Dot and Tot of Merryland by L. Frank Baum Fiction Fantasy Fairy Tales Folk Tales Legends & Mythology

<p><strong>Her real name is Evangeline Josephine Freeland -- but she has had the nickname Dot since before she can remember and never calls herself anything else.</strong> Dot has free run of Roselawn a country estate her father bought in hopes the outdoor life will restore her health. And run freely is exactly what she does day after day with ever greater spring to her steps and with ever greater appetite. One morning finishing her breakfast and scampering out upon the Lawn Dot notices a tiny path leading through a high thick hedge. I'll explore! she says to herself and scoots herself through . . . to behold a tiny vine-covered cottage and on the path leading to it a little boy with a broad-brimmed straw hat. The boy is the gardener's son Tot -- who proves a wonderful playmate from the start . . . and a fine partner in adventures: for the two are swept away on a boat and find themselves casting up in a strange place they never knew existed -- Merryland!</p>