Chapter 1 of The Magic of Oz is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Magic of Oz is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Nome King gave him a shrewd look. "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again. Is that true?" Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it. He felt that it would make him appear more important.
Chapter 1 of The Magic of Oz is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 34/37 · 5 reading units · Lines 166–170
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading “"I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.”
declare untrue; contradict
From this reading “Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it.”
past form of “hesitate” — pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
From this reading “Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it.”
of great significance or value
From this reading “He felt that it would make him appear more important.”
long-tailed black-and-white crow that utters a raucous chattering call
From this reading “"I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.”
a town in western Alaska on the southern coast of the Seward Peninsula; an important center of an Alaskan gold rush at the beginning of the 20th century
From this reading “The Nome King gave him a shrewd look.”
marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
From this reading “The Nome King gave him a shrewd look.”
given a completely different form or appearance
From this reading “"I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading The Nome King gave him a shrewd look.
anew
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading He felt that it would make him appear more important.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it.
declare untrue; contradict
From this reading Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading He felt that it would make him appear more important.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading The Nome King gave him a shrewd look.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He felt that it would make him appear more important.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
past form of “hesitate” — pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
From this reading Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The Nome King gave him a shrewd look.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
of great significance or value
From this reading He felt that it would make him appear more important.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Is that true?"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading The Nome King gave him a shrewd look.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The Nome King gave him a shrewd look.
long-tailed black-and-white crow that utters a raucous chattering call
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
engage in
From this reading He felt that it would make him appear more important.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading He felt that it would make him appear more important.
not any; not one
From this reading Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it.
a town in western Alaska on the southern coast of the Seward Peninsula; an important center of an Alaskan gold rush at the beginning of the 20th century
From this reading The Nome King gave him a shrewd look.
a rational motive for a belief or action
From this reading Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it.
cut with a saw
From this reading Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it.
express in words
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
From this reading The Nome King gave him a shrewd look.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Nome King gave him a shrewd look.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Kiki hesitated, but saw no reason to deny it.
given a completely different form or appearance
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
consistent with fact or reality; not false
From this reading Is that true?"
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading He felt that it would make him appear more important.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading "I heard that bird say that you transformed yourself into a magpie and back again.
Chapter 1 of The Magic of Oz by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum holds 186 sentences, grouped into 38 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 186 sentences of The Magic of Oz, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Magic of Oz by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 186 sentences, grouped into 38 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Magic of Oz by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2104 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #419 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #419, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 175 minutes of reading across 421 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Magic of Oz section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of The Magic of Oz to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Magic of Oz, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
