Hannah Gets Her DAG Card

Dad says it’s official – I can get a DAG Card! (The Dog Actor’s Guild, silly…) Check out our new beach video. If you liked the Snow Day Video you won’t be able to wait to see our antics on the beach!

And check out these shenanigans at home. Mom set up a blue screen for me and everything. Boy did we have fun shooting this video. Dad was doubled over and mom cracking up so hard when she was editing that she wet her pants, just like Lucy does when someone fun comes to visit. She said I looked like Buck Rogers, whoever that is – some beach dude I guess. We haven’t heard them in hysterics like that for awhile. It got us all worked up to trying to figure out what was happening. But then I think they were laughing just because it was us and we’re connected to them. We’re nutty crazy for the beach and love makin’ waves. I hope the kids think the new video is funny, too.

Not only that – Mom had an interview with Hal on KRXA 540 last Friday before her book signing at Pilgrims Way bookstore in Carmel. If you’re super bored today you can listen to that, too.

The holidays are coming, so remember – you can buy “A Snow Day For Hannah” and “A Beach Day For Hannah” online or at your neighborhood bookstore. (If they don’t carry it, then if you ask for it maybe they will.)

A Special Event: Hannah and Lucy will be at the Sie Film Center on Colfax (formerly the Denver Film Center) on Sunday, Dec 16 at 11:00. Mom will do a reading, we'll watch the videos and then guess what? The kids get to watch The Polar Express and SANTA WILL BE THERE!!!

Mom is also going to do a reading at Gorsuch in Vail on December 21st from 2-6pm. They are selling her books like nobody’s business – on display as you walk in the door with the little Hannah dogs... (they are Berner lovers, you know!) Lucky me to be in such a fancy pants store.

Hang Ten…
Love Hannah

Grandma is Amazing!

So not only has my grandma, Judy Petrie, been top-dog sales person for my books, and maker of the cute little heart collars for my stuffed Hannah dogs, and mother to my mom, now she has outdone herself with a birthday present for mom. Check out these amazing needlepoint pillows! (I told her people are going to want to start buying these, too, but she says she’s not gonna do it.) Can you believe she made these? I can’t – first of all I could never hold a needle in my paw, plus I certainly wouldn’t have the patience to push it through a tiny hole in a canvas like that. But she sure did a terrific job of making me look grrrrrreat on canvas. Grandma is amazing!!

What grandma really liked was that we got a nice note from Doris Day. Ms. Day has a dog-friendly hotel called the Cypress Inn in Carmel, California, where my new book “A Beach Day For Hannah” was shot (in Carmel, not at the Cypress Inn!). So Mom left her a couple of books for being a dog lover and all. It’s a really cool hotel cuz dogs get to lounge in the chairs and on the couches - stuff we don’t even get to do at home. Grandma said Doris Day was her favorite star when she was growing up because she was a wholesome girl next door (like me) and sang great songs (unlike me). Ms. Day has done a lot of good work helping canines out over the years. She deserves a lot of credit from all her doggy pals.

I also got a nice note from a Governor named Hickenlooper… Hey, that rhythms with pooper scooper! He’s a terrific governor from Colorado, and I’m going to vote for him when I’m old enough. It’s been a hard summer for him with fires everywhere and crazy people doing bad things and I’ll bet he’s plum tuckered out right now!

Que sera sera!
Love Hannah

Alveridgea & the Legend of Lonely Dog

There’s a new classic book out called Alveridgea & the Legend of Lonely Dog. I hate to hear about any dog being lonely, but this dog’s tale has just arrived in America. It’s for kids a little bit older than me, maybe 8+ or so - kids that like books like ones about Mr. Harry Potter and his pals.

It’s a “beautifully illustrated and irresistible tale of the 'Lonely Dog' - an orphan hound growing up in Alveridgea, where cats and dogs live alongside each other, but on very different sides of the tracks. Set in the bizarre and beautiful port town of Alveridge, a fascinating place of unique clans and classes — where Felines struggle to maintain the upper hand. Bullied and misunderstood, Lonely Dog became a refugee in his own country. The story follows Lonely Dog from abandonment at the Houndside Orphanage steps through his emergence as a dapper, pin-stripe suited dog with a message of hope through his music.”

