Re-Reading the Oz Books

[The Baron]

We start with The Wizard  of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, first published on May 7, 1900.

1. The illustrations are by W.W. Denslow, who depicts Dorothy as a young girl (maybe around eight) with dark hair
2. Baum's "Kansas" is very bleak.  From what I've read, it's more like the Dakota that Baum knew than the actual Kansas.
3. Re-reading this book, you realize just how much the 1939 mpvie simply made up.  Emlira Gulch, Professor Marvel, Zeke, Hunk and Hickory are not present in the book, In the book, Dorothy doesn't run away, she misses getting into  the storm cellar because she was chasing Toto, who was hiding under the bed.
4. The witch who sends Dorothy to the Emerald City is not Glinda, but instead  is the Good Witch of the North, who is not named here. There is no appearance by the Wicked Witch of the West in this part of the story.
5. We get the first mention of Oz being surrounded by an impassable desert.
6. The magic footwear are Silver Shoes and not Ruby Slippers. Dorothy puts them on because her old shoes were worn out, and not at the Witch's suggestion.
7. We learn that the land  is divided between the Munchkins in the east, the Winkies  in the west, the Quadlings in the south, and the people of the north, who  aren't named here.  Initially, only the area around the Emerald City is called "the Land of Oz", after the Wizard. the Munchkins' national color is blue.
8. No explanation is given as to how the Scarecrow comes to be alive. He reveaals that he was created only the day before yesterday.
9. The Tin Woodman's origin is wild. He was a mormal  man who wanted to marry a girl  he was into. The girl's guardian objected, and paid off a witch to enchant his axe so  that every time he used it,  it would cut off a body part, which he would have replced with a tin prosthesis,   Eventually his entire body was replaced, and he lost interest in the girl because he no longer had a heart.  Two questions here: "How did he survive all this?" and "Why did he keep using the axe after the second or maybe third time that it happened?"
10. Lots of animals get killed in this book.  The Tin Woodman kills a beetle, the  Lion offers to  kill a deer for Dorothy  to eat, and they kill some monsters called "Kalidahs"   It is established that all animals  are intelligent - well, I'm not sure about insects. Anyway, the whole issue of whether killing an intelligent animal onstitutes murder, or what - or is it "who" - carnivores eat is kind of skirted around. Toto cannot speak in Oz, I giess because he's not a local pup.
11. In the book, the  poppy field has nothing to  do with the Wicked Witch, and Glinda doesn't  save them.  The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman carry Dorothy and Toto out of the field.  The Woodman coincidentally kills a wildcat that was chasing the Queen of the Field Mice.  In gratitude, she has a few thousand  of her subjects help the boys haul the Lion to safety.
12. Everyone  in the Emerald City must wear green glasses, ostensibly to  protect them from glare, but actually to cover up the fact that most of the city is, in reality, white. I'm reasonably certain that this is never mentioned again.
13. Dorothy and her associates visit the Wizard individually, and not as a group.  He appears to Dorothy as a Big Giant Head, to the Scarerow as a beautiful winged woman, to the Tin Woodman as a Horrific Beast and to thr Lion as a Fireball.
14. Chickens and storks also exist  in Oz
15. The Tin Woodman slaughters a pack of wolves sent by the Witch with his axe.  The Scarecrow slaughters a murder of crows by twisting their necks with his bare hands. Bet crows are scared of him, now! the Woodman kills a swarn of bees, and the  Lion frightens off some spearmen. Can't kill off humans, I guess.
16. The illustration of the Wicked Witch of the West looks nothing like Margaret Hamilton's depiction.  She looks more like if the Sea Hag had a cousin who liked to cosplay as obscure anime characters.
17. The Witch using a Magi Cap to ccontrol the Winged Monkeys, because the Monkey King's grandfather p*ssed off a princess. The monkeys capture Dorothy, Toto and the Lion after battering the Scarecrow and te Woodman.
18. The Winkies' color  is yellow.
19. The Witch is afraid of the dark.
20. Dorothy throws a bucket  of water at the Witch after the Witch stole one of her shoes.  The Winkies retrieve and repair the Scarecrow and the Woodman.  Doorthy takes the Golden Cap.  There's nothing about needing the Witch's broomstick.
21. The Wizard claims that he commissioned the building of the Emerald City.  His illustration depicts him as a dumpy little bald guy.
22. The Wizard gives the Scarerow a "brain" made of bran, pins and needles, the Woodman a silk heart stuffed with sawdust, and the Lion a drink of Liquid Courage. (I've had a taste or two of that over they years, m'self.)
23. After the Wizad's departure, our heroes decide to go see Glinda, instead of Glinda coming to them, as in the movie.
24. They meet the Fighting Trees on this trip, as well as a city full of people made  of fine china, and the Hammer-Heads,  a race of cheerfully hostile headbutters who  are armless but not  'armless.  
25. The Lion becomes King of the Forest a giant spider that's been terrorizing the animals. He does this by courageously waiting until it's asleep and tearing its head off before it could defend itself.  (Hey, it's all very well to be brave, but there's no need to be stupid about it.)
26. The Quadling national color is red.
27. glinda reveals that she will use the Monkeyd to return the Scsrecrow to rule the Emerald City, the Woodman to rule the Winkies and the Lion to rule the Animals, after  which she will set them free.  I can see why people do conspiracy theories about this story, since it ends with the Witches dead, the Wizard gone, and people that Glinda can easily control in charge of the Emerald City and Winkieland. I bet that if Dorothy had wanted to stay and become the Kanzlerin of Munchkinland, Glinda would've lived with that. I also bet that the Witch of the North keeps a very low profile.
28. Glinda explains how Dorothy can use the Silver Shoes to  get home.  It does not involve saying "There's no place like home."  The shoes are lost during Dorothy's return home.
29. Dorothy's homecoming is anticlimactic.  Uncle Henry has a new farmhouse. Guess he had good insurance.
30. Oz is a real place and not just a dream in the book.

Overall: Some weird, wild stuff in here.  If all you know is the movie, you should definitely give this book a read, sometime.

