*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*Young girl as main character
*Rating: The Dog Who Belonged to No One is a whimsical, loveable story of a young girl and a cute puppy who find friendship with each other!

Short, short summary: Lia must pedal her bike all over town to deliver the bread her parents bake. She is lonely. The dog who belonged to no one tries to be a good and helpful dog by finding baseballs and mittens. But he is also lonely. They both dream of friends and warmth and times when loneliness is not around. One day during a storm, they both hurry toward the porch of the crooked little house, where Lia’s parents are waiting.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Children may need to discuss some of the emotions in this book–including feeling lonely. What does it mean to feel lonely? How do the dog and the girl combat loneliness? Does this work? Some of your students may feel lonely at times, too. This is a very delicate subject, but it can be discussed with children. Perhaps, students can brainstorm some ways to make sure people in their own class or own family are not feeling lonely.

2. The text in The Dog Who Belonged to No One provides a good example of using specific word choices. If you are studying the 6 traits of writing, you could use Amy Hest’s text as an example of good word choice. For example, the page about the storm has several strong verbs. Amy Hest writes: “He shook. He shivered. He dripped.” You can show students how she could have just said, “He was cold and wet.” But when she uses verbs like shook, shivered, and dripped, the language is more lively, and it brings a clear image to the reader.

3. Through most of the book, this is a parallel story. The dog who belonged to no one has one story. Lia has another. Before you get to the pages about the storm, ask students to predict how they think the two stories will eventually intertwine. You will also want to talk about how the author used certain techniques and specific language to show similarities between Lia and the dog.