In Tor & Raven Are Friends, Tor, a King Shepherd, finds a Petoskey stone on the beach at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. He hopes that the rare stone will bring him a friend.

Meanwhile in Glacier Bay National Park, AK, Raven, too, finds a remarkable stone, a heart- shaped rock, right in the middle of the print of a bear paw. That night a great West Wind arises and blows Raven all the way across the country. She lands on Tor’s chimney and falls inside his cabin.

Tor and Raven don’t know what to make of each other. But Raven can’t help but be curious about the big white dog. Tor is kind and loving to Raven in spite of his initial reluctance. The two unlikely friends bond during a summer full of outings including a visit to Fishtown, hiking, and building a sand castle.

But Raven gets homesick for Alaska and together the friends figure out a return route. Before Raven soars away, the two friends exchange their special stones and Raven promises to return the next summer. The Afterword explains that the story is based on an actual friendship, and contains photographs of the actual Raven and Tor, and photographs of the heart-shaped stone and the Petoskey stone. 

Praise for Tor & Raven Are Friends

Parents will appreciate the simple, yet elegant text, and the beautiful illustrations of the Lake Michigan shoreline with the cartoon-like additions of dog and raven.  As a special bonus, we learn from the afterward that this charming story is based on a real raven-dog friendship.  How magical!

—Eleanor Blitzer, MD

A gentle and endearing story, Tor & Raven are Friends strikes all the right notes about friendship...As a pediatrician, I loved this book and highly recommend it.

—Ann Beach, MD

...I’m very happy to see the friendship between Tor and Raven captured so beautifully in this heartwarming story. We humans can learn a lot from them about love. I hope this is the first of many books about their remarkable adventures.

—Heather Lende, Alaska State Writer Laureate 2021–2023