[The Baron]

Next is The Road to Oz, by L.Frank Baum, first published July 10, 1909

1. The illustrations are by Neill, again.
2. Dorothy is approached by a "Shaggy Man" (i.e., a hobo), who  asks directions.  orothy decides to  go  with hinpartway to  show him where to  go.  He sticks Toto in his pocket  when Dorothy isn't looking.  Did they not know about  "stranger danger" 115 years ago?  We never learn this guy's name and he's kinda shifty. He's lucky it wasn't Uncle Henry out front when he came by. Henry  might've sped him on his way with some buckshot in his arse.
3. They find thesevles at an unfaniliar intersection.
4. Shaggy Manrreceals that he owns the Love Magnet, which supposedly  makes everyone he meets love him.
5. They set off along a road and meet Button-Bright, who's sort of like an ur-Ralph Wiggum, only much, much dumber. They bring him along with them, presumably because they're afraid that he'll just sit there until he starves if they leave him. This character literally is in the book only to  be completely stupid.
6. They come to Foxville, a town of sentient foxes ruled  by King Renard the Fourth, a.k.a. King Dox. Dox knows of Dorothy, and informs her that Ozma will be celebrating a birthday soon, and wheedles Dorothy for an invitation. Dox becomes convinced that Butthead-Bright is a genius, and transforms his head into a fox's head as a mark of his esteem.
7. Next they meet  Polychrome, the Rainbow's Daughter, who is lost.  They bring her along, too.
8. Then they come to  Dunkiton, a town of intelligent donkeys.  They are brought before King Kik-a-Bray, who  admires the Shaggy Man's eloquence so much that he turns his head  into  a donkey's head.  He cannot reverse the spell, and recommends that they seek out the Truth Pond in Oz, which will restore both Shaggy and Not-Too Bright. He also wheedles for an invite to Ozna's party.
9. Next they met Allegro da Capo, whom they call "The Musicker".  He makes annoying music just by bretahing. He also wheedles for an invite to Ozma's party.
10. Dorothy wishes that she had the Magic Belt.  Doesn't Ozma check on her every day at 4:00?  Why can't she wait until 4:00 and make the special signal?
11. Next they meet the Scoodlers, who hav two faces (one black and one white) and detachable heads.   They capture our heroes and pla  to eat them.They escape when Shaggy provoes them into  throwing their heads at him.  He catches the heads (he has learned "base-ball") and toses the into  a nearby abyss  Not sure if this constitutes genocide or not.
12. Our heroes reach the deadly Desert.  Shaggy summons his friend nJohnny Dooit, who  can do anything. Johnny bulds them a sand-noat and then leaves.It carries them across the desert into the Winkie Country.
13. They happen upon the Truth Pond.  Shaggy and B-B btahe in it, and their heads are restored to normal.
14. They meet Tik-Tok and Billina, who were sent by Ozma as an escort.  Billina has had ten chikcs, all of whom she has named "Dorothy".
15. They reach the Tin Woodman's Castle.  They find statues of Dorothy and their pals. Neill draws the statues in Denslow's style.
16. They don't use money  in Oz.  They all help each other get what they need, and no one  wants more than they can use.
17. They set out for the Emerald City witthe Tin Woodman joining them.
18. It is stated that no one dies naturally in Oz, but that they can be killed.
19. They come to Jack Pumpkinheads's home, whch is a giant pumpkin. He farms pumpkins to use as new heads. When one of his heds spoils, Ozma carves him a new one. He keeps a graveyard of his old heads.
20. The cover illustration shows his home connected to power lines. Is there electricity in Oz?
21. The Royal Chariot arrives, drawn by the Lion and the Tiger.
22. "The queerness doesn't mattr, so long as they're friends", says Dorothy.  That takes on a different meaning in the Twenty-First Century.
23. It is noted that Dorothy is a princess while in Oz.
24. They arrive in the Emerald City.  None of that business about the spectacles, of course.
25. The Shaggy Man feels out of place in the palace.  Ozma has provided him with elegant clothing that is still "shaggy".
26. Ozma reveals that she was the one who mixed up  the roads to  get Dorothy to Oz, because just sednng an invite would have been too easy.
27. She has invited Dox and Kik-a-Bray, but not the Musicker.
28. Under the influence of the Truth Pond, the Shagggy Man admits that he stole the Love Magnet, and surrenders it to Ozma.
29. The guests start to arrive, including the Scarecrow, Jack Pumpkinhead, Glinda, the Woggle-Bug, Billina and Tik-Tok.
30. The foreign guests start to arrive, many of them from Baum's non-Oz books. The out-of-town guests include:
    1. King John Dough of Hiland and  Loland, Chick the Cherub and Para Bruin (John Dough and the Cherub, 1906)
    2. Santa Claus
    3. The Queen of Merryland and the Candy Man (Dot and Tot of Merryland, 1901)
    4. The Braided Man (They invited the crazy man they met once?)
    5. The Evian royals
    6. Queen Zixi of Ix, King Bud of Noland, and Princess Fludd, Queen Zixi of Ix, 1905)
31. Johnny Dooit and the Good Witch of the North are described as running late.
32. They hve a big banquet that night.
33. There's an Emperor of the Winkies (which we  know is the Tin Woodman), , a Monarch of the Munchkins (who is never named), a King of the Quadlings (I thought Glinda ruled Quadlingland) and a Sovereign of the Gillikins (who I would've thought was the Good Witch of the North).
34. The next day there's a parade and an exhibition, after which, everyone goes home except the Shaggy Man, who is allowed to stay in Oz on  probation.

Overall: It's an interesting story. I feel like Baum is trying t tie all of his books together.

[The Baron]

Next is The Emerald City of Oz, L. Frank Baum, first published July 20, 1910.

