The Case of the Fire Alarm

Buddy Files #4

by Dori Hillestad Butler, Jeremy Tugeau (Illustrator)

Buddy is starting his work as therapy dog at Four Lakes Elementary School, where Connor attends and Mom is the principal. On his very first day, he accidentally knocks down a little kid on the playground, convincing the first grade teacher that school is no place for a dog. Then the fire alarm goes off. The school is evacuated, but there's no fire... it's a false alarm. Who could have set it?

Genres: Mystery, Chapter Books, Dogs, Childrens, Animals

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

Dori Hillestad Butler is an American author of more than 40 children's books, as well as magazine stories, plays and educational materials. Her first book, The Great Tooth Fairy Rip-Off, was published in 1997. She is known particularly for The Truth about Truman School, a 2008 young adult title focusing on the subject of cyber bullying, and for My Mom's Having a Baby (illustrated by Carol Thompson), which in 2011 appeared on the American Library Association's list of most commonly challenged books in the United States for its portrayal of conception and childbirth. Her 2010 mystery title, Buddy Files: Case of the Last Boy, won the 2011 Edgar Award for the best juvenile mystery published in 2010. Before becoming a children's author, Butler worked for three years as a page at a library.

Reviews

[Smilinhere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to my son (7-yr old) he LOVED it (he's also a dog-lover)

The story is written from the dog's point of view & by changing my voice a few times - with each dog ... made it TONS of fun for me & my boys!! :) My prayer is she will add more books to this collection! :)

[Mloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Buddy tales are an adorable series; "The Case of the Fire Alarm" was no exception. This book picks up where "The Missing Family" left off, with Buddy living now with Mom and Connor. Buddy now has a full-time job as a therapy dog while still dabbling as a part-time gumshoe. Buddy is a wonderful character; he's full of positive energy and can-do-attitude whose epitome goal is just to be a "good boy". He adorably declares all food, activities or places as as his favorite which makes him all the more charming. This was an interesting case and the conclusion was really satisfyingly clever.

[Checkthebook · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Buddy Files" is a good series.

[Rhea Domina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oliver’s 2nd Chapter Book!

[Alysha DeShaé · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute book! I especially like how Buddy comforts children and Mom uses Buddy as a tool (wow that sounds cold, but it's a good thing I swear!) to get children to open up about things they don't necessarily want to tell adults.

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A match for children who enjoy dogs.

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young dog lovers will enjoy Buddy's adventures at school.

[Wakako Sugawara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series, I passed through the station where I get off because I was reading this .

[Karen Arendt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cute story about Buddy the dig detective.

[Lauren]

It was good! buddy school fire alarm gets puled and there is no fire!

[Payton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why do people set fire alarms?

[Yasuko · Rating 3 out of 5]

2013.5.16 11304words

[Seikaiha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 4th book of The Buddy Files series. The, kind of, mini-series about The School Ghost, which ends in the Book 6, also starts with this one.

[Hillvan · Rating 4 out of 5]

480L. Very exciting.

[Sue Barlow]

Very cute book. My 2nd graders love these books! Also read the Library Monster with one of my reading groups.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little book club with my 6-year old. Cute and creative writing.

[Dolores · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the 4th book in this series, Buddy finally makes it to school to begin his career as a Therapy Dog, but of course he finds a mystery there too. Another nice little mystery for younger readers.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. I think it might be confusing for some kids because the dog says he is "talking" but he is actually barking at the humans to try to communicate.

[Terry]

Realistic situations, lots of action, and great visual descriptions make this fun to read aloud to a group or for transitional readers ready to read by themselves. Not long into the story the author plays out a bullying/gang scenario. This would make a great way to step away from the book and talk about those issues.

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