New Article on Firehouse.com

Click on the Firehouse.com banner to see the latest article about Sparkles' saves. More information, including videos of the presentation and testimonials, in posts below.

New video on KJRH website

Click HERE or the picture below to watch a new video just put up on the KJRH website.

Sharing the Good News with Book Bites for Kids

Firefighter and Children's Book Author Dayna Hilton was interviewed by Suzanne Lieurance from Book Bites for Kids today. Hilton shared with Lieurance her experience in meeting the two students at Celia Clinton Elementary in Tulsa yesterday. These two children knew what to do when they and their families experienced real live fire situations. The book (Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog) has been attributed to saving the children and their families lives after a fire safety presentation and reading of the book in November 2008. Hilton also shares the background on this incredible story.

Hilton's story is the second interview in this broadcast.



The book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog is available on Amazon.com

What a day!

Yesterday was one of the most incredible days of my life! Sparkles had the time of her life. It was a great day and a wonderful way to reinforce fire safety messaging as well as to recognize the two girls that were able to get their families out safely because of what they learned from the book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog. We are so very thankful that the children and their families were able to get out safely.

Below are two parts of the videos of the presentation:

PART ONE



PART TWO



To read the original post about this incredible story, please click HERE.

FOX 23 newscast

KOTV newscast

KJRH story

Firehouse.com

Chicago Pet Directory Blog

Author Suzanne Lieurance's Website

Rotary Club of Tulsa Website

Tulsa Public School Website

Book Bites for Kids

Superintendent's Bulletin / Tulsa Public Schools

Below are the "After the Fire Testimonials" taped today:

Angelica and Dystiny

Ken Riggins (Angelica's Dad)

Principal Tanya Davis, Celia Clinton Elementary

Cindy Finkle, Oklahoma State University, Fire Protection Publications



Mac Finlayson, Rotary Club of Tulsa Member



The children's fire safety book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog, may be purchased from Amazon.com. Read Sparkles' bio HERE.

Thank you to Johnson County RFD #1, the Rotary Club of Tulsa, Principal Tanya Davis and everyone at Celia Clinton Elementary, Oklahoma State University Fire Protection Publications, and to all of the media that helped cover the story and help share the fire safety message. A special thank you to the Tulsa Fire Department for joining us for this very special occasion.

To see the complete story, visit Sparkles' Save Page.

For more information, please contact Firefighter Dayna Hilton at daynark@gmail.com.

Sparkles Receives More Cards

Thank you to all of the children that sent in these wonderful cards to Sparkles! Click on the photo below to watch a slideshow of the cards.

From Movies

Video of Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog at Work

Just found this video of Sparkles from October 2006. Sparkles demonstrates what to do when she hears the smoke alarm.

Motherhood Later than Sooner Newsletter Reviews Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog

Robin Gorman Newman shared her review of Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog in her February Motherhood Later than Sooner newsletter. The newsletter is distributed to over 2,000 35+ year old moms.

"If you have a little firefighter-in-the-making, like my son Seth, no doubt he or she will adore Sparkles. And, you as a parent, will applaud the message of this book that is really a must-read for every child. There is also an entertaining CD available, which features Sparkles barking and story narration by Firefighters Dayna Hilton and Glenn Trembley. "

"Sparkles visits schools to help children learn about fire safety. Together, with real-life Firefighters Dayna and Michael, smoke alarms are explained, and instruction is given re: how/why to crawl low under smoke in case of a fire, why we should practice fire drills, etc. Sparkles watches Firefighter Michael put on his protective clothing, and thanks him by wagging her tail, for being a firefighter. Big, colorful photographs of Sparkles in action hold a child's interest, and tips are outlined in language easily-understandable for children. This is a powerful learning tool, yet it capably offers information in a fun manner. I know my son would love Sparkles and Firefighter Dayna to pay a visit to his school. " Robin Gorman Newman, Motherhood Later than Sooner Founder

Robin's son, Seth with his new book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog

Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog Book Reaches Milestone

Today Firehouse Dog Publishing, LLC reached a milestone~ almost 9,000 copies sold to date. We have a very long way to go to help keep children and their caregivers fire safe and Sparkles and I will work very hard to continue to spread the fire safety message.

Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog Book Featured on Author Shari Lyle-Soffe's Blog

We were honored when children's book author, Shari Lyle-Soffe, contacted us recently requested information on our book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog. Today Shari has posted information about the book on her blog.

Shari loves animals, especially rascally raccoons so much that she decided to write about them. Her books include; Misadventures of Rooter and Snuffle, On the Go With Rooter and Snuffle, and Trouble Finds Rooter and Snuffle. Nothing Stops Noah is a picture book with new characters and is available now. Watch for her book, A Horse of Course, coming this Spring.

The book was featured on a post on Shari's blog Friday, February 6th.

Sparkles Receives Thank You's

Sparkles has received several very nice thank you's lately and wanted to share a few of them. Note the red toenails in several of them.

Great News!

* This blog post was originally posted on January 29th, 2009. To learn the latest about this incredible story, please visit Sparkles' Save Page.

Yesterday I received a note from Principal Tanya Davis, on the heroic behavior of two Celia Clinton Elementary students.

Recently, the Rotary Club of Tulsa purchased Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog, a children’s fire safety book, for each of Davis’ students. Sparkles, being the ever faithful fire safety educator that she is, made the trip with me to share her book and fire safety messages at the school.

Below is Principal Davis’ note:

“The other day one of our Kindergarten student’s house caught fire in the middle of the night. She and her father both escaped. The father spent a few days in ICU for smoke inhalation on a ventilator. After a few days out, she came back to school and I had the chance to talk with her. I asked her how she got out of the house. She said, "I crawled on the floor just like Sparkles taught me to." She got down on the floor and demonstrated it to me right in the office floor. She said "smoke was everywhere and I stayed low to get away from it." I knew you would want to hear that!

Then, I was walking down the hallway on Monday and one of my third graders came running up to me and said, "Mrs. Davis, my microwave caught on fire and I grabbed my brothers and sisters and we got out of the house because we saw smoke." She took a quick breath and then said, "Sparkles taught us to get out quick, so we ran outside. My mom couldn't find us because we were all outside." She said "Firefighter Dayna and Sparkles would be very proud of us." I told her I would email you and let you know about this.”

Sparkles and I are thankful that the children and their families are safe. We appreciate Principal Davis for sharing this fire safety story!

Here are three news stories from Tulsa stations:

Video #1
Video #2
Video #3

An article in the Tulsa World appeared on November 25th. It may be read HERE or by clicking on the photo below.

A few pictures from the event on November 24 may be seen HERE. Notes from students at Celia Clinton may be found throughout the blog.

Blogs have been posting stories as well and some may be found at the following locations:

Author Cheryl Rainfield's Blog

The Dalmatian Location

Kid Tested, Librarian Approved Blog

For more information on Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog and her work in helping keep children and their caregivers fire safe, please visit her website Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog's Website. More information may also received by contacting Dayna Hilton at firefighterdayna@firefighterdayna.com.

The children's fire safety book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog, may be purchased from Amazon.com.

DogSport Magazine

Today has been the most EXCITING day ever! We just received a note from DogSport Magazine. The magazine wants to write a book review for our children's fire safety book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog and an article about Sparkles' efforts in teaching fire safety.

DogSport Magazine reaches over 6,550 committed dog sport competitors across North America.

Thank you DogSport Magazine for helping spread the fire safety message and for recognizing Sparkles and her love for helping teach fire safety!

Firehouse Dog Publishing, LLC and Firefighter Dayna Now Registered Trademarks!

We received notice that after waiting patiently for a year, that Firehouse Dog Publishing, LLC and Firefighter Dayna are now registered trademarks!

Firefighter Dayna Hilton on Facebook

Join Firefighter Dayna on her Facebook page.

Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog on Facebook

Join Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog on her Facebook page.

Thank You Video to the Rotary Club of Tulsa

Thank You to the Students of Celia Clinton Elementary from Firefighter Dayna and Sparkles

New Pictures of Sparkles

Sparkles loves checking out her thank you cards from the students at Celia Clinton Elementary!