1. The Nome King, Roquat the Red, is angry and wants his Magic Belt back.
2. Meanwhile, the Gales are on the verge of losing their farm to the bank, which is one of the common themes o Twentieth Century American  popular culture. This raises a question that I have long pondered:  What do Uncle Henry and Aunt Em think about  Dorothy periodically disappearing and then reappearing with tales of having been to a fairy kingdom?  As it turns out, Em half-believes her, while Henry thinks that she's a dreamer like her mother. Dorothy says that she will go to Oz to talk things over with Ozma
3. The Emerald City is said to have 9,654 buildings and a population of 57,318 people. Oz is said to have a population of over 500,000 people.
4. There is a lengthy description of how great life in Oz is, which has an occasional tendency to sound like Latverian propaganda: "They (the Ozites) were her (Ozma's) children, and she cared for them."
5. Sez Baum: "I do not suppose such an arrangement would work with us, but Dorothy assures me that it works finely with the Oz people." If one was a cynical person, one might suggest that that was exactly the sort of thing that a girl who was basically Ozma's pet might say.
6. Ozma agrees to let the Gales live in Oz, so Baum won't have to keep coming up with implausible reasons for Dorothy to get to Oz.
7. It occurs to me to wonder  what the chronology of Dorothy's adventures is. If it matches the publication dates, she'd be nearly an adult by now.
8. Ozma decides to bring Henry and Em to Oz without warning, because sick old people wouldn't have heart attacks or nervous breakdowns if they siddenly foound themselvs in a fairy kingdom.
9. Meanwhile, a Nome called Guph offers to lead Roquat's army against Oz, under penaty of being sliced thin and being fed to the seven-headed hounds if he fails. His plan is for Roquat to tunnel under the Deadly Desert while he seeks out evil allies.
10. The Shaggy Man is now Keeper of the Royal Storehouses.
11. Ozma transports Henry and Em to her throne room, brooking no argument from Dorothy, who suggests meeting  them in an agriculturl   setting.. Ozma also has no doubt that the Galesd will be grateful.
12. Guph recruits the Whimsies, who  are giants with tiny heads. Guph promises them that Roquat will give them big heads if they win.
13. One of Billlina's chicks dide of "the pip", whatever that is. I guess no one dies in Oz unless they do.
14. Billina is now the Queen and Governor  of all the chickens in Oz.
15. Guph recruits the Growleywogs, skeletally thin giants who agree in return for twenty thousand slaves, although they plan to  betray the nomes afterwards.  Gupjh plans to overthrow Roquat.
16. The Gales are restless with nothing to do, so Ozma suggests that Dorothy take them on a tour of Oz while she th nks of something for them to do. They set out with the Wizard, the Shaggy Man, Omby Amby, Billina and the Sawhorse. They pay a call on the Wogglebug, and then move on to the village of the Cuttenclips, a race of living paper dolls. They meet Miss Cuttenclip, an immortal little girl who makes the dolls. The Shaggy Man sneezes and  blows a large part of the town down.
17. Guph seeks to  recruit the Phanfasms, a race of powerful sorcerers who agree to join the alliance, but secretly plan to destroy them all.
18. Next, Dorothy and company visit Fuddlecumjig, home of the Fuddles, who are living jigsaw puzzles.
19. Guph reports back to the Nome King.
20. Glinda has been teachng the Wizard some real magic, so he is no longer a humbug.
21. Dorothy, Toto and Billina get lost and are captured by the living utensils of Utensia. They are brought before King Kleaver, and a barrage of  puns ensues before  they are allowed to go on their way.
22. Next they go to Bunbury, a villiage of living baked goods.  More puns ensue.
23. Ozma decides to make Uncke Henry the Keeper  of the Jewels and Aunt Em the Royal Mender of the Stockings of the Ruler of Oz.
24. She sees on the Magic Picture that the Nome King  is tunneling to the Emerald City.
25. Dorothy visits Bunnybury, a town of rabbits.  She has lunch with the King, who  is unhappy in his work. Dorothy jollies him out of it.
26. Dortohy, Billina and Toto find their way back to the Wizard and the others. Dorothy and the Wizard discuss airships as a means  of travel. The idea that airships might find their way to Oz concerns the Wizard.
27. Now would be a good time to  discuss where Oz and the surrounding countries ae located in relation to Kansas. As far as I can tell, Baum places  tehm on Earth, but never specifies where.  I get the impression that Baum is relying on his target audience not knowing much geography.
28. They visit Rigmarole Town,wherever everyone talks endlessly and never gets to the point, and Flutterbudget Center, where everyone worries about things that haven't happened.  These are described aas "the Defensive Settlements of Oz".
29. They reach the Tin Woodman's castle, and he tells them of the Nome King's  plans, and that Ozma refuses to fight. He goes with them to the Emerald City.
30. They meet the Scarecrow at his new mansion, which is shaped like a giant ear of corn.  He joins their party, and they pick up Jack Pumpkinhead along the way.
31. Wen they reach the Emerald City, Ozma tells them that the invaders' tunnel will surface on the palace grounds  near the Forbidden Fountain, which contains the Water of Oblivion, which makes everyone who  drinks it forget everythmg they've ever known.
32. The Scarecrow has a plan. Ozma magically causes the tunnel to fill with dust. When the invaders surface, they all drink from the Fountain, are rendered harmless, and are sent home. 
33. They decide to consult with Glinda on how to prevent future invasions,
34. Glinda says that her Magic Book records everything that happens everywhere.  So I buy a Diet Coke and some beef jerky, and it gets recorded in her Book?
35. Glinda renders Oz invisible to all  outsiders.  I feel  that that might npt be as effective as she thinks it will be.
36. We end with Baum getting a letter from Dorothy saying that Oz has gone over the Reichenbach Falls, and will be heard from  no more.  We shall see.

Overall: An OK story - lots of dark stuff in this, though.

[The Baron]

Next is The Patchwork Girl of Oz, by L. Frank Baum,  first published July 1, 1913.

