Chapter 1 The Cyclone

First of all, I wondered about the chapter title. I thought it must have been "The Tornado," not "The Cyclone." Cyclone is the heavy storm born in the Indian Ocean, isn't it? In America, it is usually called a hurricane, right? I wondered why Mr. Baum used "cyclone" here...actually, I suspected that it might be Baum's mistaken:P

However, I found many words using "cyclone" on the Internet. Basements for escaping from tornadoes are called cyclone cellars, not tornade cellars or hurricane cellars. I don't know why.

At the begining of the story, Dorothy's background is barely skectched in. We are not told know when and how her parents died, or why Dorothy came to Kansas. Rather, detailed descriptions are given about how life in Kansas is monotonous, how everything in Kansas is gray, that this makes people's mind somber.

The reason why Dorothy wasn't dyed gray was Toto, a very cute dog. But, also about Toto, there was no mention whether Dorothy had him before she came to Kansas, or got him at Uncle Henry's house.

Those points would seem to be very interesting if we were to write a side story about Oz.

And this is trivial, though, Uncle Henry and Aunt Em sleep in one double bed together. Is it common in America couples sleep in one double bed?

And the fatal day. Coincidentally, above Uncle Henry's house, a north wind and a south wind bump into each other, and the house swirled up into the sky carrying Dorothy and Toto who had failed to escape to the cyclone cellar with it.

Once. Toto almost fell through the hole in the floor. But the wind blew him up and Dorothy pulled him in.

At first, Dorothy was afraid of what would happened when the house would fall, as time passed, she went to bed and sleep soundly. Wasn't that amazing?! I was surprised at Dotorhy's daring.