Sparkles has a special surprise for the students there coming really soon!

New Trading Cards

Sparkles friend, Chief, received his new RFD #1 fire safety trading cards today. He was really excited!

Firefighter Dayna and Sparkles Now "Tweeting" on Twitter

Firefighter Dayna and Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog are now on Twitter. Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Twitter is really fun and you have 140 characters to share what you are doing.

We were especially excited today when the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan, signed up as a follower on Sparkles' Twitter page. We have made many new friends and we are spending a bit more time on the computer now than we used to. It's so much fun!

For those of you on Twitter, you may follow Sparkles at http://twitter.com/sparklestfsd and Firefighter Dayna at http://twitter.com/daynahilton

Sparkles featured on Doggies.com Blog

A huge thank you to Beth the Doglady and everyone at Doggies.com for sharing Sparkles' story on the Doggies.com blog! You may read the story HERE.

Hot Off the Press!

Today we were contacted by the good folks at Fido Friendly Magazine. They will be including Sparkles' story in an upcoming issue. Needless to say, we are really very excited (cover to the right is the current issue)!

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Just to give you an idea of the excitement of it all, on the Fido Friendly Magazine website, Hal Abrams from Animal Radio (America's most-listened-to pet show) said of the publication, "Let me just say that I read a lot of publications- you have the to if you're in the biz.... yours [Fido Friendly Magazine] is hands' down the best animal publication out there."

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Thank you so much for the good folks at Fido Friendly Magazine for helping spread Sparkles' story of her love for helping share fire safety!

Thank you to "Beth the Dog Lady" at Doggies.com

There are so many wonderful folks out there helping spread the story of Sparkles and her love of helping teach fire safety.

Today I was so excited to get a note from the "Beth the Dog Lady" from Doggies.com. She will have Sparkles on her blog January 7th! Thank you so much to Beth and Doggies.com. We are truly grateful!

New Activity Sheet

Here's the latest fire safety activity sheet. Click on the picture below and print out your own copy of the activity sheet. Have fun!

Milestone Day

Today is a milestone day. Exactly one year ago, after months and months of research and deliberation, I decided to start my own publishing company. It is hard to believe that it has been a year already! To date, almost 9,000 copies of my first book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog, have been sold.

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Two more milestones are yet to come: December 31st, will mark one year from when my publishing company, Firehouse Dog Publishing officially became an LLC and April 11th, 2009 when we'll celebrate the first year anniversary of the books release.

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How time flies!

Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog Book Giveaway

Hey Kids!

Now's your chance to win your very own copy of Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog book autographed by Sparkles!

Visit Sparkles' Ask A Firefighter site to learn more!

Tulsa World Article Arrives in the Mail Today

The mailman brought Sparkles her copy of the Tulsa World newspaper today. We were excited to read the article about our recent visit to Celia Clinton Elementary School.

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Thank you once again to Sara Plummer for the great article. To read the article, click HERE.

Photos from Celia Clinton Presentation

I have spent the last week at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland taking a Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Specialist I and II course (more on that later) and am finally playing catchup on the blog.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Principal Tanya Davis and Sparkles

Thank you to the members of the Tulsa Rotary Club, Mac Finlayson and to everyone at Celia Clinton for the opportunity to share fire safety messages. Thank you to the Tulsa Fire Department for bringing out a firetruck to the event. Sparkles and I had the most incredible time! Also, a big thank you to all of the children that have submitted book reviews! High Paw!

I'd also like to thank television stations KTUL 8, KOKI FOX 23, KOTV 6, Staff Writer Sara Plummer from the Tulsa World newspaper and Writer Sherri Goodall, Photographer Jen Hoppa and Editor Marilyn King from the Tulsa Pet Magazine for helping spread the fire safety message during our visit (look for an article later on Sparkles in the Tulsa Pet Magazine).

xxxxxx Principal Tanya Davis, Mac Finlayson, Sparkles and Firefighter Dayna Hilton

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxSparkles poses for a local Tulsa television station

