Francis Channing Woodworth (1812-1859), who wrote under the pseudonyms Uncle Frank and Theodore Thinker, was the author of Stories About Animals (1850), Stories About Birds (1851), Woodworth's Cabinet of Curious Things (1852), The Holiday Book (1853), Balloon (1854), Young American's Life of Fremont (1856), Jack Mason, The Old Sailor, Uncle Reuben and his Budget of Stories, Wreaths of Friendship, The Diving Bell; or, Pearls to be Sought for, A Peep at our Neighbors and Willow Lane Stories. "Jack Mason had been to sea a great many times when I first knew him, and he has been a great many times since. He has sailed in a ship almost all over the world. Such a host of stories as he can tell! Why, I do believe if he could find little boys and girls to talk to, he would begin in the morning as soon as he had got through his breakfast, and do nothing but tell stories about what he has seen, until it was time to go to bed at night. I don't know but he would want to stop once or twice to eat. Jack loves a good dinner as well as anybody. " --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.