1. The ilustrations are by Neill, again.
2. Baum begins with an introduction exlaining how a kid suggested he use wireless telegraphy to contact Oz.  He describes how he boadcast to Oz, and how Glinda saw this in the Great Book, and reported this to Ozma, who had the Shaggy Man telegraph back to Baum.
3. We begin with Ojo the Unlucky, who  lives in the remote mountains of Munchkinland with his Unc Nunkie.  They have little to no food, which contradicts  all that propaganda about how everyone in Oz hs everything they need.
4. They decide to visit their nearest  neighbors, Doctor Pipt and his wife, Margolotte.
5. Pipt invented the Powder of Life that Tip/Ozma used to bring the Sawhorse to life. Pipt is known as the Crooked Magician,because his body is  physically  rooked.
6. Pipt has anmted a Glass Cat called Bungle that has pink brains thrt it is CONSTANTLY bragging about, and he intends to animate a girl made out  of a patchwork quilt. Margolotte intends to give her the  minimum necessary amount of brain, but Ojo augments them when she isn't looking.
7. Pipt explains that only Ozma, Glinda and the Wizardare allowed to practice magic in Oz (What about the Good With of the North?), but he sees no harm if he only does it for himself.
8. He also  has the Liquid of Petrifaction, which turns whatever it touches to marble.
9. Nunkie is described as beomg descended from the former Kings of Munchkinland before it became part of Oz, which contradicts one of the previous books, where the Munchkins still had a monarch.
10. Doctor Pipt has a phonograph.
11. When the Patchwork Girl is animated, she knocks some  of the Liquid of Petrifaction onto Margolotte and nunkie.
12. The phonograph is accidentally animted as well.
13. The Patchwork Girl is given the name "Scraps".
14. It will take Pipt six years to make more Powder of Life, so  he charges Ojo to  find the ingredients for a charm that  will restore Margolotte and Nunkie. Ojo  sets out with Bungle and Scraps.
15. The living phonograph's name is "Victor Columnbia Edison". It is really annoying.
16. The first ingredient they need is three hairs from a Woozy's tail.  By an astonishing coincidence, they discover a Woozy, which is a square critter like a Minecraft animal a century early.  It agrees to let them have the hairs, but they are unable to pull them out, so the Woozy accompanies them.
17. Eureka the Pink Kitten is described as  living in Oz.  i'm not sure when she was supposed to have come back.
18. They meet the Scarecrow and the Sawhorse on nthe road. The Scarecrow is trveling to  have jinjur repaint his left ear.  I guess he's gotten over that whole  "She overthrew him" thing. He and Scraps are quite taken with  one another.
19. Ojo picks a ssox-leaved clover - which is one of the ingredients he needs - despite having been told that it's illegal. He is arrested the moment they arrive at the Emerald City.
20. The  illustration of Ojo in his prisoner's robe looks kie one of the ghost costumes from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
21. The  prison is very luxurious. One of the food choices is mutton-chops. Again, if all animals on oz are sentient, how is it decided h=who it;s OK tp eat?
22. Ojo is contrite and Ozma lets him off. He is allowed to continue on his quest.
23. Ojo and Scraps set off, accompaioed by Dorothy and the Scarecrow.  Bungle and the Woozy stay behind.
24. They visit Jack Pumpkinhead, who  carves his own new heads now.
25. They head into  Quadlingland, where they encounter the Tottenhots, a group of racist stereotypes.
26. They meet Mr. Yoop, a caged giant who wants to eat them.
27. They get caught up in dispute between the Hoppers and the Horners.
28. The Horners mine radium, lof which their Chief says, "It is a medicine, too, and no one can ever be sick who lives near radium." Of course, this was around the start of the craze fro radium "health drinks".
29. They resolve the dispute, and the Horners give them water from a dark well, which was another one f the things they were looking for.
30. They visit the Tin Woodman. One of the ingredients they need is a drop of oil from aa living man, which Ojo  gets from Nick.
31. The last thing they need as a wing from a yellow butterfly, which the Woodman refuses to let them have.
32. Nick accompanies them to the Emerlad City, where Ozma  informs them that Glinda has been working on the problem.
33. The Wizard takes away Pipt's ability to do magic.and straightens  out his body.
34. He's replaced Bungle's brains with trnasparent ones, making her more humble. Ozma decides to keep her as a pet.
35. The Woozy will live in the Royal Menagerie,
36. Scraps is to live wherever she likes.
37. The Wizard cures Nunkie and Margolotte, and Ozma gives Ojo and Nunkie a house just outside the Emerald City.

Overall: An OK story.  Not that big of a fan of the Patchwork Girl, myself.

[The Baron]

Next up is Tik-Tok of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, first published June 19, 1914.

1. We begin with Ann Soforth, Queen of Oogaboo, a remote region in Oz. she sets out to co quer Oz, an gathers an army of 18 men.
2. Glinda's palace is described as being to the north of the Emerald Cty, when it was always placed in the south.  maybe Glinda has two palaces, or maybe Baum conflated her with the Witch of the north. She casts a spell which causes Ann and her army to end  up outside  of Oz.
3. Elsewhere, Betsy Bobbin and Hank the mule are swept overboard during a storm at sea. In researching this book, I discovered that Betsy Bobbin came about as a character because Baum wanted t write an Oz stage play, but someone else had the rights to use Dorothy in a stage play, so he invented Betsy.  She is described as being from Oklahoma, and that's her entire backstory.  No information is given as to where she was sailing or why.
4. Betsy and Hank wash ashore in the Rose Kingdom, a land of roses with women's faces.  
5. They meet the Shaggy Man, who is traveling with the Love Magnet (with Ozma's permission), seeking to find his brother, who wnt missing in a mine in Colorado.  He figurs his brother is held captive by the Nome King.
6. Betsy has heard of  Oz and Dorothy.  i guess the Oz books exist "in-universe", as well.
7. They pluck the Rose Princess, Ozga, a distant cousin of Ozma, but the Roses reject her, and drive her out  of the Rose Kingdom along with Betsy, Hank and Shaggy.
8. Ruggedo is the current Nome King.  A footnote expalins the "Ruggedo" is the name that Roquat toom after he forgot his old name after drinking the Water of Oblivion.  He seems to remember everything else, though.  I think Ozma got ripped off on the Well of Oblivion.
9. They meet Polychrome who  fell off the rainbow again, and Tok-Tok, who  was sent by Ozma to  help, but was thrown down a well by Ruggedo. They also meet Ann and her army, and convince them to  help  fight the Nome King.
10. Ruggedo sees them coming and drops them through something called the "Hollow Tube" despite having been ordered not to by someone called Tititi-Hoochoo.
11. Our ghroes end up on the other side of the world, in a realms filled with kings and queens, who  are ruled by the Private Citizen, a.k.a the Great Jinjin, a.k.a. Tititi-Hoochoo.
12. He decides to punish Ruggedo by sending them back with an Instrument of Vengeance, a dragon named Quox.  They had back through the Tube.
13. There's a Nome called the Long-Eared Hearer who has super-hearing, and who hears them comng.
14. Ann insists on trying to conquer theNomes without Quox's help.  She orders Tik-Tok (who  has been drafted into  her army)not to kill anyone unless it was absolutely necessary, to  which Tik-Tok replied "I do not think Ruggedo  would bleed if I filled him full og holes and put him in a cider-press."
15. Ann's army is quickly captured. Kaliko, Ruggedo's steward, protects Betsy and Hank.
16. Everyone else is quickly captured, except for Polychrome.
17. Ruggedo mentions "Saratoga-chips", which seems to have been an old name for potato chips.
18. He turns the Shaggy Man into a dove, and the Rose princess into a fiddle.
19. Polychrome fetches Quox, who takes away Ruggedo's magic and uses magical eggs to drive Ruggedo out  of the Nome Kingdom.
20. Kaliko is made the new king, and Quox goes home.
21. They rescue Shaggy's brother and Ruggedo promises to reform.
22. Polychrome goes hme. and Ann  gives up on conquering the world, so Ozam sends her and her army home, along with the Rose Princess, who is smitten with one of Ann's soldiers.
23. The Shaggy man has a wireless telephone that the Wizard of Oz invented, and he calls Ozma. She warps Tik-Tok home, but Shaggy doesn't want to abanson his brother, Betsy and Hank. Ozma consults with  Tik-Tok, the Wizard and Dorothy, and they talk her into letting the Shaggy Brothers, Betsy and Han come to live  in Oz.
24. Hank can speak when he gets to Oz, usually, animals could speak once they got to any fairyland.  He is the  only mule in Oz.
25. We learn that Toto could always talk in Oz, he just didn't feel like it.

