Happy The Hodag and Buddy the Bulldog
Who are Happy the Hodag and Buddy the Bulldog?
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Happy The Hodag is as chill as a Northwoods Spring evening and as sharp as a Blue Spruce Pine Needle. Happy lives in the Northeastern forests of Wisconsin that he calls the Mysterious Northwoods.
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Buddy the Bulldog is a small town dog with a big heart. Buddy lives near the edge of the Mysterious Northwoods. Buddy is best friends with Happy the Hodag, which is crazy, because everyone knows hodags eat bulldogs, but only once a month and only on a Sunday. But not Happy. Happy the Hodag isn’t interested in eating dogs of any flavor but does think dogs are super smart and make the bestest friends.
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HAPPY IS A MONSTER OF THE HODAG VARIETY.
WHAT IS A HODAG?
Hodags are seldom seen, as introduced in Tales From The Trees.
Hodags are picky eaters, as explored in A Monster Misunderstanding.
Hodags are optimistic and awesome, as explained in HODAG.
Hodags are mysterious, as discovered season by season in HODAG, Color The Seasons.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ORIGINAL HODAG
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HAPPY LIVES IN THE MYSTERIOUS NORTHWOODS
WHERE IS THE MYSTERIOUS NORTHWOODS?
The northern forests of North America are wild and mysterious places where wild and mysterious creatures can live and travel with little to no detection. Happy, we think, lives in the mysterious Northwoods of Wisconsin, likely near Rhinelander, Wisconsin where a vicious and malodorous hodag was sighted (and smelled) by timber cruisers near the turn of the century.
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REVIEWS
Happy the Hodag and his sidekick Buddy the Bulldog debuted in the 2006 picture book, Tales From The Trees, a rhyming introduction to the Northern Wisconsin hodag legend.
In 2007 they were back starring in the fast paced adventure, A Monster Misunderstanding, a suspenseful and fun picture book exploring how a hodag came to be friends with a bulldog... because everyone knows hodags eat bulldogs— but only once a month and only on a Sunday.
Happy and Buddy turned ten years old in 2016 and HODAG, A Happy The Hodag Book was released for their birthdays. HODAG introduced nine new hodags and is an homage to author Jill Kuczmarski's hometown community, where the human hodags roam.
HODAG, Color The Seasons is my fourth Happy the Hodag book and features eight new hodag depictions and of course, Happy. It’s the exploration of what hodags are up to season by season in a keepsake coloring storybook. (2019)