Poetry: Love That Dog

Title: Love That Dog 

Author: Sharon Creech

Genre: Poetry 

Major Awards:  Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts (NCTE), 

• ALA Notable Children's Book, Carnegie Medal Finalist, Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (Vermont), Great Stone Face Book Award (New Hampshire).
• Age Group: 8-13 years old
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• Love That Dog by Sharon Creech tells the story of an evolving love and appreciation of poetry, that develops over a course of time. The poems protagonist Jack begins the story not liking poetry, because he believes it is for girls and he "can't do it". As the story progresses, Jacks teacher Miss Stretchberry introduces new poets. You can gradually see the progression of understanding and how that understanding and appreciation for the poems of others is transcended into his own writing. As Jack continues to write different poems in class, he struggles with his confidence level. You see as the story progresses Miss Stretchberry is supporting Jack with his writing and asking him if she can share it with the class on the board.  Jack allows her to share his works just as long as they remain anonymous and no one in the class knows he wrote them. As the story progresses, Jack gains the confidence in himself and in his writing to now begin to write his name of his work. As Jack is developing his love for poetry, he comes across the poet Walter Dean Myers. He admires his work and use of language so much that he writes his own poem inspired by the writing of Walter Dean Myers. He even writes to him to come to their school, which he does too. The main subject of Jacks writing is about his yellow dog Sky whom he loved, but passed away. It is almost as if the poems he is writing in class is a way of remembering his dog and a form of therapy to find solace and peace in what has happened. In the end, Jack is writing a thank you letter to Walter Dean Myers for coming to their school and in closing he shares the poem he wrote about his dog that was inspired by Myers work. 

I had never previously read this story before and it was absolutely beautiful. The story itself is written in poetic form, as if they were daily diary entry pieces. The writing is funny, personable, and teaches a valuable lesson of personal growth and change. I believe that this story would be a fantastic addition to any 3rd-8th grade classroom library. Not only is the story an easy read, but students can connect to the story on different levels whether it be their love for a pet or them trying and learning something new. I think that this book would be a wonderful choice for a class to read together and discuss in a book study. When brainstorming ideas on how to integrate the book into the classroom with an activity, I came across an excellent idea that someone had shared about having students create their own "love that.." poem modeled after Walter Dean Myers, and Jacks in the book, and having the students create their own book cover with their poem inside. I had a similar idea with having the students write their own "love that.." poem, but never thought to have the students recreate their own book cover integrating English Language Arts and the Arts. I'd imagine the kids loving to do that very much.