Dorothy Gale relative. (It is also possible that "Aunt" and "Uncle" are affectionate terms of a foster family and that Dorothy is not related to either of them, although Zeb in "Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz" claims to be Dorothy's second cousin, related through Aunt Em. Little mention is made of what happened to Dorothy's birth parents, other than a passing reference to her mother being dead.) Along with her small black dog, Toto, Dorothy is swept away by a tornado to the Land of Oz and, much like Alice of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", they enter an alternative world filled
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz out most elements that can disturb or frighten children. "In the first two-thirds of the book, Dorothy and her friends...barely escape from an unrelenting succession of threatening magical countries..." In the company of the Wizard, "Dorothy is a helpless little girl, given no opportunity to show her resourcefulness." When Oz is finally reached, it is a bland "goody-goody place" with few positive events to offer. In the early 1900s, continuity does not seem to have been high on the list of priorities, as the fantasy genre was just then a burgeoning field. While Baum indicates that he was the "royal"