The Magical Monarch of Mo facts for kids

First edition

The Surprising Adventures of the Magical Monarch of Mo and His People is a fun fantasy book for children by L. Frank Baum. It was first published in 1899 with a different title: A New Wonderland. Later, in 1903, it was renamed to sound more like Baum's famous book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The story is almost the same in both versions, just the name of the land changes from Mo to Phunniland or Phunnyland. The book is filled with pictures by Frank Ver Beck.

This book is very silly, even more so than the Oz books. It might remind you of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Unlike Baum's other books, which tell one long story, The Surprising Adventures of the Magical Monarch of Mo is made up of many different short stories. Each chapter is a new adventure, but they all connect to form a bigger picture.

Adventures in the Land of Mo

Chapter 1: Welcome to Mo!

This first chapter doesn't have a plot. Instead, it describes the amazing Land of Mo, also called "The Beautiful Valley." Everyone in Mo is always happy. People never need to work because everything they want, even clothes, grows on trees!

Chapter 2: The King's New Head

The Monarch of Mo goes to fight the Purple Dragon. This dragon had just eaten all the caramels in the land! The Dragon bites off the King's head, so he has to go home without it. The Queen misses kissing him, so the King promises a princess in marriage to anyone who can make him a new head. After two tries, a wood-chopper makes a strong wooden head. The Purple Dragon then bites off the wood-chopper's head and replaces it with the King's original head! When the wood-chopper comes to court, he switches heads with the King. Now the King has his own head back, and the wood-chopper has the wooden one. The princesses refuse to marry a man with a wooden head. So, the wood-chopper faces the Purple Dragon again. The dragon tries to bite his head off, but its teeth get stuck in the wooden head. This lets the wood-chopper get his own head back and marry a princess!

Chapter 3: The Curious Dog

The King meets a dog, which is very unusual because there are no other dogs in Mo. The King gets angry and accidentally kicks the dog. The dog gets bent out of shape but soon returns to normal.

Chapter 4: Prince Zingle's Fruit Cake Island

Prince Zingle, the oldest prince, is upset. His father, the King, won't let him milk the Ice-Cream Cow. The Purple Dragon encourages Zingle to push his father down a big hole to become King. But the Monarch escapes! He punishes Zingle by leaving him on Fruit Cake Island in the Rootbeer River. This island is made entirely of fruit cake. After a while, Prince Zingle gets a terrible stomachache from eating only fruit cake and feels sorry for what he did.

Chapter 5: A Royal Birthday Rescue

The King celebrates his birthday (which he does often!). He throws a huge party and entertains everyone with items from a magical box. Everyone goes ice-skating on a lake made of sugar-syrup. The sugar cracks, and Princess Truella, Prince Jollikin, and Nuphsed fall to the bottom. The King fishes them out. He uses a kiss to get Truella and a laugh for Jollikin. But no one knows what Nuphsed likes best. They ask the Wise Donkey. The Wise Donkey suggests an apple, knowing it won't work. When it fails, the Donkey eats the apple and tells them to use a kind word. They do, and it works!

Chapter 6: The Cast-Iron Man's Mistake

King Scowleyow, who lives nearby, hates the people of Mo. He has his people build a giant man out of cast iron to destroy Mo. They wind up the Cast-iron Man, and he walks towards Mo. But he trips on the dog! Prince Thinkabit figures out how to get rid of him. He tickles the Cast-iron Man to make him fall on his back. Then, he pushes a pin into him to make him stand up again. But now the Cast-iron Man is facing the other way! So, he walks back to King Scowleyow's kingdom and destroys it instead. The Cast-iron Man eventually gets stuck in the mud at the bottom of the ocean and is never seen again.

Chapter 7: Timtom and Princess Pattycake

A boy named Timtom falls in love with Princess Pattycake. She is the most beautiful princess but has a bad temper and tries to hit anyone who talks to her. Timtom travels to see the Sorceress Maëtta for help. On his way, he meets three animals who agree to help him if he brings them gifts from Maëtta. Timtom gets a special pill to cure Pattycake's temper and the gifts for the animals. But a Sly Fox steals them! Timtom gets the gifts back, making the animals happy. He then gives Pattycake the pill. She loses her bad temper and agrees to marry him.

Chapter 8: Prince Jollikin Fights the Gigaboo

A terrible monster called a gigaboo comes to Mo and starts breaking things. Prince Jollikin fights the gigaboo and loses his head, arms, and legs. He manages to put himself back together, though at first he only finds his legs and head. He then saves the day by defeating the gigaboo.

Chapter 9: Princess Truella's Missing Toe

There is an evil wizard in Mo who is very short and sensitive about his height. He tries to make a potion to grow taller. One ingredient is a princess's big toe, so he steals it from Princess Truella. Truella chases him, overcoming the challenges the Wizard throws at her. She eventually defeats the Wizard and gets her toe back.

Chapter 10: Duchess Bredenbutta's Opposite World

Duchess Bredenbutta falls asleep on her boat. It floats down the Rootbeer River and goes over a waterfall at the end. She lands in Turvyland, where everything is the opposite of how it should be. With help from a local named Upsydoun, she manages to get back home.

Chapter 11: Prince Fiddlecumdoo's Flat Adventure

The King's animal crackers, which are real animals, start fighting. This puts the King in a bad mood. So, when Prince Fiddlecumdoo asks to leave Mo, the King agrees, even though it's a bad idea. Prince Fiddlecumdoo leaves and meets a friendly giant named Hartilaf. Hartilaf's wife accidentally runs the prince through a clothes-wringer, making him completely flat! They use an air pump to get him back to normal.

