Love That Dog

Starred review from June 18, 2001
In last year's Fishing in the Air, Creech took a spare, metaphorical approach to a father-son relationship. Here she examines the bond between a boy and his dog to create an ideal homage to the power of poetry and those who write it.The volume itself builds like a poem. Told exclusively through Jack's dated entries in a school journal, the book opens with his resistance to writing verse: "September 13/ I don't want to/ because boys/ don't write poetry./ Girls do." Readers sense the gentle persistence of Jack's teacher, Miss Stretchberry, behind the scenes, from the poems she reads in class and from her coaxing, to which the boy alludes, until he begins to write some poems of his own. One by William Carlos Williams, for instance, inspires Jack's words: "So much depends/ upon/ a blue car/ splattered with mud/ speeding down the road." A Robert Frost poem sends Jack into a tale (in verse) of how he found his dog, Sky. At first, his poems appear to be discrete works. But when a poem by Walter Dean Myers ("Love That Boy" from Brown Angels) unleashes the joy Jack felt with his pet, he becomes even more honest in his poetry. Jack's next work is cathartic: all of his previous verses seemed to be leading up to this pièce de résistance, an admission of his profound grief over Sky's death. He then can move on from his grief to write a poem ("inspired by Walter Dean Myers") about his joy at having known and loved his dog.As in any great poem, the real story surfaces between the lines. From Jack's entries, readers learn how unobtrusively his teacher guides him to poems he can collect and emulate, and how patiently she convinces him to share his own work. By exposing Jack and readers to the range of poems that moves Jack (they appear at the back of the book), Creech conveys a life truth: pain and joy exist side by side. For Jack and for readers, the memory of that dog lives on in his poetry. Readers will love that dog, and this book. Ages 8-12.

Starred review from February 10, 2003

"Creech examines the bond between a boy and his dog to create an ideal homage to the power of poetry and those who write it," said PW
in a boxed review. Ages 8-12.

Starred review from August 1, 2001
Gr 4-8-Jack keeps a journal for his teacher, a charming, spare free-verse monologue that begins: "I don't want to/because boys/don't write poetry./Girls do." But his curiosity grows quickly as Miss Stretchberry feeds the class a varied menu of intriguing poems starting with William Carlos Williams's "The Red Wheelbarrow," which confuses Jack at first. Gradually, he begins to see connections between his personal experiences and the poetry of William Blake, Robert Frost, and others, and Creech's compellingly simple plot about love and loss begins to emerge. Jack is timid about the first poems he writes, but with the obvious encouragement and prodding of his masterful teacher, he gains the courage to claim them as his own in the classroom displays. When he is introduced to "Love That Boy" by Walter Dean Myers, he makes an exuberant leap of understanding. "MARCH 14/That was the best best BEST/poem/you read yesterday/by Mr. Walter Dean Myers/the best best BEST/poem/ever./I am sorry/I took the book home/without asking./I only got/one spot/on it./That's why/the page is torn./I tried to get/the spot/out." All the threads of the story are pulled together in Jack's final poem, "Love That Dog (Inspired by Walter Dean Myers)." Creech has created a poignant, funny picture of a child's encounter with the power of poetry. Readers may have a similar experience because all of the selections mentioned in the story are included at the end. This book is a tiny treasure.-Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2001
Gr. 3-6. In simple free verse, Jack tells his teacher that he cares nothing about poetry and sees no point in that snowy woods stuff: "Why doesn't the person just / keep going if he's got / so many miles to go before he sleeps?." But despite himself, he's enraptured by what his teacher is reading: the beat of "Tiger, tiger burning bright" just won't go away. At the same time, he's writing poetry in his own voice about himself, culminating in a breathtaking poem about what happened to his beloved dog. At the end, Creech overdoes Jack's fawning adoration of author Walter Dean Myers, who comes to school at Jack's behest, but that won't stop kids from recognizing both Jack's new exuberance and his earlier uptight mood. Best of all, the story shows how poetry inspires reading and writing with everyday words that make personal music. This is a book for teachers to read aloud and talk about with kids. Some of the poems Jack's teacher reads are appended, including Myers' wonderful "Love That Boy."(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)

May 13, 2002
Wolf's (Party of Five) bright, boyish voice brings to life Creech's novel-in-free-verse about a student's enlightening year of course work. As school starts in September, Jack is not eager to embark on Miss Stretchberry's poetry writing assignments. "I don't want to/ because boys/ don't write poetry./ Girls do." But Jack's attitude soon changes. As Miss Stretchberry reads the works of great poets (Robert Frost, Valerie Worth, William Blake) to the class and encourages Jack's writing efforts, Jack discovers his unique voice—and a true talent for creative expression. The culmination of Jack's great year is a classroom visit from Mr. Walter Dean Myers, who wrote what Jack considers "the best best BEST/ poem/ ever," called "Love That Boy," a selection that has become the boy's biggest inspiration. Wolf plays Jack with a realistic, respectful and contemporary tone. He nimbly conveys surprise, wonder and heartfelt emotion without sounding sentimental or affected, a quality that will have many young listeners enthralled. Ages 8-up.

January 1, 2002
Jack's free-verse journal charts his evolution from doubt to delight in poetry. His teacher introduces him to poetry, advocates for his writing, and flatters him into believing he's a poet. Unfortunately, he isn't, despite the book's attempt to convince us otherwise. Jack finds a personal connection to poems, but his linguistic banality restricts his expression and limits his voice. Still, his gradual appreciation of poetry is natural and believable.

(Copyright 2002 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)