Book Reviews From Brenda, Robin and Dioselina

Today we received book reviews from Brenda, Robin and Dioselina. Thank you to everyone at Celia Clinton for sending them in. Keep them coming! On Sparkles' blog, each of the child received an individual answer if they had a question or a note from Sparkles.
The reviews were in the children's own words and weren't edited to keep the integrity of their note.
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"I like the book a lot. It showed me a lot of stuff . Like if I was in a real fire and a smoke alarm would make noise like beep beep beep and would tell you fire fire fire a fire becuse my smoke alarm does that too. well got to run bye bye. "

Brenda, Age 10
Celia Clinton Elementary
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"Dear Sparkles,

I learned a lot from you. How you would crawl down like that its a safer way to get away from a fire. And it was great that you made a book. And it was very smart to tell us not to touch a door with the palm of our hand. "

Sincerly,
Robin, age 9
Celia Clinton Elementary
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"I like the book of sparkles the fire safety dog. That was a good book for the little kids. I like how you went to school and teach the children about fire safety. I like how you crawl down and show the kids. I like how you was and that little bed it was a cute bed. That was a cute story. I like that book because you went to teach just like a teacher. I like the book so much. To a cute dog name sparkles the super teacher. He is a sweet dog and a smart dog. He is a super dog. He is a smart teacher he is a cool dog and a sweet dog. He is a safety dog and taking good care of his friend and people. He is a good friend for me. I like sparkles for a sweet daycare dog for the whole town because he is a super dog."

Dioselina, age 10
Celia Clinton Elementary

Book Reviews from Ron, Kayla, Patricia, Alan, Aaron and Rebeca

Today we received book reviews from Ron, Kayla, Patricia, Alan and Aaron! Thank you to everyone at Celia Clinton for sending them in. Keep them coming! On Sparkles' blog, each of the child received an individual answer if they had a question or a note from Sparkles.

"Thank you for coming to our school to teach us fire saftey skills. I wish that you can come back to our school again to teach us fire safety skills. The book [Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog] that you gave me , I learned to crawl on my knees when there is a fire in the house and you always have a meeting place by the mailbox or by a the fence."

Ron, age 9

Celia Clinton Elementary

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"Thank you four coming to our school. wish that my dog can do what you can do. That is just amazing my dogs are to wild to do that. I learned from the book [Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog] is that having a fire alarm is important. Dayna I think that sparkles is glad to have you as a mom and I like your book very much so thank you. "

Kayla, age 9

Celia Clinton Elementary

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"Sparkles the part I like of your book [Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog] is were you teach the people about fire safety. The thing I learned is that you stop drop and roll. I appreciate you teaching us how to be firesafe. Keep teaching people fire safety Sparkles."

Patricia, age 9

Celia Clinton Elementary

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"I learned that whenever theres a fire you should touch the door with your hand backwards. Whenever you see smoke , always crawl on the ground. When youre on fire stop,drop and roll. I also learned to find a meeting place. For me the best place for a meeting place is a tree.'

Alan, age 10

Celia Clinton Elementary

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"Sparkles I like becaues sparkles help kids have fire safety. Sparkles the safety dog is a great book my mom and dad love it. I love that sparkles can do things and fire safety. I did know that people can do more in fire safedy."

Aaron, Age 10

Celia Clinton Elementary

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"I liked the picture when Sparkles was crawling low to demonstrate to us how to crawl low. And I learned that not to touch a doorknob when your house is on fire because you can burn your hand. Also I liked the picture when Sparkles was in the bed LOL!!! I wanted to ask a question do fire safety dogs go to fires or is it to dangerous for them to go? Well thank you for reading my note hope I here from you guys!!!"

Rebeca, age 9

Celia Clinton Elementary

Book Review from Nisea, Age 9

"Thank you for coming to my school and telling us about your beautiful dog Sparkles. My mom loved her nails. I liked the book [Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog] because it taught me what I have to do if there was a real fire. Oh, and to change my batteries in my smoke alarm. Your book taught me a lot of things. I enjoyed you coming, thanks."

Nisea, 9
Celia Clinton Elementary School

Thank you for your book review, Nisea! We emailed you a special surprise for sending a review!
Firefighter Dayna and Sparkles

Sparkles in the Tulsa World Newspaper