Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

Summary: Jack is learning about poems in classrooms, only he refuses to write any in his journal given to him by his teacher Ms. Stretchberry. Eventually, Jack allows Ms. Stretchberry to put up some of his words that were not poems, on the condition that his name not on the paper. Ms. Stretchberry keeps asking him to use his poems, and eventually, he agrees to have his name put on the poems. Jack comes to like poems very much, especially the ones by Walter Dean Myers. Jack likes Walter Dean Myers so much that Ms. Stretchberry encourages him to write a letter asking Mr. Myers to come to their school. Jack finally opens up a about his dog sky, revealing the importance of the Blue Car poem he wrote earlier. Soon enough, Jack receives news that Walter Dean Myers is coming to his city, his school, his classroom. Jack is so excited that he could not sleep. Walter Dean Myers, comes and Jack loves him, he even writes him another letter to thank him. Jack ends this book with another poem about Sky, his dog, inspired by Walter Dean Myers, titles Love That dog.

Review: I cry every time I read this book. The first I read this book, I myself was in elementary school and learning about poems. What an encouragement it was to read about a boy who didn’t think his words could be poems but actually were! I would love to introduce a unit on Poetry with a read aloud of this book, or even as a book club book for Middle School since it is for 9 to 14 year olds. Not only would I have this book in my classroom, but also in my home.