Love That Dog

Love That Dog. Sharon Creech. (2001). 86p. New York: HarperCollins.

Awards and Honors: Christopher Award, Claudia Lewis Poetry Award

Review:

A story written in free verse diary entries, this is the story of Jack, a student in Miss Stretchberry's class who on the first day of school begins a poetry journal. At first Jack is resistant to the idea ("I don't want to/ because boys/ don't write poetry"), but as the school year progresses and Miss Stretchberry encourages his efforts, Jack begins to find his voice. With each new poem, Jack is drawn closer into poetry, and when Miss Stretchberry reads Walter Dean Myers' poem "Love That Boy" to the class, Jack is hooked. Through the new found medium, Jack begins to express his grief over his dog Sky who was killed by a car, and pens a poem called "Love That Dog". With his teacher's encouragement, Jack invites Myers to speak at his school and is thrilled when Myers agrees.  

Opinion:
This is a sweet and sensitive story, poignant without becoming saccharine, and at times quite funny. The story of Jack finding his voice is downright inspiring, and Creech's inclusion of the original poems which are referenced in the book is an nice addition.

Ideas:

This book would be wonderful to use in a classroom to inspire students to keep their own poetry journals.