Free Choice Poetry: LOVE THAT DOG

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Creech, Sharon. 2001. LOVE THAT DOG, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN 0-06-029287-3

REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Many students aren’t confident with poetry. They often don't understand the deeper meanings the teacher talks about in class, they think all poetry should rhyme, and they are unsure of how to read and write it.  Jack, the speaker in LOVE THAT DOG, feels all of these same things and writes about them in a series of journal entries that make up this novel in verse. 

Sharon Creech begins the novel with a journal entry by Jack that says “I don’t want to/ because boys/ don’t write poetry./ Girls do.”  In this free verse novel, the class reads Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams and even Jack's favorite, Walter Dean Myers.  As Jack continues writing he realizes poetry is not so bad and that it can be meaningful.  He makes a connection to a one of Walter Dean Myers' poems, "Love That Boy."  Jack is so moved by the poem that he even writes the author asking him to come visit his school. 

Sharon Creech has created a realistic voice for Jack by using authentic language in his journal entries that are written in verse.  The journal entries are one sided so the reader only hears Jack’s side of the conversation with his teacher.  The teacher’s side of the conversation is inferred based on Jack’s responses and questions in his entries.  Creech’s superior verse writing along with Jack’s relatable voice will appeal to a wide range of readers.  Readers will be able to relate to Jack’s feelings toward poetry, his heartbreak over losing his dog, and his excitement about meeting his favorite poet. 

LOVE THAT DOG is arranged like a journal with dates added above each poem, but reads much like a novel.  Creech has included a section at the end of the novel titled, “Some of the Poems Used by Miss Stretchberry” which includes the poems that Jack is responding to in his journal. Either whole or parts of these poems are printed in this section and allow readers to fully understand the response Jack had to each poem.

 

"Love that Dog"

(Inspired by Walter Dean Myers)

By Jack

 

Love that dog,

like a bird loves to fly

I said I love that dog

like a bird loves to fly

Love to call him in the morning

love to call him

“Hey there, Sky!”

 

 

This book would be perfect to use to throughout a poetry unit.  The teacher could share the poems that Jack is responding to which are at back of the book.  The teacher could lead a discussion and have the kids respond to them and then read Jack’s response.  Was their response similar to his?  After they study and write poetry throughout the unit, do their feelings about it change?  At the conclusion of the unit, the kids could find a poem that inspires them and write their own poetry like Jack did in the book.