Jigsaw Jones: The Case of the Best Pet Ever

By James Preller

Featuring friendship, school, family, and a diverse community, these early illustrated chapter books from James Preller have it all.

Got a mystery to solve? Jigsaw Jones is on the case. When Bobby Solofsky is accused of stealing the grand prize for a pet talent show, it's up to Jigsaw to clear his greatest rival's name. Soon, more things start to go missing at the pet store and Jigsaw enters his own dog into the contest to solve the case. Can he find the prize medal in time for the competition?

James Preller's wry, witty, Jigsaw Jones books are once again available to inspire the next generation of young readers, featuring both new titles and classroom classics!

This title has Common Core connections.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Nov 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781250110923

James Preller

James Preller is the author of the popular Jigsaw Jones mystery books, which have sold more than 10 million copies since 1998. He is also the author of Bystander, named a 2009 Junior Library Guild Selection, Six Innings, an ALA Notable Book, and Mighty Casey, his own twist on the classic poem, “Casey at the Bat.” In addition to writing full-time, Preller plays in a men’s hardball league and coaches Little League. He compares coaching kids to “trying to hold the attention of a herd of earthworms.” He lives in Delmar, New York with his wife, three children, cats and dog.

Book preview

Chapter

1

Teddy

For the first six days of my life, I didn’t have a name. I was the fifth and last kid born in my family. After Billy, Hillary, Nick, and Daniel, my parents couldn’t decide on a name for little old me. For six days, I was known as the baby.

I say this because my mom found a box of old baby pictures today while I was doing a jigsaw puzzle. She got all misty-eyed and blubbery, saying things like, Goo-goo, ga-ga, and calling me baby names. That is, after she finished yelling at my dog, Rags.

Mom says Rags is a shoe thief. But Ragsy just lies there, sprawled on the carpet. He can’t figure out what the fuss is about. I think it’s kind of funny. But Mom is missing three different shoes and she doesn’t think it’s funny at all.

So anyway, for six days my parents called me the baby. They figured the right name would pop into their heads. By day four, the names that had popped into my dad’s head were Carlos, Lars, Ferdinand, and Slippy.

(I think he was.)

Mom said, No, No, NO! and "Slippy?! Are you trying to make me crazy?!"

On day six, she said that I was as cute as a teddy bear.

Sure, my dad agreed. A bald, pink, wrinkled teddy bear.

So they named me Teddy, even though my official name is Theodore Andrew Jones. No one ever called me Teddy, though. And that’s a good thing—since Teddy isn’t a great name for a detective. A boy detective should be named Nick or Sam or Derek or Roscoe. You know, a cool, tough-sounding name.