Critiques en avant-premièreL. Frank Baum

Vintage Christmas Tales: A Holiday Anthology is a collection of short stories and novels by some of the most popular storytellers of the last two centuries meant to capture and celebrate the joy of the holiday.

In L. Frank Baum’s, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus as well as its sequel A Kidnapped Santa Claus, we see the origins of Santa Claus in the Forest of Burzee growing from infancy into adulthood. Anna Alice Chapin and Glen MacDonough’s Babes in Toyland brings together several characters from various Mother Goose nursery rhymes to create the exciting adventure of two children, Alan and Jane in the titular Toyland. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco is a wondrous children’s tale about a beloved toy bunny come to life; and of course there is the Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol, the ghost story to end all ghost stories that follows the conversion of one cold-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve.

With these stories and many more, Vintage Christmas Tales: A Holiday Anthology is a collection that features tales of love, family and the spirit of giving for readers young and old. Professionally typeset with a beautifully designed cover, this edition of Vintage Christmas Tales: A Holiday Anthology is a celebration of the joyous holiday reimagined for modern readers.

As a baby, Santa Claus is found by the Master Woodsman of the World. Raised by Necile the Wood Nymph, Claus eventually encounters human society. Horrified by the poverty and brutality of everyday life, Claus begins making toys for children all over the world. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a children’s book by L. Frank Baum.

Taking the beloved symbol of a merry Christmas out of his conventional trappings and into the world of imaginative folklore, Baum gave Santa Claus an exciting life that evokes all the charm, warmth, and fantasy that made his Oz stories American classics. We discover the boy Claus growing up in an enchanted forest with a whole cast of mythical creatures--elves and wood nymphs, evil Awgwas, and the master woodsman Ak. We see how Claus makes his first toy and find out why he goes down chimneys, how he chooses his reindeer and what it's like when he ventures out on Christmas.

Deep in the Great Plains of South Dakota, a tribe of mighty buffaloes finds themselves without a leader. A tricky bull named Barrag takes control of the group until the brave young Oknu challenges the new leader. But he does not know that Barrag has special powers. Barrag tricks Oknu with the help of magic, but a surprise is in store for the nast Barrag. Good and evil, treachery and bravery, pride and wisdom all feature in L. Frank Baum’s fairy tale set during the heyday of the buffalo on the Great Plains. Baum wrote the story in 1905 and uses his fable to show the dangers of greed, dirty tricks, and broken promises. Donald F. Montileaux is a multi-award-winning Oglala Sioux artist and illustrator from Rapid City. His book, Tatanka and the Lakota People: A Creation Story, won an Aesop Accolade and a Spur Award, as well as three other national awards. His ledger-book inspired artwork has been featured all over the country in both private and public collections.