I think everyone should read Love That Dog by Newbery Medal Sharon Creech. It’s a beautiful book, a marvelous teaching device, and a great way to learn to about choosing words, expressing yourself, and writing. Because I want people to read it I hesitate to tell them that this short children’s novel is written all in poems, and that it might make them cry. Maybe if I tell them it’s only 86 pages long? And that on some pages there are less than twenty words?
The book is about a boy named Jack. His teacher, Miss Stretchberry, wants him to write poetry. He doesn’t want to because “boys don’t write poetry. Girls do.” Eventually he writes about picking out his dog at the animal shelter, and the way his dog slobbers when he smiles. Jack tells us about his brain was “pop-pop-popping” when he looked at shaped poems.
Although his teacher never speaks, she is a big presence in the book. You know she’s encouraging and inspiring Jack, that she’s reading to him, typing up his words, showing him how to use the spell check on the computer, and how to write letters to authors.
In the space of 86 pages, and over a school year, Jack finds his poet’s soul and voice.
I can’t say much more than that without giving away the ending.
The back of the book includes poems that Miss Stretchberry uses in her lesson from poets William Blake, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, and Walter Dean Myers. If someone wanted to teach a unit on this book and poetry, they would want those poems. It’s nice that they are already there for any reader to find.
This is also a great book for reluctant readers because it is short. I’m amazed at how much personality and characterization shines through this small book. How can so few words be so effective and say so much?
Also See:
Family Words and Special Recipes
Great Books for Your 5th or 6th Grader
Helping Your Child Deal With Emotions Through Creative Expression