A visit to Maple Hill Farm—Alice & Martin Provensen's home that inspired THE TRUTH ABOUT MAX
Alice and Martin Provensen were luminaries of American illustration. A husband-and-wife team, they illustrated over 40 children’s books together, receiving numerous recognitions—including a Caldecott Medal, a Caldecott Honor, and eight New York Times Best Illustrated Awards—over the years. One day, while looking through the Provensens’ archives, their daughter, Karen Provensen Mitchell, found a dummy (a mock-up with text and art laid out on the pages) for a never-before-published picture book—The Truth about Max—which Enchanted Lion had the honor of publishing in 2023.
For many years, the Provensens lived at Maple Hill Farm in Dutchess County, New York. It is this home that they immortalized in picture books such as A Year at Maple Hill Farm, Our Animal Friends, and now… The Truth about Max! Max was a real-life cat with a larger-than-life personality: playful yet mysterious, friendly yet utterly his own. Earlier this fall, Karen Provensen Mitchell visited her childhood home, and in her guest blog post below, you’re invited to discover the beautiful place that the Provensen family (and Max!) called home.
If you’d like to learn more about Alice and Martin Provensen, please visit: http://aliceandmartinprovensenart.com/.
Karen Provensen Mitchell, the daughter of Alice and Martin Provensen, at Maple Hill Farm, holding the picture book The Truth about Max.
The house where Max lived
This is the house that Max called home, along with two dogs and three other cats.
This is where Max was born!
Max loved to sleep in this cozy corner above the fireplace, especially in the winter.
This is the back yard and garden. Just for the fun of it, Max would sometimes just dash up this tree and then dash down again.
This is the hickory tree where my parents’ ashes are buried.
My father used to say the tree represented himself and my mother—joined at the base but with two large separate trunks.
Fun in the barn!
Max played with many of his farm friends in this yard in back of the barn—dogs, cats, chickens, geese, ducks, and more.
The middle part of this barn was my parent’s art studio. This is where they went to work every day.
Max used to visit the horses in this barn.
There are still stirrups inside!
Behind this door and window was the chicken coop and the feed bins for chickens, ducks, geese, horses, and sheep.
Max used to have his own room and bed in this area. The little door would be opened every morning so the chickens could come out… and the chickens would go back inside in the evening. They always liked to sit up high on perches.
Lanes and stone walls
Looking down the driveway from Maple Hill Farm.
Max walked down this lane with us when we went to take a walk into the woods. He was the only cat on the farm who liked to do this!
Max walked down this stone wall and lane and into the woods.
The lane with one of the many stone walls Max used to like to walk on.
The lane leading to the woods.
Another stone wall! Max used to like to sit in the warm sun right here and watch the barnyard action.
Yet another stone wall and another horse field. Max loved walking on top of the stone walls.
Now, his real life begins…
One of the horse fields of Maple Hill Farm.
The front horse field.
One of the side horse fields.
We hope you enjoyed this visit of Maple Hill Farm!