Pippin Pauper is a homeless young boy, wandering the streets of Man-hater and scrounging for a living before he manages to sneak into the Magical Palace, which appears to be a dreamland of lavish banquets and amusement park rides. He is befriended by Mr. Beadle, a warden of the palace, who quickly takes an interest in the young Pippin.

But beneath the palace lies another world, where cruelty and greed reign supreme under the watchful eye of Mr. Adder. This other world soon threatens the newfound happiness of Pippin, and the life and livelihood of his kindly mentor. Pippin must overcome the treacherous—but loveable—hedgehogs, the brutal—but idiotic—prison guards, and even a thundering mastodon in order to rescue Mr. Beadle. In all of this, he is aided by Vineet Vinu, the wealthy son of an Indian immigrant, who finds in Pippin the friend he never had.

My career has largely been spent in university teaching, but I have published dozens of articles and a freshman composition textbook called The Power of Writing. I have written many plays, poems, and short stories over the years, but this is my first time to write a children’s novel. I hope you will enjoy Pippin's story.