We're delighted to share this new rendition of our favorite Christmas story, read by Hollow Tree friend, William McKinney. Learn more about Will and his work at IMDB.
The Little Lady and the Storyteller have a picnic, and the Hollow Tree folks do too. Mr. 'Coon and the Old Black Crow play a little prank on Mr. 'Possum.
The Little Lady knocks over some flower pots and is quite embarrassed, so the Story Teller decides to tell about a time when Jack Rabbit got himself into a similar situation.
Inspired by Jack Rabbit, the Hollow Tree Folks plant a garden. It turns out a little trickier than expected, and Mr. Crow gets himself in hot water while improvising dinner.
Stomachs grumbling, the Hollow Tree people decide to visit Mr. Bear and his enormous pantry. Jack Rabbit declines to accompany them, and possibly for good reason.
With the snow still banked up over the windows, the Hollow Tree people keep food on the table and the fire blazing... until they can't any more. Mr. Possum's unusual behavior is finally explained.
Mr. Robin tells a story about a discontented fox, but it fails to impress Mr. Possum. Mr. Dog lightens the mood with a performance called "The Cat Who Would Be King."
The literary club turns to more frivolous pursuits, as the animals start to get cabin fever. Jack Rabbit turns out to be a bit of a magician.
11 min
About The Mr. Dog Podcast
From the publisher's feed
This is a podcast devoted to Albert Bigelow Paine's classic, Victorian-era stories about the Hollow Tree and the animal friends that live there. Paine wrote three books of Hollow Tree stories, one for…
each of his three daughters. The last story in the series is called "Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn" and it's that wonderful final story that we republished with new illustrations, available at mrdogschristmas.com.