The Emerald City of Oz

Uncle Henry and Aunt Em are losing the farm, so Dorothy moves them to Oz, where Ozma offers them a life of leisure in her palace. But they are working folk and too much leisure drives them batty. So Ozma sends them on a tour of Oz while she figures out what sort of job to create for them.

Dorothy and her family meet all sorts of interesting creatures:

• The Cuttenclips, a city of paper dolls.
• Rigmaroles, a village of long-winded blowhards
• The Flutterbudgets, who are over-the-top worry-worts
• Utensia, a pun-filled adventure where spoons, forks, and kitchen utensils come to life
• Bunbury, a pastry town where Dorothy eats a fence, a wheelbarrow, and a piano
• Bunnybury, a town of civilized rabbits

When Dorothy and the crew return from their trip, they discover a terrible tragedy: the Nome King has dug a tunnel under the Deadly Desert and is poised to invade and conquer Oz. The Nomes and their allies are too powerful for any resistance Oz can muster, so it looks like the end.

Ozma refused to even try to fight. Fortunately, the Scarecrow gets an idea. He has Ozma fill the tunnel with dust, so the Nomes and their allies get thirsty on their march under the Deadly Desert. Fortuitously, the tunnel emerges into Oz right at the foot of the Fountain of Oblivion. The invaders drink thirstily of the water and promptly forget everything they ever learned. Ozma tells them to go home, and they do. The end.

The Emerald City of Oz is much better than the previous book, The Road to Oz, but it isn't as good as the first few books.

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