Walter Paine's Cousin John: the Story of a Boy and a Small Smart Pig takes young readers to a time when dogs roamed unleashed and ice was delivered in blocks by beefy men with iron tongs. Bert Dodson's charming illustrations bring the bygone era to life and highlight key points in the story. A simple, elegant tale set in Brookline, Massachusetts a generation or two ago, Cousin John is about awakening and discovery, animals and humans, as experienced by a lonely, curious boy and his pet pig who become the talk of the town. A true story, Cousin John, exemplifies that magic moment in childhood Graham Greene noted, nwhen the door opens and lets the future ina.

The author, Walter Paine, is a career journalist. He spent 24 years as editor-in-chief and publisher of the Valley News, a regional daily based in West Lebanon, New Hampshire. He founded the innovative Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont. He and his wife now live on an 1803 farmstead in Enfield, New Hampshire.