Greetings, dear Reader! This week I welcome back Henry Cordes, who has his own memories to share about growing up in a "Mr. Dog Family," and some nice thoughts about keeping stories and traditions alive. Enjoy!   My family has quite a few Christmas traditions. There’s the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding we have for Christmas dinner, and the figgy pudding my grandma makes. She douses it in liquor and lights it on fire; it’s very exciting. Many families leave out cookies for Santa, but we always left out a little cognac as well. And then of course there’s Mister Dog, the tradition we will soon share with you. Little Henry, big tree. How the Little Fellows do slip away...

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Greetings, dear Reader! My guests this week are Henry Cordes and his grandfather, James “Doompa” Luther. Henry interviews his grandpa on the topic of Christmases Past. Enjoy!   HC: Hey, Doompa! I’d love to know more about how “Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn” became a tradition in our family. Do you remember who gave the book to your family in the first place? And who first read it to you? JL: I think the book came from my mother's family, but no one still alive seems to remember. It must have first been read to me when I was about 5, when we lived in Sierra Madre, California. I say that because in my imagination the porch of the Hollow...

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Happy Spring Greetings, Folks! We hope you’ve had a cozy hibernation. I’m emerging from my own long winter’s nap to share the latest news here at the Old Hollow Tree. I’m quite proud to tell you that our illustrator, Adam McCauley, was recently recognized by the Society of Illustrators, in part for his work on our forthcoming book! Adam’s “Mr. Dog Spins a Tale” (seen below, left) appeared along with several of his illustrations in the Society’s 56th annual exhibition in New York City last month, and will be included in the annual publication this fall. We’re thrilled for the honor this brings to Adam and to our book! Top: Poster-sized reproductions of Adam’s “Mr. Dog Spins a Tale” and...

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I know you're all waiting very patiently for That's So Enterprises to publish Mr. Dog's Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn next year, and I do appreciate your loyalty. But heaven forbid you should let a Christmas Eve pass without some good stories by the fire. So in honor of the wonderful night before, I wanted to share a few of my all-time favorite Christmas stories. I'll bet some of these are already in your bookshelf, so be sure to pull them out and put them next to a cozy chair, ready for enjoying anytime over the next few days. And if there's a title on my list that's new and intriguing to you, see if you can grab a...

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I'm Betsy of That's So Enterprises (proud soon-to-be publishers of Mr. Dog's Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn) and I'm delighted to share this introduction to our book and our story. Every Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember, my dad has read aloud to my family a wonderful story, "Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn," by Albert Bigelow Paine. Originally published in 1898, the story centers on a group of animals who reside at The Hollow Tree Inn and their rascally friend, Mr. Dog, who decides to surprise the Hollow Tree folks by playing Santa Claus. Christmas Eve 1996: my dad reads the story to us with my son, Henry (in his pirate phase), in his lap. My dad...

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