Hello and happy May, dear friends! In honor of May Day, I wanted to share a lovely gift from a dear friend and fan of Mr. Dog. Artist Katie Daisy gave me this beautiful little book for my birthday earlier this year. I was charmed and surprised to learn of yet another book by Mr. Dog’s author, Albert Bigelow Paine: A Little Garden Calendar. A Little Garden Calendar, by Albert Bigelow Paine, 1905 I promise, this is not another crazy April Fool’s joke. The incredibly prolific Paine published this gardening manual for children in 1905. In it, he expertly instructs young readers in the art of gardening and observation of the natural world. In his words, he has tried to...

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Greetings, dear Reader. If you know me and my friends at the Hollow Tree, you know we enjoy a good prank now and then. Well, it appears my April 1 hoax did indeed fool quite a few folks and I hope you enjoyed it in the spirit of good April Fools’ fun! Our publisher, Betsy, has an update and a real Albert Bigelow Paine story to share with you below. And I promise no more shenanigans... Well, at least not for a while! Your foolish friend,   Hello! Although it’s simply not true that we discovered an unpublished Albert Bigelow Paine Hollow Tree story, we have been enjoying more of the tales in his three-volume series, all of which are...

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That's So Enterprises LLC today announced the newest addition to their catalog. Mr. Dog's Festivus at the Hollow Tree Inn—a never-before-published story written by Albert Bigelow Paine in 1899— will be released by the family publisher in time for holiday 2015 enjoyment. Featuring more of Adam McCauley's richly detailed pen and ink drawings and the familiar cast of Hollow Tree characters (including a couple of surprise newcomers, Mr. and Mrs. Hedgehog!), the book will be a handsome companion to last year's volume, Mr. Dog's Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn. The announcement was an unexpected delight to fans of Mr. Dog's Christmas, who weren't anticipating another book from the independent publishing house, at least not so soon. Betsy Cordes, Creative...

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Happy New Year! We hope this finds you enjoying the first days of 2015, with memories of Christmas lingering pleasantly. Our heads are still spinning from the whirlwind of October, November and December, when our books finally arrived and we were able to share the beautiful result of so many months of hard work. We thought you might enjoy these “out-takes.” They may not be the most professional photos... but they definitely capture the joyful, independent, bootstrapped nature of our family endeavor! October 18th: Betsy tentatively opens the advance copy, just received from the printer. A scary and thrilling moment! October 27th: Jim gets his first look at the book. Overcome with pride. Martini at the ready! November 3rd: The...

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Greetings, Dear Reader! I'm delighted to share a very special post with you in this week before Christmas, and in celebration of our very successful first year. Our publisher, Betsy Cordes, interviews someone with an important connection to our book's author, Albert Bigelow Paine. Enjoy, and may you have a very Merry Christmas!   This project has had lots of really happy surprises for me, but one of the biggest has been the opportunity to connect with Stephen Bigelow Cushman, the great-grandson of Albert Bigelow Paine (author of Mr. Dog’s Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn). Stephen Cushman is a professor of English at the University of Virginia, specializing in American poetry. Early last month, after a bit of getting...

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