HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
Loading...

Love That Dog (original 2001; edition 2003)

by Sharon Creech

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
5,9503371,653 (4.19)126
Title: Love That Dog
Author: Sharon Creech

This story is a poetry narrative of an elementary boy. The book chronicles his journal entries as he moves from hating poetry to enjoying it, eventually becoming genuinely thrilled when a poet visits his classroom that he invited himself. I love this book because of the slow progression of the boy's attitude towards poetry. So many students approach poetry with uneasiness and fear, but this book potentially could warm students up to it after reading this book. I would suggest reading this book before beginning to discuss the structure of poetry and why poetry is great. This book says that it is an appropriate for 8-12 year olds, but I think that it would be more interesting and suitable for 7-10 year olds because it is a short read without too much advanced vocabulary. This book serves as a mentor text to demonstrate that poetry isn't necessarily the first thing we imagine and that anyone can be a successful poet! ( )
  KennaEmerson | Sep 19, 2012 |
English (333)  Spanish (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (335)
Showing 1-25 of 333 (next | show all)
A young guy named Jack (maybe 10 or 11 years old) initially resists his teacher's request that he writes poems because "boys don't write poems, girls do." But as the book (which is made up entirely of Jack's poems) goes on, Jack figures out the secret of writing poems ("just make the lines short"). So, through poetry, he shares the story of his deceased dog and his love of author and fellow poet Walter Dean Myers.

A very quick read. Funny and sad. Sharon Creech seems to get into the head of her main character and let him write great poetry without making him sound overly sophisticated. The book also features some famous poems (e.g. William Carlos Williams and Robert Frost), which are alluded to in the text and included in full in the back of the book. ( )
  LibrarianDest | Jan 3, 2024 |
Nobody warned us but the dog is dead in this book. ( )
  FamiliesUnitedLL | Nov 17, 2023 |
This is a story in poems of a boy who hates poetry working through his poetry assignments and coming to love some poetry. This sounds way less interesting than the story is for through his poems he also asks a favorite poet to come visit his school and he does! He also tells through several stories about the dog he had and loved and who died. I would put the reading as good for probably 3rd to 5th or even 6th grade. It would be a good option for a reluctant poet since the main character is also a reluctant poet.
  BudgieSansWings | Jul 6, 2023 |
A touching novel in verse about a boy learning about poetry and how he can express his emotions and memories. ( )
  kparr | Mar 13, 2023 |
I have read a couple of Sharon Creech's books, and I can safely say that this is a very quick read like maybe 20-30 minutes. If it wasn't part of a series I honestly would have given it a lower rating just because it feels like it ends open. It feels like the book is building to something but then it doesn't go there. But knowing that it's number one in a series makes that a little bit easier.

I figured from the very beginning that there is something about the dog that had happened. I also figured that this book was kind of about a child who had suffered a trauma being helped to open up. Which is what I've gathered from it and I hope that that continues into the next books in this series.

I really like that this kind of addresses multiple things, writing as therapy, how weird it feels to write emotions when you're a kid, and just how hard it is to make something look pretty on paper and present it to your teacher.

I also like that this whole thing was told through little weekly poems. As each date at the top is exactly a week apart from the other. ( )
  Yolken | Sep 9, 2022 |
Such a great book! I will probably read it over and over and over. ( )
  elvisneedsboats | Jul 14, 2022 |
Independent Reading Level: Grades 4-10
Awards: Notable Children's Books Award (2002) ( )
  Koryn | Apr 25, 2022 |
Great short work about falling in love with poetry and Walter Dean Myers and grieving for a beloved dead dog. ( )
  jennybeast | Apr 14, 2022 |
Is this review a poem
If I break up the lines?

This book
Shows us these questions
Also shows us
How we grieve

I like it
Although
I am not sure if the poet's idea of the boy
Is like a real boy
Or just how the poet hopes boys are.

