Sweet readers, hope your Monday is off to a great start.
Yesterday I came up with the idea to review chapter books for boys this week. Because I had daughters, I was always kind of partial to reading books for/about girls. Not that there are really books that are strictly for boys or for girls these days. But I have always felt like boys more often prefer a male main character and girls like to read about female characters.
Whoa, Nellie, let me stop there and interrupt today’s post for just a second…
As I mentioned yesterday, this “31 Days of Writing” has been tough for me! I have several people to thank for re-energizing me on this 10th day of my “31 Days of Writing”. I was feeling pretty discouraged as I wrote the post that went live today, thinking I would never make it to the end of October. But today I feel renewed.
Thank you, to Mary, Andrea and Michael Ann for your support. Michael Ann, thank you for the brilliant suggestions. Sometimes I can’t see the forest for the trees. Andrea, I hope there will be books I review that your son will fancy. Mary, thank you for suggesting I review “The Buddy Files”…here you go.
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I came across The Case of the Lost Boy by
A summary of The Case of the Lost Boy from Amazon:
King has a very big mystery to solve. His family is missing, and he’s been put in the P-O-U-N-D. Why doesn’t his beloved human (Kayla) come to get him? When King is adopted by Connor and his mom, things get more confusing. The new family calls him Buddy! And just as Connor and Buddy start to get acquainted, Connor disappears! Buddy (aka King) has big problems to solve, but with some help from his friend Mouse (a very large dog) and the mysterious cat with no name, he shows what a smart, brave dog can do.
“The Buddy Files” series, beginning with The Case of the Lost Boy, are told through the voice of an lovable, list-making, Retriever-ish-looking, mystery-solving dog who has a very real fear of the P-O-U-N-D.
When King’s original family – Kayla, her mom and dad – ‘disappears’, he finds himself dropped off at the pound. There, he is supposed to be chosen and adopted by a new family. But King wants his old family back. And while he sits in the pound, King makes a mental list of what he knows about ‘The Case of the (HIS) Missing Family’.
A mother and son, Connor, visiting the pound select King for their own. They promptly name him Buddy even though King grumbles his complaint over this new name. Connor is reluctant to allow Buddy into his heart and as the story progresses we find out the reasons why.
Connor takes Buddy for a walk and the pair wind up in Buddy’s old neighborhood where he lived as King with Kayla and her parents.
Buddy is sniffing for clues in the yard of his old home when Connor suddenly lets go of his leash. Buddy is busy making mental notes about his missing family when he looks up to realize that Connor has vanished. And so begins another mystery. “The Case of the Lost Boy”.
This story, written on a 3.0 reading level, unwinds in ten short, illustrated chapters. The chapters are punctuated by Buddy’s lists of what he does and doesn’t know toward the resolution of these mysteries.
And with bits of ‘conversation’ between Buddy and other animals whose help he seeks. This book and the others in “The Buddy Files” series make wonderful tools for teaching voice and perspective. Purchase a copy of this title and the others in the series, here.
I had the honor of meeting author Dori Hillestad Butler at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference in 2012. The same year her book was up for consideration for the Bluebonnet Award.
In fact, my sister and I had dinner with her and were given autographed copies of her books.
You can meet Dori Hillestad Butler on her webpage, here. She even offers a 15-minute Meet and Greet Q&A FOR FREE…Mary, that would be fabulous for your students!!! Click here for more information!
Thank you, sweet friends, for giving me a boost when I needed it. I love sharing books with you guys. Hoping each of you can find something among these posts that you can share with a child in your life.
Have a blessed week.
Hugs and kisses,
Deena
Willis is loving the Hardy Boys right now…so I will have to search this one out, I think he would like it
Leslie Roberts Clingan
The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew have been given recent facelifts, I am thinking. And Boxcar Children, too, maybe? Never read HB or Boxcar but did like ND when I was growing up.
Mary
Hey girl-great job today! My kids are still enthralled with the story and we are right at the suspenseful part where King aka Buddy is making lists of what could have happened to Connor! I am pretty sure I will end up reading all six books to my students again this year! Sure hope Dori writes more books for this series! Thank you dear friend for writing this series of blog posts! So much fun! 🙂
Lana
I loved reading chapter books with my boys. I don’t think we ever read this one though! And it has a Connor!
Sheila @ Making the Most of Every Day
Never heard of these but my middle son LOVED Encyclopedia Btown! Sounds like a fun series!