Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Over the Rainbow | 1983 | L. Frank Baum | Buy |
| 2 | The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales | 1993 | L. Frank Baum | Buy |
| 3 | Fantasy Stories | 1994 | L. Frank Baum | Buy |
| 4 | Tales Before Tolkien | 2003 | L. Frank Baum | Buy |
| 5 | The Lady Sleuths MEGAPACK ® | 2014 | L. Frank Baum | Buy |
| 6 | The Dover Anthology of Classic Christmas Stories | 2023 | L. Frank Baum | Buy |
L. Frank Baum, the creator of the Land of Oz, wrote many short stories and fairy tales beyond his famous novels. These six anthologies collect some of that shorter work alongside contributions from other writers in the fantasy and fairy tale tradition. The earliest, Over the Rainbow (1983), gathers Oz-adjacent material, while more recent collections like The Dover Anthology of Classic Christmas Stories (2023) show how Baum’s work continues to appear in new compilations.
Several of these collections place Baum in conversation with other major fantasy authors. Tales Before Tolkien (2003) looks at the writers who shaped the fantasy genre before The Lord of the Rings, and The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales (1993) brings together the best fairy tale writing of the modern era. The Lady Sleuths MEGAPACK (2014) is a different kind of anthology, featuring Baum’s detective and mystery stories.