Fairy Oddmother

The Fairy Oddmother is a deceptive guide who meets Dotty in Little Land after a tornado carries her from home. She gives Dotty ruby-red tennis shoes, warns her away from the Wee Skinny Gate and a supposedly dangerous fisherman, and sends her along the Big Fat Road toward Wishy Woz. Every direction is designed to lead Dotty away from the true path. The fisherman proves kind, while the Woz is merely an ordinary man behind a curtain. Eventually the Oddmother reveals herself as the Wicked and Mean and Generally Not Very Nice Woman. Dotty uses the fisherman's whistle to shrink her out of Little Land. Cheerful appearances and confident advice make the Oddmother persuasive, but her guidance teaches Dotty to judge a path by truth rather than charm.