Here’s a full review by Christie Barnes, author of The Paranoid Parent's Guide. She writes, "New Zealand artist Ivan Clarke, with writer Stu Duvall, have created a world of total imagination: cat bosses oppress dogs in a complex society. Advanced issues of prejudice, discrimination, friendship, bullying, loyalty, betrayal play out in ways that will spark discussion in kids to older teens alike." Here's more about it!

There's even supposed to be a movie about it - so quick go out and read it first. I hope Lonely Dog doesn't stay lonely for long!

Love and high hopes,
Hannah

"A Beach Day For Hannah" is Here!

Mom's been hauling boxes of books around all day. My new book, "A Beach Day For Hannah" finally arrived and it sure has lots of cute pictures of me playing on the beaches of Carmel - I bird watch, I swim, I build dog bone castles, and I do some surprising other things that you'll have to check out in your own copy of the book... I don't want to give away all of my various secret talents! Proceeds from this book will benefit Boys & Girls Clubs, too.

Mom's been working on this new book, reading to kids, looking for a good publisher, and taking care of me (and doing her day job). I had a few weeks time out for girl stuff, if you know what I mean. Mom and Dad needed a time out, too, so they took a fun trip to France and saw lots of artwork and goofed off while Lucy and I lazed around the house. They said it was nice not to be woken up by dogs in the morning for over a week. Hey, a dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do when the dog needs to doo... and we's gots to eats, too!

Mom and Dad are going to peddle books at the Furry Scurry in Washington Park/Denver on Saturday. Then Mom is going to head out to Gettysburg, PA next week 'cuz there's a Bernese Mountain Dog Specialty show and she thinks lots of folks there might want to look at fab pictures of me and take home a book and a cutesy stuffed replica of yours truly. You oughta go see her standing out there if you can! She might need some moral support, if you know what I mean...

Hey, by the way, I got a decent review on my Snow Day Book by Kirkus Reviews - the toughest reviewers around. They said, "With a cute hero and gorgeous vistas depicted in clear, bright photos, young readers will happily curl up on a parent's lap to see Hannah's antics." They said some other stuff, too, but that was the bottom line.

Love and Fun on the Beach,
Hannah

Carting & Caroling with the BMDCR

The Bernese Mountain Dog Club of the Rockies had a great gig last weekend called "Carting and Caroling." The decked out dogs were soooo cute and these carts are soooo cool! (We need to get one for book peddling - and maybe a penquin, too. It's the right colors after all.) And these guys had a great sense of humor, too. For example, here are some of the doggie lyrics to the carol, "White Christmas":

I'm dreaming of a dog biscuit
Tall as a house and twice as wide
Little toys that squeak
And kids that shriek
And huge bones made of rawhide.

Then there were tunes using lyrics like "yellow snow, yellow snow, yellow snow!"

Dad, of course, loves to sing songs, especially if the songs have funny lyrics. There were Berners toting

Berners, Berners celebrating in Christmas outfits, Berners hanging in Hanukkah hoopla (or were those Hannah-ka getups?) and lots of holiday cheer to go around. One dog howled through the whole thing. I'm not sure if he was singing or trying to get the people to stop their silly canine santa songs, but everyone was in a happy holiday mood, and very well behaved I must say!

Hope you're starting to get in the holiday spirit, and that you need lots of books for kids, too!

Mom thinks she's at about 600 "A Snow Day For Hannah" books sold in 2 months with more orders coming in, and apparently that ain't all bad!!

Love and cartfuls of holiday cheer!
Hannah

Hannah Spins a Yarn

It was super duper cold out today so Lucy and I were left inside while Mom and Dad went to work. Mom wasn't too happy with me when she got home. Not only was I hangin' real sweet on the couch, but I found her knitting and tore that yarn all apart. Boy was that a blast!! She yelled at me and called me a "feline." That didn't sound too good to me. She said I needed to do 100 hail marys and no bones for a week. She said I could have choked to death and kept ranting and raving on and on, bla, bla, bla.

