Kaya and Lone Dog: A Friendship Story

Kaya and Lone Dog, by Janet Beller Shaw, is a book that taught me to appreciate the small things in life, like my brother, my mom and things that may not be valuable but are still things that I own. Kaya lost so many of the things that were in her life. It got me to treat animal's right whether they are strays or not, because Kaya is befriended by a stray dog who becomes very important to her. This book inspired me to try to learn a new language, like Kaya had to learn in order to communicate with someone to try to save herself. This book is one of the best books I ever read.

This is another in the American Girls series about Kaya'aton'my', a nine-year-old Native-American girl growing up among the Nez Perce people in 1764. In this book, Kaya must avoid the root harvesting, lest her troubled thoughts spoil the harvest. She is troubled at the loss of her sister and horse, and the death of Swan Circling. To keep her busy, she is assigned other tasks, and along the way she meets a starving, pregnant dog. Against the advice of her family and tribe, she befriends the wild dog and her litter, and along the way she learns something about friendship.This is another excellent Kaya story, complete with Bill Farnsworth's wonderful illustrations. My eleven-year-old daughter is a big fan of Kaya, and loved this book as much as the others. We both highly recommend it to you.

In Kaya and the Lone Dog, the 4th book in the series, Kaya is still mourning the death of her namesake Swan Circling. Feeling very much alone and also feeling the continuous guilt of getting her blind sister Speaking Rain captured, she befriends a lone dog, whom Kaya thinks is very much like her, all alone. Though her family and friends object to her befriending the Lone Dog, for it is unusual for a dog to live alone, Kaya doesn't heed their warnings and forms a special bond with the dog. After Lone Dog gives birth to some puppies, Kaya feels more and more attached to the dog and her pups, like they are her family. It is almost like Lone Dog can communicate with her. However, as the pups grow older, Kaya begins to feel the inevitable. Will Lone Dog leave her? Kaya is hopelessly torn as she knows Lone Dog is a dog that want to be free to roam the wild. In the end, Lone Dog gives a very special gift to Kaya, so she could remember her.

Kaya who's the new American Girl character, befriends a dog that calls Lone Dog. She wonders if it could live in her village. She's a Nez Perce indian. But maybe Lone Dog is too wild. One day while visiting her, Lone Dog growls and bares her teeth at a wolf. Lone Dog is going to have puppies. Kaya has to tell her brothers to not disturb Lone Dog and the puppies for she has befriended them. Kaya and Lone Dog soon get along real well. Lone Dog lets Kaya play with, hold, and love her newborn pups. Kaya is glad to have a new friend because her sister, Speaking Rain is still held captive. So dosen't this seem like Match Made in Heaven? Wrongo. Lone Dog and Kaya both have to move on with their lives. They were the best of friends. Even with the torturing of some boys in her village who call her "Magpie," a bird that thinks only of itself. At the end of Kaya and Lone Dog's relationship, Lone Dog sends a present to Kaya. One of her pups. Kaya names him Tatlo, and keeps him as her own pet dog. When her village has to migrate, Kaya has many happy memories of Lone Dog. And now Tatlo too.Please note: in this book, Lone Dog resembles thus of a coyote or a wolf or a wolfhybrid or maybe even a husky. Thus, she is a dog, as in MAN'S BEST FRIEND.If you are interested in a Kaya doll, Tatlo plushie, or more accesories go to americangirl.com

In "Kaya and the Lone Dog"(Book 4 in the series), Kaya remembers many things about the time she was taken captive and empathizes with a lone dog. She remembers how she was hungry and got only scraps as a slave girl, so she makes a promise to the dog to feed her. Although her grandmother fears that the dog may be a dangerous half-wolf, Kaya earns the dog's trust with her respect and kindness. Others in the tribe also grow to trust the dog after she saves one of her younger brothers from a bear, and the dog and her weaned puppies are welcomed into the tribe. Kaya senses though, that the dog wants to remain a lone dog and fears she will not stay with the group. Because Kaya also knows the feeling of being held captive, she values freedom and faces loss. In her loss, though, she receives a gift from the lone dog.