Grade 3 English Reading for Enrichment

The Wizard of Oz

Dorothy lived in a small house in Kansas with Uncle Henry, Aunt Em, and a little black dog called Toto.

It was often very windy in Kansas. Sometimes the wind came very fast and very suddenly. That was a cyclone, and it could blow trees, people, and buildings away. There were cellars under all the houses. And when a cyclone came, people went down into their cellars and stayed there till the cyclone had passed.

One day, Uncle Henry looked up at the sky and ran back quickly into the house.

“There is a cyclone coming soon,” he told Aunt Em and Dorothy. “We must go down into the cellar. Come on quickly.”

They ran to the door of the cellar, but Toto was afraid and hid under the bed. Dorothy ran after him.

“Quick!” shouted Aunt Em from the cellar. “Will you come fast? Just leave the dog and come into the cellar,”

Dorothy picked up Toto and ran to the cellar door as fast as she could, but before she reached it, the cyclone hit the house.

And then a very strange thing happened.

The house rose slowly up, up, up into the sky, first very slowly, then fast. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry were down in the cellar under the ground, but the house, Dorothy and Toto went up to the top of the cyclone. Dorothy looked through the open door. She saw houses a long way down. She closed the cellar door quickly.

The wind blew the house along for many hours. At first Dorothy was afraid.

“Let’s wait and see what happens,” Dorothy said. After two or three hours, she and Toto went to sleep.

When Dorothy opened her eyes again, the house was back on the ground and everything was quiet. She picked up Toto, opened the door, and went outside. They saw tall trees, beautiful flowers, and little houses with blue doors.

Dorothy gave a little cry. “This isn’t Kansas, Toto! And look at these people. Who are these people?”

There were three very short men in blue hats, coats and trousers, along with little old woman in a beautiful white dress. The woman walked up to Dorothy and thanked her.

“Why are you thanking me?” Dorothy asked.

“You killed the witch of the East,” said the woman. “Yes, the witch of the East. She was a bad witch, and her people, the Munchkins, were terrified of her. Now she is dead and we and the Munchkins want to thank you dearly.”

“But I didn’t kill anybody!” Dorothy said.

“Your house fell on the witch,” laughed the little woman. “Look, you can see her feet!”

Dorothy looked, she saw two feet with big red shoes under the house. Suddenly, one of the Munchkins gave a shout. “Look! Her feet are disappearing in the hot sun.”

A second later, only the red shoes remained.

“Good,” said the little woman. She picked up the shoes and gave them to Dorothy. “They are your shoes now. A witch’s shoe can do wonderful things, so you must wear them.”