Crossed

14. The Truth Pond

15. Tik-Tok and Billina

16. The Emperor's Tin Castle

17. Visiting the Pumpkin-Field

18. The Royal Chariot Arrives

19. The Emerald City

20. The Shaggy Man's Welcome

21. Princess Ozma of Oz

22. Dorothy Receives the Guests

23. Important Arrivals

24. The Grand Banquet

25. The Birthday Celebration