But that scolding wasn't as bad as last week. We did this whole book thing in northern California - driving around peddling books. Lucy and I were pretty good hanging in the lap of luxury in the back of the Tahoe on our cushion thrones until we picked up Dad at the airport and got to Sacramento. Then I found some great smelling poop on the lawn next to the gas station and rolled in it. (We only had two more days of driving to go!) Boy was Mom on fire then!! Dad tried to squeegy that great poop off of me and Mom kept pouring water on me and saying a lot of bad words I'm not supposed to repeat.

But the trip was worthwhile. "A Snow Day For Hannah" is in about 60 book and toy stores now and we're running out of those cute little stuffed dogs that look like me with the edleweiss collars. And hey, the Follett Company contacted Mom unsolicited and said they want her to set up an account so that their library and school customers can buy the book. She was a lot happier about that than the poop roll. She danced around a lot and so Lucy and I danced with her.

Hope you don't need a sweater!
Love and yarn balls to you!! Hannah

Hannah Blocks Tai Chi Man

We've been peddling books through Utah, Nevada, and now we're at my favorite beach, Carmel (where we already shot "A Beach Day For Hannah" - 2nd in the series). Things are a little different out here in California. We were going on this great walk this morning on Carmel Beach, where they let the dogs run wild and free, my favorite thing! There were tons of great dogs to play with and Lucy and I found a dead seal to roll around in. Boy did we smell good and gross out Mom!!

But the highlight of the day was Tai Chi man. He was all peaceful, doing his graceful moves and along we came. Of course I can't ever resist running through someone's legs to get a pet! Boy was he surprised to see me there, the ying to his yang. We all had our energies flowing then! Mom wasn't too please that we disturbed this man's meditation, but he was laughing, so I think it was okay.

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving full of free flowing spiritual well-being!

Love and Harmony, Hannah

PS - A Snow Day For Hannah is now available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble!

Travels With Hannah

I traveled around the western part of Colorado last week with Mom and Julie Mordecai, Executive Director of the Colorado Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs. We all had a blast meeting kids, doing readings, and I especially liked all the attention I got. One little boy was so excited to see me he wet his pants (like I do sometimes when I see my folks after they've been away for awhile). Another boy said "I had a dog but someone killed it!" That scared me a little, but Mom says I'm pretty safe.

Anyway, we must have met over 200 kids altogether in Craig, Steamboat, Grand Junction, Durango, and Alamosa. Lots of them have dogs of their own. But they thought I was cute, too.

Mom got to stop at lots of books stores and we were in a few papers and we even got to be on the public radio in Ignacio! Mom was a little nervous to be live on the radio, but it sounded like she did okay and another guy, Vonn, from the Boys & Girls Clubs was on with her.

But our favorite thing was that Julie had a pajama party in Alamosa and a bunch of kids came over in their jammies for a reading while their parents drank wine and bought books to support the Boys & Girls Clubs. We met a 7 week old adorable Bernese puppy named Yoda. He was missing his litter and sure liked to play with all the little stuffed dogs that Mom was selling with the book! Can you tell which one he is?

Tomorrow we head out to peddle books in Utah, Nevada, & California!

Love and Kisses from Hannah!

Hannah Understands Denver, The Guilty Dog

Over the weekend I did a bad, bad thing (but it was fun)! Mom had some gals visiting for some ‘girly’ time. Her friend Ann (who is creating her own blog called “The Healthy Lush”) had these awesome, fabulous smelling sandles. Ann eats lots of healthy soul food and so that’s probably why those soles were so hard to resist. I didn’t really chew on that part of the sandles, though. After all, that’s the most important part! I just chewed off the top thong parts - It seemed more helpful to leave the soles. Mom didn’t understand. She says I’m full of badness! She made me watch “Denver the Guilty Dog” three times and do a few hail Marys and sent me into time out. I know I was supposed to feel guilty, but Denver was hilarious on his way to the penalty box (Ann has a cool yellow lab dog named Bailey that kinda looks like Denver)

If you're into guilty dogs - watch this one too! Poor Maggie!

BTW, Mom is psyched because Baker & Taylor said that they will distribute the book and we're almost done with the proofs from the printer. Maybe we really will get the book in September!

