Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

Love That Dog is a book in poetry form about a boy named Jack. The book is notebook entries that Jack writes to his teacher along with poetry. In the beginning of the book, Jack was very shy about his writing. He was not share whether his work was considered real poetry. He enjoyed reading many of the poems that his teacher read to them. As the book goes on, Jack begins to get more comfortable with his poetry, telling his teacher she can put it up on the board, but without a name. He became a fan of them poems of Walter Dean Meyers. He really wanted Walter to come in and speak to his class so he wrote him a letter. Jack did not expect a response, but to his surprise, Walter Dean Meyers came to his class. By the end of the story, Jack was very open about his poetry and was pleased to have it shown for people to see.

I thought this book was a quick and easy read. In poetry form, kids will be sure to love it because it does not look long like a regular book. It also challenges what people consider "poetry". Many students can relate to Jack. Everyone is a little self conscious about their writing, especially poetry. I still get worried that a poem I write is actually poetry or not. Jack's personality through out the story was very fun and relatable. I can see many kids out there like Jack. The progression that Jack went through throughout the book seemed very organic. He slowly became more comfortable with his writing abilities.

This book would be great for 5th and 6th graders. When doing a poetry lesson, it would be a good idea to include this book. I think students will enjoy it and it will open up poetry to them in a new and fun way. It will show them that poetry is more then what they are made to believe. It does not need to look a certain way or need to rhyme. There are many different forms, and that is something that Love That Dog really shows. I would definitely want to include this in my classroom.