BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Hands up if your family loves Hairy Maclary! 

If so, you are definitely not alone, because in the 40 years since this pooch-tastic picture book series first arrived, Hairy Maclary and his furry friends have won hearts around the world.  

The Hairy Maclary stories have sold millions of copies, made their way onto stage and screen, and even been honoured with special issue stamps, but before all this happened, Hairy Maclary was just a rainy day idea!  

To see how the first story about a rascally Scottish Terrier and his mischievous menagerie came into being, we’ve reached out to the human who created it. 

Lynley Dodd is the person we can thank for all those delicious words, delightful rhymes and perky pictures, and she’s been kind enough to answer a few of our questions. 

We hope you enjoy the Q&A below, and hip, hip, hooray for Hairy Maclary and his friends! 

Lynley Dodd, photo credit: © Bob Tulloch

KindiCare: It feels like Hairy Maclary, Bottomley Potts and Hercules Morse have always been with us, but how did you come up with the idea for the first Hairy Maclary tale, back in the early '80s? 

Lynley Dodd: Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy was my sixth book, and the first about Hairy Maclary and his friends.   

I had tucked a little sketch of Hairy Maclary in my Ideas book, where it stayed for several years, until one day the loose piece of paper fell out and nudged me into action.   

Hairy's friends were, I think, based on a motley gang of dogs who trotted regularly up our rural road together, chummily sniffing and visiting letterboxes on the way.  

(Rules about roaming dogs were not as stringent then!) 

KindiCare: We are so glad that the piece of paper nudged you into action!  

Once you had the idea in hand, how did you go about creating the original book? 

Lynley Dodd: I use the same process for all my books.  

As I both write and illustrate them, it is a double job and requires careful planning.   

I write the story first, with the pictures very much in my head, and when the writing is as good as I can make it, I draw what I call 'dummies' – little working versions in pencil of the final pictures and the cover design artwork.  

Then, I show everything to my publisher and hope that it is all good enough to publish! 

KindiCare: Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy definitely was, and it’s proven to be a huge hit in all the years since it first trotted onto bookshelves. 

When did you realise that the story was really resonating with readers? 

Lynley Dodd: It was evident very early on that Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy was catching on with people (much to my delight!).   

It has remained the most popular book of the Hairy Maclary series.  I certainly never expected this when one wet Sunday, I sat down to decide on my dog characters, to invent names for them and begin writing! 

KindiCare: All 10 of Hairy Maclary’s off-leash adventures are fun to read, and you must get a lot of great feedback from your fans around the world?  

Lynley Dodd: Feedback is always one of the nicest aspects of writing books, and Hairy Maclary has a lot of lovely fans.   

One of the funniest letters I've had was from a young Australian boy who wrote to say he loved Hairy Maclary Scattercat, because, "It taught me how to fight my brother."   

I receive letters from all over the world, and because dogs are universal, children tend to see Hairy Maclary and his friends in their own landscape.  

KindiCare: Last year was the 40th anniversary of Hairy Maclary, and age certainly hasn’t wearied your series! 

How does it feel to have created characters and stories that are so loved by so many? 

Lynley Dodd: I guess it doesn't seem quite real if I stop to consider where in the world Hairy Maclary has managed to pop up over the years.  

It is certainly very humbling to know that something I began on a wet Sunday afternoon has gathered so many friends, now several generations of them, all over the world.  

I could never have foreseen such an outcome and I feel so lucky! 

KindiCare: Honestly, we feel lucky too, because your stories are such a joy to read, and there’s a nice nostalgia in sharing our favourite childhood tales with our own children.  

Hairy Maclary Treasury is a really special way to do this, and we look forward to many lively reading sessions, with rhymes like ‘bumptious and bustly’ and ‘frisky and hustly.’