Dog Books for Kids: Profile of "The Buddy Files" Mystery Series

by Dori Butler, guest author

© Jeremy Tugeau

If you’re looking for dog books for the beginning chapter book reader in your life, I hope you’ll take a look at my Buddy Files books, published by Albert Whitman and Company.

© Jeremy Tugeau

The Buddy Files is a series of books about a school therapy dog who solves mysteries. The stories are told from the dog’s point of view and they’re aimed at kids who are just starting to read chapter books or anyone who loves a good dog book. What's nice about writing from a dog's point of view is a precocious four-year-old who is reading chapter books can enjoy the books just as much as a 10-year-old who struggles with reading. They're not beyond the four-year-old's realm of experience, and I don't think the 10-year-old feels like he's reading a "baby book." 

Each one is a stand-alone mystery, which means the dog solves a new case in each book. But then there is also another larger mystery that spans three books.

© Jeremy Tugeau

© Jeremy Tugeau

I got the idea for the series when my own dog and I were training to become a pet partner team. Therapy dogs come in contact with a lot of different people, and each person a dog comes in contact with has their own story, or in the case of the Buddy Files, their own mystery to be solved. It seemed like the perfect hook for a children’s book series. I’ve never had so much fun writing as I have writing these books. I love writing from a dog’s point of view.

Buddy grows and changes as the series progresses. He goes from shelter dog in book 1 to working therapy dog in book 4.

© Jeremy Tugeau

In the first book, a golden retriever named King finds himself at the P-O-U-N-D (dogs don’t say that word, they spell it!). He’s adopted by a new family—a 9-year-old boy named Connor and a single mom who is going to be the principal at the elementary school. They change King’s name to Buddy. King/Buddy is growing attached to his new family, but at the same time he can’t help but wonder what happened to his old family.

© Jeremy Tugeau

While solving the Case of the Lost Boy (book 1) and the Case of the Mixed-Up Mutts (book 2), Buddy receives clues to what might have happened to his family. But he doesn’t actually find out what happened to them until the Case of the Missing Family (book 3).

Likewise, in The Case of the Fire Alarm (book 4) and The Case of the Library Monster (book 5), Buddy wonders if his new school is haunted, but he doesn’t find out whether there really is a ghost or not until The Case of the School Ghost (book 6), which will be published in March 2012. You can pre-order through Amazon at the link to assure you get a copy right away when it becomes available.

The Buddy Files books are available online through the Albert Whitman site, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and IndieBound. If you'd like to purchase your own, simply click the links to make your selections.

For a chance to win one of 3 sets of the first five Buddy Files books, you can enter using our Rafflecopter entry widget below. Facebook and Twitter handles are included there so that you may get entry credit for following. Once you've completed the two mandatory entries, you're free to choose any extra entries you wish. Good luck!

Dori Hillestad Butler and her dog Mouse are a registered Pet Partner team through Delta Society, and they enjoy reading her books with kids. Among other awards, The Buddy Files: Case of the the Lost Boy won the 2011 Edgar Award for best juvenile mystery published in 2010.

More information about Dori and The Buddy Files:
Teachers' Guide
Free Coloring Pages
Dori's website
The Delta Society
Therapy Animals

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Full disclosure: The publisher of The Buddy Files provided this profile of their books along with this promotional giveaway for you. There was no sample involved and no purchase is necessary to win.