The Lost Princess of Oz

The Lost Princess of Oz is the eleventh book in the Oz series by L. Frank Baum. It was published on June 5, 1917, and opens with the disappearance of Princess Ozma, the ruler of Oz. The book's introduction notes that its inspiration was a letter a young girl had written to the author, observing that everyone would be sorry if anything happened to Ozma. The novel was followed by The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918).

The story follows Dorothy and the Wizard, who set out to find Ozma together with Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, and a group of companions including Button-Bright, Trot and Betsy Bobbin. The search takes them through the Winkie Country, west of the Emerald City, and into previously unknown communities such as Thi and Herku. Meanwhile, the cookie cook Cayke has lost her gold dishpan, which has magical powers, and a dandified, human-sized frog known as the Frogman offers to help her recover it. The clues point to Ugu the Shoemaker, whose castle is guarded by magical defenses that the party must overcome.

The book combines a quest narrative with eccentric characters and whimsical inventions, such as an orchard with a peach tree bearing a golden pit and a ruler who uses a powerful energy compound to make his people strong. Like other Oz volumes, it relies on humor, ingenuity and a simple moral outlook, and it is remembered by many young readers as one of the most loved books in the series. Its legacy is visible in the later return of the Frogman and Cayke's dishpan, which reappeared in Jeff Freedman's 1994 novel The Magic Dishpan of Oz.