Overall: This was weird, because I know I've read it before, but I didn't remember it at all.  A lot of it feels like retreads of elements of previous stories, and Tik-Tok isn't even that much of a presence in it.

[The Baron]

Next is The Scarecrow of  Oz, by L. Frank  Baum, first published July 16, 1915.

1. The  illustrations are still by Neill.  You can assume that they're by Neill until I say otherwise.
2. We open with Trot and Cap'n Bill. Trot is a little girl, and Bill is a one-legged retired sailor who is Trot's mother's "star boarder". They first appeared  in Baum's 1911 book, The Sea Fairies.
3. The pair decide to go sailing and are pulled into a whirlpool, which deposits them i an undersea cavern.  Trot is said to have been touched by fairies at birth, and felt unseen arms protecting her while she was underwater.
4. They meet a bird-like creature called an Ork. The trio travel through a tunnel and surface on an island.  The island's sole inhabitant is an old  man named Pessim the Observer, who was exailed by his neighbors because he's a colossal downer. The Ork flies Trot and Bill off the island.
5. Trot  is from California.
6. The meet the "Bumpy Man" in the Land of Mo, where it rains  lemonade and snows popcorn.
7. While there, they meet Button-Bright, who is from Philadelphia and met Trot duirng the events of The Sea Fairies. He had a magc umbrella, which he has lost. He seesm a little older and not as moronic as he was in hos previous appearance.
8. They convince some birds to fly them across a desert The Ork leaves them to find its home, but promises to  come back later.
9. They find that they are in Jinxland, a remote region in Quadlingland.  So much for cutting  Oz off from the outside world, when people can jsut wander in!  Jinxland is ruled by King Krewl.
10. The tree americans met Pon, the gardener's boy.  He is in love with Krewl's niece, Princess Gloria.   Krewl wants Gloria to marry a rich old man called Googly-Goo. (Seriously, Frank? "Googly-Goo"?)
11. Trot, Cap'n Bill and Button-Bright go to the castle  and meet King Krewl. The King fears Bill, and summons a witch named "Blinkie" to deal with him, and to  make Gloria more complaisant.
12. Blinkie turns Bill into a grasshopper, and Krewl runs Trot and Button-Bright out of the castle. They take refuge with Pon.
13. Meanwhile, glinda has been reading about all this in the Great Book.  The Scarecrow arrives for a visit, and Glinda tells him that he is to go help the outlanders. she doesn't ask him. she pretty much treats him like anunderling.
14. Blinkie and some other witches freeze Gloria's heart  so she won't love Pon anymore.  Googly-Goo discovers that she can't love anyone anymore, including him. Didn't any of them know any love spells?
15. Trot seeks her friends.  She meets up with Capn'n Bill, Pon and the Scarecrow.  Button-Bright has wandered off again.
16. The Scarecrow sends Pon to demand that  Krewl beats the crap out of Pon and sends him on his way.
17. Button-Bright meets up with the Ork, who has come back to see how his friends are getting  on. The Ork returns Button-Bright to his pals.
18. The Scarecrow goes foo  to "conquer" Krewl. The Ork is dubious about this, so he takes off to get help for him.
19. The Scarecrow confronts Krewl and whips him.  Krewl arrests him and decides to burn him alive.
20. The Orks arrive just in time and save the Scarecrow and capture Krewl and Googly-Goo.
21. Te Orks capture Blinie and bring her to the Scarecrow. He uses a shrinking powder on her to pressure her into undoing what she's done.  She restores  Cap'n Bill and unfreezes Gloria's heart.  He uses another powder which stops Blinkie from shrinking further, but takes away her magic. No word on what went on with  the other Wicked Witches.
22. After Gloria and Pon are settled in as the new rulers of Jinxland, the Orks carry the Scarecrow, Trot, Button-Bright and Cap'n Bill to  Quadlingland. befroe going home.
23. Ozma, Dorothy and Betsy Bobbin have been watching all this on the Magic Picture. Dorothy thinks that they should go welcome the visitors to Oz.  Ozma can't go because she has an important conference with the Wogglebug and Jack Pumpkinhead. (An "important conference"  with those two? Sounds like she just doesn't wanna go!), but she lets Dorothy and Betsy go.
24. Dorothy meets with Glinda, who  tells her that she doesn't see any way at present to return Trot, Button-Bright and Cap'n Bill to the outside world.  why not? They got in easily enough. Is the Magic Belt broken?  Can they at least use the Wizard's wireless phone to tell Trot's mother and Button-Bright's parents where they are?
25. The Scarecrow says, "There is no need to Glinda's palace...We have no wicked people in Oz that we know of..."  Dude, you literally just got through dealing with a wicked witch that you hadn't known about!
26. They meet at Glinda's palace and go to the Emerald City.  Trot has read about many of the people she meets there, so the Oz books definitely exist "in-universe".

Overall: This is another book that I had very little memory of. It's OK, but I'm getting the impression that Baum really  didn't want to write Oz stories anymore, so he just shoehorned some Oz stuff onto stories about other places.

[The Baron]

Next up is Rinkitink in Oz, by L. Frank Baum, first published June 20, 1916.

