The Rundelstone of Oz
Eloise McGraw
 The Troopadours are travelling entertainers &mdash; not human ones, but living marionettes. When they reach the village of Whitherwood in the Gillikin Country, they are enchanted by a malicious magician called Slyddwyn. Most are transformed into inanimate objects &mdash; though Slyddwyn leaves the humblest member of the troupe, Pocotristi Sostenuto, free to serve as a menial servant in his castle. (This plot device, of magically turning "people" into inanimate ornaments, reaches back to Baum's third Oz book, Ozma of Oz.) To work his transformations, Slyddwyn uses the Rundelstone, a fist-sized rock with a "rundel" (a rhyming riddle, in this case also an enchantment) carved on it in "flarns" (runes). Puppet protagonist Poco must figure out what has happened to his companions, then obtain the Rundelstone and learn to work its magic. With the help of a young boy named Rolly, and eventually with the aid of Dorothy Gale, Princess Ozma and other familiar denizens of Oz, Poco succeeds in restoring his friends, defeating the villain, and ensuring that Good triumphs.