What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Alright everyone, this specific book/book series has been haunting me for years. My sister and I read it and for the life of us we cannot remember the title or author.

Here's what we can remember about the book:
-a boy falls out of a sky scraper while investigating the curtains (foul play is suspected)
-his brain gets put into a dog accidentally
-as a dog he travels with some other kids (his siblings maybe) and they run into this weird guy in a house in a forest.
-the guy is obsessed with pine trees and is very mad they're always depicted upside down (branches reach up, not down).
-guy has a teddy bear he is protective of
-turns out guy is a prisoner who time traveled with his friend through a portal from a futuristic prison.
-guys friend gets stabbed on his way through the portal
-guy sews his friend into the teddy bear to save his life

Also, there are illustrations in the book. They're very eerie, in black and white. illustrations are very scratchy looking similar to the ones in the shel silverstein books.

Please help us find this book!

Roughly what year did you read it?

Becca wrote: "Roughly what year did you read it?"

I was in elementary school or middle school, I'd say late 2000's/early 2010's

Aha - I think it's the Unlikely Exploits series by Philip Ardagh. The second book, Heir of Mystery, has a villain called Mr Maggs who wants to make a rule "That Christmas trees be drawn accurately on Christmas cards. They're nearly always drawn with the branches growing downward from the trunk when, in real life, they grow up."

Becca wrote: "Aha - I think it's the Unlikely Exploits series by Philip Ardagh. The second book, Heir of Mystery, has a villain called Mr Maggs who wants to make a rule "That Christmas trees be dra..."


OH MY GOD THANK YOU

Glad to help!