Love That Dog

Title: Love That Dog 

Author: Sharon Creech

Copyright Date: 2001                    

Genre: Poetry-Fiction                                     

Pages of Book: 86 Pages

Publisher: Scholastic Press                                                 

Reading Level: Ages 8-12

Summary: At first Jack feels like poetry was just for girls. For one of his classes he has to write poetry and he isn't happy with it. However throughout the book Jack learns to love poetry. He tells about all the different varieties of writing poetry. Who knew there were poems that didn't even have to rhyme. Throughout the book Jack writes about his dog after it died. At first he doesn't want his teacher to put his name on his work because he is embarrassed. By the end however he is proud of his poetry. Jack even writes to his favorite author Walter Dean Myers and he comes to his school. 

Reaction: I'm not big on poetry to be honest. However I was very surprised to get into this book and really love it. I could relate to Jack because I lost my dog last summer and it was very hard for my husband and I. She was our baby and did everything with us. I think its also something that children can relate to also.

Problem: Jack is sad about the loss of his dog. He also doesn't want to write poetry because he thinks it is for girls.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book and can see how it would be beneficial to use in classrooms. I like that it shows  lot of different types of ways we can use poetry. I think that will get children more excited about it. This book would be good for the student as well as the teacher.