The Road to Oz: 1909 edition, illustrated Kindle Edition

1909 edition, illustrated. The Road to Oz was Baum’s fifth Oz book, published in 1909.  Baum dedicated the book to his first grandson, Joslyn Stanton Baum. While taking a walk with her dog Toto, Dorothy Gale meets a wandering hobo known as the Shaggy Man, who carries the Love Magnet.  As they walk together, the road split into seven paths and they decide to take the seventh.  In short order, they meet a lost little boy named Button Bright and Polychrome, daughter of the Rainbow, who danced off the edge of the rainbow as it disappeared.  The four companions proceed to a variety of adventures, including visits to Foxville and Dunkiton, where intelligent foxes and donkeys live, respectively.  A couple of the friends undergo transformations.  Eventually they must travel across the Deadly Desert in order to reach Oz in time for Ozma’s birthday party on the 21st of August.  The party includes a great number of guests, including many from Baum’s other fantasies, such as Queen Zixi of Ix, John Dough, Chick the Cherub, and Santa Claus.  Baum later featured Button Bright and Polychrome in his 1912 novel, Sky Island. Read more