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Book Home  Books Information Lost Princess of Oz
Lost Princess of Oz
The Lost Princess of Oz is the eleventh book set in
Oz written by L. Frank Baum. Published in 1917, it begins with the
disappearance of Princess Ozma, the ruler of Oz and covers Dorothy
and the Wizard's efforts to find her. The introduction to the book
states that its inspiration was a letter a little girl had written
to Baum: "I suppose if Ozma ever got hurt or losted, everybody
would be sorry."
Dorothy has risen from bed for the day and is seeing
to her friends in the Emerald City and notices that Ozma hasn't awakened
yet. Ozma's chambermaid doesn't dare disturb her, but Dorothy, as
a Princess of Oz, goes into Ozma's chambers only to find she's not
there. She's nowhere in the palace either, and when they want to find
out where she is, the Magic Picture which could reveal that is gone
as well.
Glinda awakens in her palace in the Quadling Country
and finds her Great Book of Records is missing; it has been cut from
the podium it's chained to. She goes to prepare a magic spell to find
where it is only to find all of her magic tools are gone as well.
She dispatches a messenger to the Emerald City to relay news of the
theft, and the Wizard offers his magic tools to assist Glinda, only
to find them missing as well. Glinda, Dorothy, and the Wizard organize
search parties to find Ozma and the missing magic. Dorothy and the
Wizard's party heads into the Winkie Country to the west of the Emerald
City.
Concurrently, another theft took place during the night.
In the southwestern corner of the Winkie Country on a plateau live
the Yips, and Cayke the Cookie Cook has had her diamond-studded gold
dishpan stolen. The advisor to the Yips, a human-sized dandy of a
frog called the Frogman, hears Cayke's story and offers to help her
find the dishpan. He's only the Yips' advisor because he's puffed
himself up—he's really no wiser than any of them. When they've
gotten down the mountain, Cayke reveals to the Frogman that the dishpan
has magic powers, for her cookies come out perfect every time.
Dorothy, the Wizard, and their party jump over the spinning
Merry-Go-Round Mountains and enter the previously unknown communities
of Thi and Herku. The citizens of Thi are ruled by the High Coco-Lorum
(really the King, but the people don't know it) and repeat the same
story about the Herkus: they keep giants for their slaves. In the
Great Orchard between Thi and Herku, the party enjoys a variety of
fruits, and Button-Bright (who's gotten lost again) eats from the
one peach tree in the orchard, unusual because the peach's pit is
gold. Button-Bright pockets the gold peach pit to show Dorothy, Betsy,
and Trot later despite warnings from the local animals (which like
all animals in Oz can talk) that Ugu the Shoemaker enchanted it.
In the city of Herku, Dorothy and the Wizard's party
are greeted by the emaciated, friendly Czarover of Herku, who invented
a pure energy compound called zosozo that made him and all his people
superhumanly strong and also extremely thin—strong enough to
keep giants as slaves. The Czarover offers them six doses to use in
their travels and casually reveals that Ugu the Shoemaker came from
Herku. He found magic books in his attic one day because he was descended
from the greatest enchanter ever known and learned over time to do
a great many magical things. Ugu moved from Herku and built a castle
high in the mountains, and that description stirs Dorothy and the
Wizard to think that he might be behind all the recent thefts of magic
and the ruler of Oz. They proceed from Herku toward the castle and
meet with the Frogman, Cayke the Cookie Cook, and the Lavender Bear,
the stuffed bear who rules Bear Center. With him he carries the Little
Pink Bear, a small wind-up toy that can answer any question about
the past put to it.
When the combined party arrives at Ugu's castle, Button-Bright
gets separated from them and falls into a pit. Before they rescue
him, the Wizard asks the Little Pink Bear where Ozma is and it says
that she's in the pit too! After Button-Bright is let out of the pit,
the Little Pink Bear says that she's there among the party. Unsure
what to make of this seeming contradiction, the party advances toward
the castle and overcomes several magical defenses (primarily tricks
he stole from Glinda and the Wizard) before meeting Ugu himself.
Ugu uses magic to start the whole room spinning and
retreats from the scene. Dorothy stops it by making a wish with the
magic belt, a source of magic Ugu knew nothing about because the Belt
did not originate in Oz. She uses its power to turn Ugu into a dove,
but he modifies the enchantment so he retains human size and aggressive
nature. Fighting his way past Dorothy and her companions, Ugu the
dove uses Cayke's diamond-studded dishpan—which can magically
transport its user to anyplace in Oz instantly—to flee to the
Quadling Country, where the dishpan is picked up by the Scarecrow
and the Tin Woodman who are searching there.
Once the magic tools are recovered, the conquering search
party turns their attention to finding Ozma. The Little Pink Bear
reveals that Ozma is being carried in Button-Bright's jacket pocket,
where he placed the gold peach pit. The Wizard opens it with a knife,
and Ozma is released from where Ugu had imprisoned her. She was kidnapped
by Ugu when she came upon him stealing her and the Wizard's magic
instruments.
The people of the Emerald City and Ozma's friends all
celebrate her return. Days later, the transformed Ugu flies in to
see Dorothy and ask her forgiveness for what he did. She offers it
and offers to change him back with the Magic Belt, but Ugu's decided
that he likes being a dove much better.
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