Grand tours: I'm so dizzy, my head is spinning

The literary adventures of the world's great writers. This week L Frank Baum whisks Dorothy off to see the Wizard of Oz

Born in Chittenango, New York, in 1856, L Frank Baum (the L stood for Lyman) was the son of a millionaire. His various careers included journalism, poultry farming, film production and window dressing. This extract is taken from 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', which Baum published at his own expense in 1900. He spent the rest of his life writing sequels to it and died in 1919.

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles.

There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room. There was no garret at all, and no cellar – except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path.

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions.

Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child's laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy's merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.

Today, however, they were not playing. Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than usual. Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at the sky too.

From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind, and could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm. There now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south, and as they turned their eyes that way, they saw ripples in the grass coming from that direction also.

Suddenly Uncle Henry stood up

"There's a cyclone coming, Em," he called to his wife. "I'll go look after the stock." Then he ran toward the sheds where the cows and horses were kept.

Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. One glance told her of the danger close at hand. "Quick, Dorothy!" she screamed. "Run for the cellar!"

Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed. Aunt Em threw open the trap door in the floor and climbed down the ladder. Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow. When she was halfway across the room there came a great shriek from the wind, and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing.

Then a strange thing happened.

The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air.

Follow in the footsteps

Down Tornado Alley

Specialist companies operate tours in the great lowlands between the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountains, known as Tornado Alley, during the "severe weather" season of May, June and July. A 10-day tour costs around $3,000 (£2,100) per person. For more information visit www.tornadotours.com, tempesttours.com, silverliningtours.com and cloud9tours.com.

Hooray for Hollywood

During production of Victor Fleming's famous 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring the 16-year-old Judy Garland, most of the cast stayed at the Culver Hotel, Culver City, California (00 1 310 838 7963; www.culverhotel.com). Once owned by John Wayne and on the US National Register of History, the hotel offers b&b from $89 per room per night. Baum is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.