1. We begin on the Pingaree, a pearl-producing in the Nonestic Ocean, ruled over by King  Kitticut and Queen Garee, who have one son,  Prince Inga.
2. The King has three secret magic pearls - a blue  one that gives the holder super-strength, a  pink one that protects the holder from any harm, and a white one gives wise advice. They helped Kitticut's father drive off an invasion from their enmies from the twin islands of Regos and  Coregos to the north when Kitticut was a boy.
3. Pingaree is visited by King Rinkitink of Rinkitink an his surly talkoing goat, Bilbil. Rinkitink is a stereotypical "Jolly Fat Man", and is extremely annoying. I can assure you from direct personalexperience that fat men are not necessarily jolly.
4. The are invaded once again by Regos and Coregos, and  everyone on the island is taken captiove except, Inga, Rinkitink and Bilbil.
5. Inga recoevers the Magic Pearls, which he doesn't tell his friends about because they're a state secret. He puts the blue and pink pearls in his shoes, and wears the white pearl in a bag around his neck
6. They find a boat, which Inga rows to the enemy islands.
7. Their enemies are King Gos of Regos and Queen Cor of Coregos.  Frank doesn't put a lot of imagination into the names here.
8. Inga easily routs Gos and his army,.
9.  Rinkitink inadvertently causes Inga to lose his shoes, and thus the blue and  pink pearls. Granted, Rinkitink is a moron, but Inga really should have kept a tighter hold on them. Inga tells his friends about the pearls, and they try vainly to find them.
10. The shoes are taken by a charcoal-burner named Nikobob, who inadevertenly uses the  pearls' power to kill a monster.  He is extremely incurious as to why he suddenly has super-powers. He then gives the shoes to his daughter Zella, who gathers honey to sell to Cor.
11. Cor easily captures Inga and Rinkitink and takes them back  to Coregos Bilbil escapes and follows them.
12. Zella comes to Coregos, and Inga trades shoes with her, thus recovering his pearls.
13. Inga conquers the islands, but Gos and Cor escape, taking Inga's parents with them as hostages.
14. Inga frees his people and sends them home, and then he, Rihkitink and Bilbil set off in pursuit 
15. Gos and Cor pay off Kaliko the Nome King to imprison Inga's parents.
16. Rinkitink persuades Inga to give him the pink pearl of protection.
17. Kaliko treats Inga and pals well enough, but refuses to free Inga's parents.
18. That night, Kaliko tries to kill Inga and Rinkitink, but their pearls protect them.
19. Meanwhile, Baum has remembered that this is an Oz book, and so Dorothy has been following these books using the Great Book of Records and the Magic Picture.   With  Ozma's permission, Dorothy  and the Wizard set out to help our heroes. Dorothy brings a dozen eggs with her.
20. We learn that the reason that the Nomes fear eggs is because  that contact with egs render the Nomes mortal.
21. We also learn that Cor and Gos were drowned during a storm at sea on their way home. How convenient! If I was a conspiracy theorist, I'd wonder if Glinda was behind this.
22. Dorothy threatens Kaliko into releasing Inga's parents.  
23. The Wizard detects that Bilbil is actually  Prince Bobo of Boboland, who was transformed by a cruel magician.
24. Everyone goes back to the Emerald City.
25. Glinda has a flock of sixteen white storks that fly her places.
26. Glina and the Wizard transform Bilbil to  Bobo in several stages:  Goat to lamb to ostrich to Tttenhot to Mifket to prince. We get a bit  of racism here as the Tottenhot is once again drawn as a stereotypical "Black African Savage" and described as a  "lower form of a man".
27. A "Mifket" is drawn as  a fat, dumpy cross between a clown and a troll doll.
28. They all  hang out in Oz for a while before Inga, his parents, Rinkitink and Bobo return to Pingaree. Once they're  there, Rinktink's people show up, and force him to come home and do his job.  Bobo goes with him.

Overall: It was  OK, maybe not as good as I remember it being when I was little. It's barely an Oz book, and when the Ozites do show up, it's to be a deus ex machina to solve all the heroes' problems.  It's almost as if Baum couldn't think of a way to have Inga solve his problems on his own.

[The Baron]

Next up is The Lost Princess of Oz, by L. frsnk Baum, first published June 5,1917.

1. The Ozites discover that Ozma is missing, as are the Magic Picture, Glinda's magical  paraphernalia, the Great Book of Records and the Wizard's bag of magical  tools.
2. Meanwhile, in the  Land of the Yips, a remote region in the Winlie Country, Cayke the Cookie Cook discovers that her doiamond-studded gold dishpan has gone mising. They seek the aid of the Frogman, a frog with human size and intelligence, whose convinced the Yips that he's smarter than any of them, which he might well be. He determines that no Yip stole the dishpan, so he and Cayke set forth in search of  it.
3. Back in the Emerald City, they decide to send search groups to each of the four countries of Oz:
   1. To Munchkinland: Ojo, Unc Nunkie and Doctor  Pipt.
   2. To Quadlingland: The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.
   3. To Gillikinland: The Shaggy Man, the Shaggy Man's brother,  Tik-Tok and Jack Pumpkinhead.
   4. To Winkieland: Dorothy, Betsy, Trot, the Wizard, the Sawhorse, the Woozy, the Patchwork Girl, the Cowardly Lion, Hank the Mule,  Button-Bright and Toto
4. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman are sai  to have been taing a course of the Wogglebug's education pills. How? They don't eat!
5. Cap'n Bill is  left in charge of the Emerald City.
6. Dorothy's party  encounters the Merry-Go-Round Mountains, a range of giant spinning tops. They manage to  bounce from  one to the other of these without  being pounded into a fine paste.
7. Next they come to the city of Thi.  The Thists have heart-shaped bodies and diamond-shaped heads, gold-lined insides and  eat nothing  but thistles. They are ruled by the High Coco-Lorum, wbo  has a charoit pulled by a mechanical dragon. They determine that Ozma is not  in Thi and move on.
8. Toto  loses his growl. Learning to speak has diminished Toto as a character, 'cause he's kind of whiny.
9. Button-Bright gets lost in an orchard abd  eats a peach with a golden pit that some birds and a ragbit warn him that the peach was enchanted by Ugu the Shoemaker. Scraps finds him, but he doesn't mention this to nyone, because he's a moron.
10. They come to the City of the Herkus, a race of scrawny people with super-strength who keep a race of giants as slaves.
11. Their leader, Vig the Czarover, tells them that Ugu was a Shoemaker who found a cache of magical materials belonging to his grandfather. Ugu left the city to go forth and conquer the universe.
12. Meanwhile, the Frogman has inadvertently bathed in the Truth Pond. (You'd think that they'd put a railing up around that or something.) He and Cayke  come to Bear Center, a town  of living teddy bears. Their King is the Lavender Bear, who can do  a certain amount  of magic.  He also has a little Pink Bear that can answer questions abouit anything except the future. Lavender Bear confirms that Ugu  has Cayke's dishpan. Lavender Bear decides to accompany them, bringing  Pink Bear with them.
13. Team Ozma and Team Dishpan meet up  an decide to go  after Ugu together. Button-Bright gets lost again.
14. We learn that Ugu stole the dishpan because it has magical powers that Cayke didn't know about - to whit, it could change size and you could fly around in it.
15. They confront Ugu in his Wicker Castle. Dorothy uses the Magic Belt (which Ugu didn't know about because it's from outside Oz) to turn Ugu into a dove.  He flees with the dishpan.
16. The Ozites discover that Ozam was imprisoned in the golden peach-pit which Button-Bright still had in his pocket, and free her. They gather up their stolen goods and go to the Emerald City. Toto even finds his growl.
17. Meanwhile, in Quadlingland, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman find the magic dishpan.  They both agree that it's the most useless goddamned thing they've ever seen, but take it along with them in case  one of their pals wants it.  They end up giving it to Ozma, who  returns it to Cayke.
18. Ugu comes to  Dorothy and apologizes for being a jerk, but elects to remain in the form of a dove.

