Award-winning MUTTS creator Patrick McDonnell has entertained readers around the world with his beloved syndicated comic strip which has appeared in over 700 newspapers across 20 countries for 30 years. The prolific creator has been hitting the road to celebrate the release of his new children’s book The Gift of Everything and the 20th anniversary edition of the bestselling children’s classic The Gift of Nothing. McDonnell began the tour with an appearance at Doylestown Bookshop in Doylestown, PA and a signing at New York Comic Con, the national tour also includes celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Peanuts at The Charles Schulz Museum. 

In The Gift of Everything, Mooch the cat is searching for the perfect gift for his best friend, Earl the dog. But what, wonders Mooch, is perfect? Mooch soon discovers the answer: Everyone… Everywhere… Everything! As he sees the world around him with new eyes and a fresh feeling of gratitude, Mooch is delighted that he has just the right person to share it all with! In this joyful rhyming companion to The Gift of Nothing, the stars of the beloved comic strip MUTTS discover and celebrate the precious gift of being alive.

McDonnell has produced over a dozen picture books, including New York Times bestsellers The Gift of Nothing and Me . . . Jane (a Caldecott Honor biography of Jane Goodall). Both were adapted as musicals for the Kennedy Center. He has collaborated on books with author Eckhart Tolle (Guardians of Being), poet Daniel Ladinsky (Darling, I Love You), and His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Heart to Heart). This year will see the West Coast premier of The Gift of Nothing – A Musical for Children of All Ages at the Marin Theater in Mill Valley, California. This production originally debuted at the Kennedy Center.

The Marin Theater event is the  West Coast Premiere of The Gift of Nothing, a heartwarming new musical for children of all ages and their families based on the book of the same name by Patrick McDonnell featuring his beloved Mutts comic strip characters, Mooch and Earl. This special production marks only the second time this musical has ever been staged and coincides with the 20th anniversary celebration of the original book—just in time for the holiday season.

With Gift of Nothing Day coming up on December 15, it’s the perfect time to celebrate McDonnell’s amazing books. 

2025 Upcoming Tour Dates

• December 13 | Mill Valley, CA: Marin Theatre, The Gift of Nothing Musical (Preview Night)
• December 14 (AM) | Santa Rosa, CA: Charles Schulz Museum
• December 14 (PM) | Mill Valley, CA: Marin Theatre, The Gift of Nothing Musical (Opening Night)
• December 20 | Plainville, MA: An Unlikely Story Bookstore

Past Dates

Thank you to everyone who joined and helped to make these events so wonderful!

• October 8 | Doylestown, PA: Doylestown Bookshop (6:00 PM)
• October 10 | New York, NY: New York Comic-Con
• October 11 | Morristown, NJ: Morristown Festival of Books (10:00 AM–5:00 PM)
• October 22 | New York, NY: Books of Wonder, 17th Street Store (6:00 PM)
• October 23 | Online/Virtual Event: West Hampton Libraries (7:00 PM)
• November 12 | Encinitas, CA: Rancho Coastal Humane Society, Hosted by Warwick’s (4:00 PM) 
• November 15 | Santa Rosa, CA: Charles Schulz Museum (2:00 PM)
• November 16 | San Francisco, CA: Cartoon Art Museum (4:00-6:00 PM)

Fans can learn more about McDonnell’s tour here. The Gift of Everything and The Gift of Nothing Anniversary Edition are both be available from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.