2,000 Miles is a Long Way from Home

When Andy Evans stumbles upon the snow-covered wreckage of a small plane, he’s shocked to find a survivor. Should he put the gravely injured dog out of his misery? The look in the animal’s eyes says he’s not ready to die. It turns out that Kävik’s a champion sled dog, and soon he makes a full recovery. When his rightful owner finds out Kävik is alive, he wants the dog back. But Kävik has other ideas.


Recently I re-read one of my favorite childhood books called Kävik the Wolf Dog by Walt Morey (the same man who wrote Gentle Ben) for the Four-Legged Friends Challenge and I have to say that it’s still as good as I remembered it! The best way to explain this book would be is that it’s a cross between White Fang and Homeward Bound (or The Incredible Journey) but it’s also manages to be original too.

Not too long ago there was a TV film made that was based on this wonderful book. I actually was never even aware of it until after I re-read the book and was doing a bit of online research. I can’t say it was as good as the book (are they ever?) but it was entertaining and didn’t stray too far from the original storyline. For a children’s work first published in 1968 you would think that the story would be dated but as a matter of fact I think it’s timeless. To paraphrase Morey’s dedication page, this book is for "all young people from six to sixty who have known the love of an animal."

~ I also have a review for The Courage of Kävik the Wolf Dog (1980) which is a film that was based on this book.