Overall:  This one was pretty good, the best one in a while, and it was actually set in Oz, for once.

[The Baron]

Next is the Tin Woodman of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, first published May 13, 1918.

1. We begin with the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow hanging out in Nick's castle. A young Gillikin man called "Woot the Wanderer" arrives and requests an audience, which is granted. He  has been wanderng around Oz for a year, but has never heard of these two national heroes.
2. At Woot's request, Nick tells him his origin story, and about Nimmie Amee, the girl he once loved. Again we realize how little sense the Tin Woodman's origin  makes, especially the part about his head.
3. Nick says that because the Wizard was out of loving heart, he gave him a kind heart, instead, which is why  he never went back to marry the girl. Hold the phone, the heart was all B.S. on the Wizard's part, window-dressing to help Nick accept that he already possessed the qualities he'd been searching for, wasn't it?  why wouldn't he have just told him it was an all-purpose heart?
4. Woot asks Nick why he didn't go back and marry the girl out of kindness, even if he couldn't love her. Nick admits that henever thought of it. He decides to go find her, and the scarecrow and Woot decide to go with him.
5. Nick admits that he's really just a figurehead, and that Ozma calls all the shots in Oz, so he can wander off whenever he feels like it, without worrying about any responsibilities.
6. Nick decides to  avoid the Emerald City on his way, in cae it all turns out to be embarassing.
7. The travelers encounter a sign  warning them not to go to Loonville. Nick and the Scarecrow immediately want to  go.  Loonville is inhabited by a race of balloon people ruled by King Bal.  Our heroes escaspe by deflating seversl of the Loons.
8. Next they came to Yoop  Castle, whic they correctly guess is the former home of Mister Yoop, the caged giant from a few books back. Tjey meet Mrs. Uoop, who  is a giantess and a Yookoohoo, an "artist in transformations"  She diesn't particularly miss her husband.  She has previously captured Polychrome and turned her into  a "canary-bird".
9. Mrs. Yoop turns the Tin Woodman into  a Tin Owl. the Scarecrow  a Brown Bear tuffed with straw, and Woot into a Green Monkey. The  three of them escape along with Polychrome.
10. The Green  monkey falls into  a cave full of dragons, but manages to esxape.
11. They decide to head sout to get Glinda's help in restoring them, which makes sense.
12. They meet Tommy Kwikstep, who  was enchanted to have twenty legs.  Polychrome manages to restore him to normal.
13. They arrive  at Jinjur's ranch. No sign of her husband.
14. We now cut to the Emerald City, where Ozma and Dorothy are hanging out.
15. We learn that Oz was not always a fairyland. At some point in the past, the Fairy Queen Lurline turned Oz into a fairyland.  from that point on, no one aged or died in Oz. Old people remained old, children remained children, and babies remained babies, which is horrific if you think about it. No word on what happened to women who were pregnant at the time, or if new babies are possible.
16. We are told that since no one gets sick there, there are  no doctors in Oz. No word on who sets broken bones, and things like that.
17. Anyone who enters Oz from outside falls  unde rthe spell as long as they're there.
18. Dorothy and Ozma have been watching our heroes'  travails, and set out for Jinjur's ranch, taking Toto and the Sawhorse with them. Ozma easily restores the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow. Polychroe is a littl harder, but Ozma manages it.  
19. Woot is the hardest of all, but Polychrome comes up with an isea that restores Woot and turns Mrs. Yoop into a Green Monkey.
20. Nick continues on his mission, accompanied by the Scarecrow, Woot and  Polychrome.
21. Ku-Klip was the name of the tinsmith who built Nick.
22. Nick and the Scarecrow spend a lot  of time discussing how superior they are to "meat" people and each other. These two  might actually be kind of creepy  to hang around with.
23. They come across a sword-carrying Tin Soldier, who is rusted as Nick once was. They oik him, and itmturns out that he is Captain Fyter, who was Nimmie's Amee's next boyfriend after Nick that the Witch dealt with the same way. apparently, Nimmie Amee has a fetish for tin men without hearts. Good thing no  Cybermen showed up.
24. The tin men decide to find Nimmie Amee and let her choose between them, apparenty having never considered the possibility that she might have moved on. They find her old house abandoned, so they decide to see whether Ku-Klip knows where she is.
25. In the tinsmith's workshop, Nick finds his old head in a cupboard. Nick  and his former head do not get along. This  raises lots of questions. Which of the two is the "real"  Nick Chopper?  Both? Neither? Is the Tin Wooddman really  "Nick Chopper" at all?
26. This where it gtets weird: our heroes learn that Ku-Klip used "magic glue" to attach parts of Nick's and Fyter's bodies together to make a man he names "Chopfyt" to serve as an assistant. There Oz people are always trying to manufacture slaves for themselves, aren't they? Chopfyt didn't work out, and left.
27. The gang passes through territory that renders them invisible. They meet a Hy-po-gy-raf, a creature that eats straw. Tey trade the Scarerow's straw to this beast for help in crossing a ditch. They use hay to re-stuff the Scarecrow.
28. They come to th home of two pigs, Mrs. Squealina Swyne and her husband, Professsor Grunter Swyne.  they donate some straw so the Scarecrow, so he can re-stuff himself  properly.
29. The Swynes claim to be the parents of the Nine Tiny Piglets, which contradicts the Piglets' previous backstory.
30. Nimmie Amee's house has a wall of solid aire around it, but they get though it  with some help from a rabbit.
31. They find that Nimmie Amee has married Chopfyt, and refuses the Tin mens' offer to chop him into little pieces. She is content with her bespoke soulleess abomination, although, as she says,  she says "There are times when I have to gently chide him, both with my tongue and with with my broomstick." To paraphrase Phil Ken Sebben, "Ha-ha...domestic violence."
32. They leave Chopfyt to his abuser. Polychrome returns to the skies, and the others go to the Emerald City, where Ozma hres te TinSoldier to maintain order in Gillikinland.

Overall: Not a bad story, but, good grief, there's lots of weird stuff in here! I don't know that I'd want a little kid reading it.

[The Baron]

Next is The Magic of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, first published on June 7, 1919.

