From the publisher
In which Notta Bit More, the circus clown, accidentally utters the transformation spell that sends him and Bob Up, the orphan boy, from the U.S. to the Munchkin kingdom of Mudge...where Mustafa, the irascible ruler, magically compels them to try to capture the famous Cowardly Lion for the royal menagerie.

The Lion, on a secret mission of his own, finds them instead. Together with Nick, the bird with the telephone beak, they escape from the skyle of Un and the bottled city of Preservatory, meet an enemy disguised as a friend, and return to Mudge in an attempt to save the Cowardly Lion from a hard, cruel fate.