Chapter 12: The Land of Civilized Monkeys

Prince Zingle builds a large kite. It flies into the air, taking Zingle with it. He eventually lands in the Land of the Civilized Monkeys, where monkeys act like humans. The monkeys don't speak English and have never seen a human. They think Zingle is a dangerous animal and put him in their zoo. Two professors even think Zingle might be the "missing link." Prince Zingle manages to escape and return home.

Chapter 13: The Stolen Plum-Pudding Mystery

The King's plum-pudding is stolen. He asks his wise men who did it. They blame the fox, who is caught. The fox explains he was busy curing his family's sore throats by turning them inside-out and drying them. The wise men then blame the bullfrog, who is also caught. The bullfrog says he was busy trying to save his tadpoles, who were eaten by a large fish. Next, the wise men blame the Yellow Hen, who is also caught. She explains she wasn't even in Mo. Her last eggs accidentally hatched a Hawk, not a chicken, and the Hawk took her away. She spent nine days returning to Mo. The King is furious that the wise men were wrong three times. He has them put into a meat-grinder, mixing them into one wise man. This new wise man tells the King that the Purple Dragon stole the plum-pudding.

Chapter 14: Defeating the Purple Dragon

The King holds a meeting to figure out how to defeat the Purple Dragon. They decide they can't destroy it, but they can pull out its teeth to make it harmless. They build giant pliers and clamp them onto one of the Purple Dragon's teeth. The Purple Dragon wraps its tail around a pillar to avoid being pulled. The tooth can't be removed, even when the men run to the other side of the valley. Instead, the Purple Dragon stretches all the way across the valley, becoming as thin as a fiddle-string. Prince Fiddlecumdoo cuts the Purple Dragon into fiddle-strings, freeing the Valley of Mo from its worst enemy!

Main Characters

• The Monarch: The kind ruler of Mo. He is usually happy and tries his best to make everyone else happy too.
• The Queen: The King's wife. She doesn't appear often but acts like a typical mother.
• Prince Zingle: The oldest prince. He tries to take over the kingdom but later regrets it. He also ends up in a monkey zoo!
• Prince Thinkabit: The smartest prince. He often helps solve problems in Mo.
• Prince Jollikin: A playful prince. He bravely fights the Gigaboo monster and saves Mo.
• Prince Fiddlecumdoo: The youngest prince. He plays the fiddle well and has a strange adventure where he gets flattened!
• Prince Timtom: A boy who falls in love with Princess Pattycake and helps her overcome her bad temper. They get married.
• Princess Pattycake: The most beautiful princess. She has a bad temper until Timtom helps her.
• Princess Truella: A princess whose big toe is stolen by a wizard. She bravely gets it back.
• The Wood-chopper: A clever man who makes a wooden head for the King and helps both himself and the King get their real heads back.
• The Purple Dragon: A mischievous monster who causes trouble in Mo, eating food and annoying people. He is eventually defeated.
• The Dog: The only dog in Mo. He accidentally helps save Mo from the Cast-iron Man.
• The Wise Donkey: The smartest person in Mo because he ate all the books! The King often asks him for advice.
• Nuphsed: The King's helper, who never speaks.
• Scowleyow: A mean king from a nearby country who is jealous of Mo's happiness.
• The Cast-iron Man: A robot built by King Scowleyow to destroy Mo. It ends up destroying Scowleyow's own kingdom instead.
• The Sorceress Maëtta: A good sorceress who helps those in need, like Timtom and Truella.
• Rabbit: An animal who helps Timtom by digging a tunnel.
• Spider: An animal who helps Timtom by building a bridge.
• Bird: An animal who helps Timtom by flying him over a gap.
• Sly Fox: A fox who steals gifts from Timtom but can't use them.
• Gigaboo: A scary monster with four mouths and seven eyes that destroys things in Mo.
• The Wizard: A short wizard who tries to steal Princess Truella's toe for a potion.
• Duchess Bredenbutta: A distant relative of the King who accidentally travels to Turvyland, an opposite world.
• Upsydoun: A friendly resident of Turvyland who helps the Duchess return home.
• Hartilaf: A giant who lives near Mo and loves to play jokes.
• Hartilaf's Wife: A giantess who is more responsible than her husband, but accidentally flattens Prince Fiddlecumdoo.
• Monkeys: Civilized monkeys who live in their own land. They mistake Prince Zingle for an animal and put him in their zoo.
• The Wise Men: Three not-so-smart advisors to the King. They are eventually combined into one truly wise man.
• The Wise Man: The new, truly wise advisor created from the three old wise men.
• The Yellow Hen: A hen falsely accused of stealing the plum-pudding. She once hatched a hawk by mistake!
• The Fox: A fox falsely accused of stealing the plum-pudding.
• Dr. Prariedog: A doctor who tells the Fox how to cure a sore throat.
• The Bullfrog: A bullfrog falsely accused of stealing the plum-pudding.

Mo in Other Baum Books

Some characters or ideas from The Magical Monarch of Mo appear similar to those in the Oz books:

• The Cast-iron Man is like Tik-Tok from the Oz books. Both are mechanical men who move with machinery.
• The Yellow Hen is similar to Billina, also known as "The Yellow Hen," in the Oz books. Both are sassy and have unique habits when laying eggs.
• The Sorceress Maëtta is like the good sorceress Glinda. Both are kind, beautiful, and powerful magic-users who help others.
• The Wise Donkey makes a brief appearance in The Patchwork Girl of Oz.

Part of The Scarecrow of Oz also takes place in Mo, but none of the characters from The Magical Monarch of Mo appear in that book. A new character, The Bumpy Man, is introduced there.

Images for kids

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  King Mo fights the Purple Dragon

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  Princess Pattycake throws a shoe at Prince Timtom

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  Princess Truella rides a stork to the high mountains

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  The Cast Iron Man, as drawn by Frank Ver Beck