1. We begin with a dedication to the children of US and Allied soldiers, accompanied by an illustration of a row of girl soldiers holding flags of the US and its Allies.
2. In a note to the readers, Baum notes that he's had a long and confining illness.
3. We begin among the Hyups, who live isolated high atop Mount Munch in Munchkinland. We learn of Bini Aru, a sorcerer who dutifully destroyed all of his magical paraphernalia when Ozma ordered everyone except the Wizard and Glinda to stop working magic.  He knew a mgic word, "Pyrzqxgl",  capable of transforming anyone. Hating to have the word be  lost, he wrote it down, along with a pronunication guide and then hid it in his house.  He had a son, Kiki Aru, who was a malcontent. One day while has parents are, Kiki stumbles across the word. 
4. Kiki turns himself into a hawk and then flies to the Land of Ev, where he learns the twin concepts of money and thefy (niether of which exist in Oz) when he steals a gold coin. He decides that he enjoys being wicked. He meets Ruggedo, who approves of wickedness. He tries to trick Kiki out of his secret, but Kiki doesn't trust him.
5. Ruggedo claims the Glinda's Magic Book only records the actions  of  people and not of animals, which seems like a huge gap considering how many intelligent animals there are in Oz.  Dunno how Ruggedo knows this, it all smacks of Plot Convenience Playhouse to me.
6. Kiki and Ruggedo  don't trust each other, but decide to re-enter Oz in animal form and raise an army of wild animals to conquer Oz.
7. In the Emerald ioty,  Dorothy, Trot and Cap'n Bill are trying to decide what to get Ozma for her birthday. Nill mentions a Magic Flower that the Glass Cat told him about.
8. The Glass Cat has her pink brains back. No explanation is given.
9. Dorothy cajoles the Glass Cat into telling them where the Magic Flower is. Trot, Bill and the Glass Car decide to go find it.
10. Dorothy can't think of what to get Ozma, so she rides the Sawhorse to go see Glinda. Glinda suggests that Dorothy come up with a "surprise cake" for Ozma.  Dorothy decides to have twelve tiny monkeys jump out of the cake. She gets the Wizard to help her with  it.
11. Dorothy and the Wizard  decide to ride the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger to the Forest of Gugu in Gillikinland.
12. The Forest is named after its King, Gugu the Leopard.  He has three Counselors, Bru the Bear, Loo the Unicorn and Rango the Gray Ape.
13. it is noted that it is uncertain whether visitors form the "Great Outside World" will live forever and/or cannot be killed in Oz, and that even Ozma doesn't know for certain. I'm pretty sure that this contradicts one of the earlier books, but I'm too lazy to check.
14. By an astonishing  coincidence, Kiki and Ruggedo decide to start their plan of conquest in the Forest of Gugu.  Kiki  transforms himself and Ruggedo into Li-Mon-Eags, creatures that are part lion, part monkey and part eagle. They t propose to the beasts that theycan turn the beasts into humans into beasts after conquering Oz.
15. The Glass cat leads Trot and Cap'n Bill to the island  of the Magic Flower.  Bill captures a kalidah by pinning it to the ground with a stake through its body.
16. Bill builds a raft, bur when he and Trot set foot on the iland, their feet (but now Bill's wooden leg) take root, and they are trapped. Thyesend the Glass Cat to fetch the Wizard to help.
17. Gugu the Leopard gathers all the animals and allows Ruggedo to address the animals. He tries to persuade the animals to go to war with the humans with his and Kiki's aid.
18. By another astonishing coincidence, Dorthoy and the Wizard show up right at that moment, riding the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger. Kiki panics and transforms the Wizard into a fox, Dorothy into a lamb, the Lion into a Munchkin boy, Ruggedo into  a goose, the into a rabbit and Gugu into  a fat Gillikin woman. The other animals all cut and run.
19. Kiki takes the Wizard's bag, but can't use any of it, so he hides it.
20. The Glass Cat returns to the Emerald City, discovers that Dorothy and the Wizard have gone to the Forest of Gugu, where she soon  catches up with them. Apparently, she can move at super speed. They decide to try to find the goose, hoping it will lead them to whoever's doing all the transformations.
21. Ruggedo finds Kiki and persuades him to turn him back into a Li-Mon-Eag.  They conspire together. The Wizard has found them and listens in on their onversation. The two miscreants decide to turn fifty monkeys into giant soldiers.
22. Kiki transforms six monkeys into giants, but the Wizard overhears the magic word and turns Kiki into a hickory-nut, and the turns Ruggedo into  a walnut. The Wizard returns himself  to normal and pockets the two nuts before returning to his friends and turns his freinds and Gugu to normal.
23. Trot and Bill meet the Lonesome Duck, who claims to be the only duck in Oz.It informs them that they will gradually shrink until they vanish completely. It makes toadstools for them to sit on before leaving.
24. The Glass Cat finds the Wizard's bag and returns it to him. The Wizard bargains with Rango the Gray Ape for the loan of twelve monkeys (no relation) and returns the six giants to normal.
25. Our heroes go to rescue Trot and Bill. At Dorothy's suggestion, the Wizard turns them into bumblebees who fly of the island, after which the Wizard returns them to normal. There's a side gag where the  Lion and the Tiger each eat a bee, and Dorothy and the Wizard freak out for a minute. Bill protects his foot with a wooden shoe and retrieves the Magic Flower, after which they return to the Emerald City.
26. The guests at Ozma's birthday party include the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Dorothy, Tik-Tok, Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, Betsy Bobbin, the Shaggy Man, Tiny Trot, Cap'n Bill, Button-Bright, Ojo the  Lucky, Doctor Pipt, Margalot, Frogman, Glinda the Good, the Wizard, Jinjur, the Tin Soldier, the Wogglebug, Scraps the Patchwork Girl, the Shaggy's Man's brother, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Cowardly Lion, the Hungry Tiger, Toto, Hank the Mule, Eureka the Pink Kitten, the Wooden Sawhorse, Billina the Yelow Hen and the Glass Cat.  No sign  of Unc Nunkie or the Woozy, and no visitors from outside Oz this time.
27. Later, Ozma insists that the hickory-nut and the walnut be returned to normal.  Dorothy suggests that to be on the safe side, they shpul transform them next to the Fountain of Oblivion and making them really thirsty.  Why not? It worked before, at least for a few books.  It works, and Ozma resolves to keep  them and raise them up right this time.

Overall: This is an OK book. It almost feels as though it would have made for a good "finale" to the series, with a last battle with Ruggedo and most of the characters gathered at the end for a party like it was an Asterix book. I wonder to what extent Baum knew  or suspected that he would be jobbing to the Reaper soon...