This book contains the following stories:
Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll tells a story about a curious little girl called Alice who follows a White Rabbit down a rabbit hole and ends up in Wonderland. Here she meets various bizarre characters including the Cheshire Cat, the Hatter, the March Hare, the Caterpillar and the Queen of Hearts. You can read the unabridged text here.
Pinocchio
Gepetto the carpenter finds a piece of magic wood which he makes into a puppet to be the son he's always wanted. Pinocchio is very happy living with his father but he longs to be a real boy and not a puppet any more. This can only happen if he learns to be good. Pinocchio finds this tricky, particularly as he seems to meet a fair share of tricksters, the Fox and the Cat being no exception. Despite advice from the talking Jiminy Cricket Pinocchio gets into all sorts of trouble, including selling his school book for tickets to the Great Marionette Theatre, and foolishly planting gold coins in the Field of Miracles. And when he lies his nose grows! However during his many adventures Pinocchio learns what it means to be good and eventually the Fairy rewards him and turns him into a real boy.
The Wizard of Oz
When young Dorothy and her dog Toto are caught in a cyclone, their Kansas farmhouse is carried off to the magical Land of Oz. Dorothy really wants to return home, but is told the only chance is to get the Wizard of Oz to help her so she follows the yellow brick road to his home in the Emerald City. Along the way she meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion who join her on the quest: the Scarecrow wishes for brains, the Tin Man for a heart and the Cowardly Lion for some courage. The Wizard of Oz agrees to help them all if they vanquish the Wicked Witch, so the gang troop off to her palace. Despite running into the witchs flying monkeys, Dorothy is able to melt the witch with a big bucket of water. On return the Wizard gives the scarecrow a handful of pins, the Tin Man a heart shaped cushion and the lion a bottle marked courage. For Dorothy he has a hot air balloon to take her home but unfortunately it takes off with the Wizard in it but before Dorothy can climb in herself. It takes advice from Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, for Dorothy to learn that she has her own way of returning home. Dorothy clicks together the heels of her silver shoes and wishes to return home, and is soon running across the fields at Kansas.