It is very
Quick
To Read

Trigger warning
Dog Death. ( )
  atreic | Mar 24, 2022 |
A quick read, this book is poignant: both heartbreaking and heartfelt. ( )
1 vote bookwyrmqueen | Oct 25, 2021 |
Love That Dog is a book in the form of a free-verse journal written by the main character, Jack. Jack is a fourth grader, resistant to writing and to poetry--insisting "it's for girls" but his encouraging teacher motivates him to experiment with the format. There is sort of a story within the story as the class reads classic poems together and tries to identify and replicate certain style elements of the various forms and authors. As Jack gains confidence he also begins to see that expressing himself in his journal allows him to process some grief over the death of his dog. This is such a sweet and touching story. I love the way Sharon Creech is able to write from a child's point of view so authentically and poignantly.
1 vote EricaReynolds | Jul 15, 2021 |
Plot Summary: Love That Dog is the humorous, endearing story
of second grade boy who discovers a hidden potential and love
for poetry. Jack starts out explaining to Mrs. Stretchberry, his
teacher that boys do not write poetry, and that he has no desire
to do so. He starts out not understanding the importance of
some classic poems she read to them, and begins to imitate
them for fun. Jack is shocked when Mrs. Stretchberry asks him
if she can put one of his poems on the blackboard. At first he
refuses, but she convinces Jack on another poem. As Jack’s
exposure to poetry continues, he begins to write more and more
poems, which are put on the blackboard for the class to see. He
eventually opens up and begins to tell of his love for his dog
Sky, that has passed away. Eventually, Jack allows Mrs.
Stretchberry to put his name on the poem that is on the board.
He feels embarrassed, yet pleased at the compliments of his
classmates. Mrs. Stretchberry asks Jack to write to Mr. Walter
Dean Meyers, one of the poets they read from (and that Jack
imitated), to ask him to come visit their school. Mr. Meyers
wrote a poem titled, “Love That Boy”. Jack hesitantly writes
back, not expecting him to care about the request of a young
schoolboy. To his class’s delight, Mr. Meyers comes to their
school, and the entire class enjoys poetry and brownies with the
author. The book ends with a thank you letter from Jack to Mr.
Meyers, thanking him for the visit, and a copy of his poem,
“Love that Dog”.
  stwombly | Apr 25, 2021 |
Tell in poem about a boy who doesn't like poems. I don't think I can ever read this book again especially what happens to the dog. ( )
  KSnapdragon | Nov 17, 2020 |
00008602
  lcslibrarian | Aug 13, 2020 |
00003744
  lcslibrarian | Aug 13, 2020 |
00008603
  lcslibrarian | Aug 13, 2020 |
I read this book in its entirety during my lunch break. It's a really easy read, in that it's short and simple, but it's not all that easy in that it's an emotional story about a kid who lost his dog and found the poetry of Walter Dean Myers. The content is made up of the free verse poetry that our protagonist is handing in to his teacher every week, from not wanting to write poetry at all, to being so inspired by a poet that he sends Myers a letter asking him to visit their class. I loved it.
( )
1 vote katebrarian | Jul 28, 2020 |
Great verse novel to discuss poetry with upper elementary and middle school students. In the story, Jack hates poetry and refuses to even try writing poems, but he ends up being quite good at it. The story cleverly teaches a lot about poetry and the misconceptions students often have about verse through Jack's poem journal. All students would enjoy watching Jack grow into a real poet, himself. ( )
1 vote SarahLaase | Jul 14, 2020 |
Beautiful, heartwarming. One of my favourite children's books. Like Fauntleroy, Jack is just one of those characters who makes you go, "awww!" ( )
  Chiara_Quinn | Apr 13, 2020 |
Watch a boy learn to love writing poetry. At first he comes across as aloof, retorting that only girls are into poetry. Don't tell anyone I can write, he begs the teacher, Miss Stretchberry. Little by little, poem by poem, Jack's confidence as a poet grows. It is extremely clever how Creech uses well known (and loved) poets to reach into young Jack's mind and pull out confidence. Even though this book is only 80 pages long, every single word is golden.
As an aside, the adult in me immediately clued into Jack's tense changing when writing about his dog, Sky. I had that sense of foreboding that only comes from a loss of innocence. Adulthood taught me to expect the worst. ( )
1 vote SeriousGrace | Apr 4, 2020 |
It surprised everyone, including me, when I cried while reading this book aloud to 5th graders. ( )
  Tammyhil | Mar 18, 2020 |
I love this book like Jack loves his dog Sky. This is a unique book that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike.
Jack doesn't think he should like poetry, let alone express himself with poetry, but Miss Stretchberry knows just how to guide Jack and build some confidence. The story is as if reading from Jack's writing journal. I happened to read "Hate that Cat" first and it is even better than "Love that Dog." This book would be a great addition to a poetry unit in the upper elementary grades. It also show students that is is okay to experiment with an authors writing style. Although an easy read, too young and I fear they would not appreciate the wit of weaving a story through the one sided conversation with his teacher. Plus it addresses some real life situations we face when owning pets. ( )
  ehanne4 | Mar 2, 2020 |
Love that Dog is a book that talks about a boy who writes poems about his life almost everyday and one day he gets a yellow dog. The boy talks about his favorite poet Walter Dean Myers and how his poems were inspired by Walter Dean Myers. The book is titled like a poem he wrote called "Love that Boy" and the boy invites Myers to his school to talk about his poems and read some, but he thinks Myers wouldn't answer but he was in town so he visited the school. But before that the boy wrote a poem about how his dog died by a blue car with muddy tires that ran over him called "My Sky" which is the dogs name, but i would highly recommend this book to poem and Language Arts lovers. ( )
1 vote EGingerich.ELA2 | Jan 14, 2020 |
A boy goes from perplexed to poet in this touching story written in free verse. When you get finished, go read Walter Dean Myers "Love That Boy" in it's entirety. '

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/love-that-boy/ ( )
  kristennicoson | Dec 7, 2019 |
Showing 1-25 of 333 (next | show all)

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.19)
0.5
1 8
1.5 2
2 39
2.5 7
3 142
3.5 31
4 320
4.5 46
5 454

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,225,454 books! | Top bar: Always visible