is the time for fables, for dreams, for joy.

These stories are not true; they could no be true and be so marvelous.
No one is expected to believe them; they were meant to excite laughter
and to gladden the heart.

Perhaps some of those big, grown-up people will poke fun of us--at you
for reading these nonsense tales of the Magical Monarch, and at me for
writing them. Never mind. Many of the big folk are still children--even
as you and I. We cannot measure a child by a standard of size or age.
The big folk who are children will be our comrades; the others we need
not consider at all, for they are self-exiled from our domain.

L. FRANK BAUM.

June, 1903.



CONTENTS


THE FIRST SURPRISE
The Beautiful Valley of Mo

THE SECOND SURPRISE
The Strange Adventures of the King's Head

THE THIRD SURPRISE
The Tramp Dog and the Monarch's Lost Temper