Love and a soulful expression!
Hannah

Hannah's Safeway Adventure

I had the mostest funnest adventure this morning. (Even better than when we made my book!) Mom went into the grocery store and I waited patiently in the car for her. Usually I like to sit in the drivers seat when she’s gone and pretend I can drive. But today I waited in the back of the SUV because I could see her walk in and out of the store. I was really ready when she came out to load the groceries in the back. I pretended to be sitting real good and straight, but as soon as she leaned over to put in a grocery bag I jumped right over her and ran into Safeway! Oh boy, oh boy was that funtastic! I ran circles around all the fruit bins and she was chasing me everywhere, but sure shoot she couldn’t catch me. I think she was laughing pretty hard, but I can’t be sure. It was a super fun game. Some work guys were putting in really long florescent tubes. Luckily I dodged around them! Everyone in the store was so surprised and laughing at me. I was having a blast! I was trying to find the meat department but I never made it there. I headed for the front door with a big grin on my face! I almost knocked over a little old lady on my way out, but I was more careful than mom expected, which was a great relief to her. (I think she was glad it was so early in the morning and less people were there.) A nice man caught me in the parking lot. Boy, oh boy was mom mad! She yelled at me and said I could have been hit by a car, besides being just so plain unruly and full of trickery. I don’t know – what do you think? I think it was worth it!

Big doggy smile & lots of licks...
Love, Hannah

Hannah's Book: A Snow Day for Hannah

Hannah loves mountain climbing and the snow. When she sees a snow storm coming, she high-tails it home to wait out the storm. She can't wait until it's over because then she will be able to bound outside and play in the fresh snow.

Follow Hannah's snow adventure in this adorable children's book. Filled with fabulous photographs of this cute little pup, enjoy the rhymes as you watch her climb up!

Hi - this is Hannah and I would love it if you came to visit my very own website to look at my very own book. You can see all kinds of super cute pictures of me climbing mountains and doing fun stuff in the snow that you might want to do too! Do you know what? Some kids have never even seen or felt the snow and so together we can show them what it's like!

Lots of Puppy Love!
Hannah

About Me, Hannah the Mountain Dog

Hi there! I'm Hannah and I'm a Bernese Mountain Dog. My ancestors originally came from Bern, Switzerland. Sometimes people call us "Berners" as a nickname.

Do you have a nickname? My other nickname is "Hannibal" and my sister Lucy has the nickname "Lucifer." That's Lucy in the picture with me on this page. We love to play tricks on our people, Linda and Jim, and that's why they gave us these nicknames.

My breed is part of a family of dogs called "Working Class Dogs." Working Class Dogs are really big dogs like Saint Bernards, Newfoundlands and Great Pyranese. Those kinds of dogs are even bigger than me! Working class dogs work really hard at things like pulling milk carts and avalanche rescue, because, you guessed it, we all loooove the snow and the mountains!

And we love people and small people, too! We like to lick nice children and lean on their parents. And if there's any ice cream or peanut butter in sight - you better watch out because I might try to steal it from you!

People love us Berners, too. When I walk down the street, everyone smiles at me, and because I'm a very cute puppy, I puff up my chest, wag my tale a lot and smile back and try to get lots of people to pet me. I'm usually very successful at this, particularly if I'm sitting outside a restaurant waiting for Jim and Linda to finish breakfast. The guy at the breakfast place even named a special pancake dish after me! His name is Tim, his place is called Syrup, and he likes dogs a lot.

Sometimes Linda calls me "Wiggles" because I get excited and squirm around a lot. Do you do that? I bet you do sometimes. Squirm and giggle and wiggle? Those are some of my bestest moves.
Lucy and I are really lucky because we live in Colorado and we get to go hiking in the mountains a lot. One time, though, we drove all the way out to California and got to play on the beach. And you're in big Berner luck because soon you'll get to read about that beach adventure in another book that your folks or grandparents will buy for you!

Love and lots of wet kisses,
Hannah

PS - Come see the book about me called "A Snow Day for Hannah" at http://www.mountaindogbooks.com - I guarantee you'll love it!!