Grimm's Fairy Tales, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

1843 drawing by younger brother
Ludwig Emil Grimm (1790-1863)

In 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (1785-1863 and 1786-1859, respectively), commonly known collectively as the Brothers Grimm, published a volume of folk tales they had collected throughout their native Germany. This volume, titled Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales), was followed by a second in 1815. Later editions collected the volumes together, adding, deleting, and editing stories here and there. Later editions made changes such as turning wicked mothers into wicked stepmothers so as not to impugn the sacrament of marriage, toning down sexual references, and cranking up some of the violence (especially as retribution against villains.) Many of the resulting tales, now usually known in English as Grimm's Fairy Tales, are among the most well-known stories in Western literature, even some of those that haven't been adapted by Disney.


"Snow White and Rose Red":
In which two sisters encounter a very nice Bear and a very ungrateful Dwarf, and no she isn't that Snow White.


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Rudyard Kipling

1912 portrait by E.O. Hoppé.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was one of the most popular English writers of the late nineteenth century, largely known for his stories and poems about the British colonies in India and related stories for children, along with the rather unfortunate coining of "the white man's burden."


"Rikki-tikki-tavi":
In which a mongoose defends its human family from a dastardly pair of cobras.


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L. Frank Baum

1911 photograph from
The Los Angeles Times

In 1900 Lyman "L." Frank Baum (1856-1919) published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, creating a new and uniquely American fairy-tale world, full of wizards, witches, talking beasts, strange creatures, and all manner of animated inanimate objects. He wrote thirteen sequels before his death, and a further twenty-six official sequels by other authors followed. This world continues to excite our imaginations today, as evidenced by the continued popularity of the 1939 movie and the recent success of "Wicked" on Broadway. In contrast to the movie's message of "There's no place like home," the ultimate message of the Oz books is that exploring is really awesome, and Kansas was actually pretty boring. He also wrote a whole ton of other books, but none were remotely as successful as the Oz books (though we may feature some of them eventually).


The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:
In which you more or less know the story just by being alive: a young girl is transported to a magical land where she befriends a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion while trying to find her way home to Kansas.

Chapters One to Three:

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Chapters Four to Six:

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Chapters Seven to Ten:

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Chapters Eleven and Twelve:

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Chapters Thirteen to Fifteen:

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Chapters Sixteen to Nineteen:

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Chapters Twenty to Twenty-Four:

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The Marvelous Land of Oz:
In which a young boy escapes from a witch and brings a variety of abominations against nature to life and ends up fighting against a somewhat satirical rebellion.

Chapters One to Three:

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Chapters Four to Six:

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Chapters Seven to Nine:

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Chapters Ten to Twelve:

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Chapters Thirteen to Fifteen:

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Chapters Sixteen to Eighteen:

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Chapters Nineteen to Twenty-One:

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Chapters Twenty-Two to Twenty-Four:

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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll's classic 1865 tale of a curious young girl who falls down a rabbit hole and finds a most strange land, peopled by White Rabbits, Caterpillars, Cheshire Cats, March Hares, Mad Hatters, Duchesses, and a whole deck of cards, and in which she learns that drinking strange unidentified liquids will probably turn out okay.

Chapters One to Three
Chapters Four and Five
Chapters Six and Seven
Chapters Eight and Nine
Chapters Ten to Twelve