Love That Dog
by Sharon Creech
List Price:
Our Price: $2.66
You Save: $3.33 (56%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.25 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Sharon CreechEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-03-01
ISBN: 0064409597
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: HarperCollins
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780064409599
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Love That Dog
Book Review: a great gift of inspiration-a joy filled & moving read
Summary: 5 Stars
this little book by sharon creech fascinated me since i first saw it on barbara's kitchen table over a month ago. it turns out, it was a breakfast book club selection for country club elementary school and their innovative literacy program. i couldn't take it with me then, but today she relented.
she leads the third grade section of the early morning book club, and told me how the session had gone. kids sitting in a circle, she started the morning by asking them to simply say "liked it/didn't like it" as a kind of vote to kick things off. they got all the way around the circle with kids saying "didn't like it" `til they got to barbara and carlie who made it clear how much they LOVED it. and then they told the kids why. and their why, of course, related to the pure joy of the slow awakening of the protagonist as he learned to let himself write. once this story was told, all the former "didn't like it"s were able to say, "oh, now i understand it. when you put it like that, i like it too" and barbara was able to say, "that's the miracle of a good book club." and the kids were able to go back to school a bit more in love with reading and the community of each other and the possibilities brought to light by talking about the book.
and this little book treasure is a spectacular bit of inspiration for teachers, writers, poets, students of poetry and lovers of dogs everywhere. the moving construction of the story, with creech sharing only the student's one sided series of responses to an imagined teacher's encouragement, is a brilliant and gentle opening for reader and protagonist. the student poet's reluctance to write poetry, admit his writing was poetry, acknowledge his authorship, allow himself the inspiration of his predecessors, and finally tell his whole, painful, beautiful truth is such a profoundly moving journey that it brought tears to my eyes half a dozen times through the quick read of the book.
i was especially moved by the young poet's letter to the published one. i imagined what it must feel like to receive such a letter and respond to such a heartfelt request. i imagined the joy of receiving the gift of having the author show up at the kind invitation of a young student who, so obviously, loved him. i thought of the radical act of transformation that happens accidently when the poet shows up, speaks his moving words in his own voice, with the precision of meaning conveyed through his own inflection, and the student hearing his reader's joy from the mouth of it's maker. i remember being in the audience when nzotke shange, alice walker, rachel rosenthal, maya angelou, deena metzger, and other lesser known goddesses spoke their poetry magic to my reader's ears in front of my devoted reader's eyes. this radical act of showing up is always a miracle with the power to alter life trajectories for those heaven has sent to their listening crowd. i felt this miracle happen for jack, in miss stretchberry's classroom, where mr. walter dean myers appeared one immortal day.
of course the unsung, unspoken hero of the story is miss stretchberry--for her innovative approach to teaching poetry, inspiring young writers and making generous and effective use of her typing skills, bulletin board and various colored construction paper. as always, i am captivated by the profound impact of the least well paid professionals among us, and count their work as the work of angels on this earth. certainly, jack is invited into a wider world of self expression, with a little side dish of healing, offered by his relationship to the poetic pieces introduced by his teacher and the kind way he is encouraged. jack, who seems to be a clear minded and definite child, is certainly not shy to say how he wants things. he stands up to his teacher and takes her suggestions head on. he decides if and when he will follow her lead. oh, to have such a student--what a dream! and to know what to do with a child like this--to guide him out of his anonymity and fear and into the bright light of his truest truth telling--to be a teacher of this caliber, with this effect on a single student, wouldn't this be the most rewarding professional endeavor imaginable?
and so, this book gets all the thumbs up of an overcrowded classroom full of the future. this book is a keeper, a great gift, a joy filled and moving read.
Summary of Love That Dog
Meet Jack, who tells his story with a little help from some paper, a pencil, his teacher, and a dog named Sky.Jack
Room 105 -- Miss Stretchberry
September 13
I don't want to
because boys
don't write poetry.Girls do.
Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech's Love That Dog, a funny, sweet, original short novel written in free verse, introduces us to an endearingly unassuming, straight-talking boy who discovers the powers and pleasures of poetry. Against his will. After all, "boys don't write poetry. Girls do." What does he say of the famous poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"? "I think Mr. Robert Frost / has a little / too / much / time / on his / hands." As his teacher, Ms. Stretchberry, introduces the canon to the class, however, he starts to see the light. Poetry is not so bad, it's not just for girls, and it's not even that hard to write. Take William Carlos Williams, for example: "If that is a poem / about the red wheelbarrow / and the white chickens / then any words / can be a poem. / You've just got to / make / short / lines." He becomes more and more discerning as the days go by, and readers' spirits will rise with Jack's as he begins to find his own voice through his own poetry and through that of others. His favorite poem of all is a short, rhythmic one by Walter Dean Myers called "Love That Boy" (included at the end of the book with all the rest of Ms. Stretchberry's assignments). The words completely captivate him, reminding him of the loving way his dad calls him in the morning and of the way he used to call his yellow dog, Sky. Jack's reverence for the poem ultimately leads to meeting the poet himself, an experience he will never forget.
This winning, accessible book is truly remarkable in that Creech lets us witness firsthand how words can open doors to the soul. And this from a boy who asks, "Why doesn't the person just / keep going if he's got / so many miles to go / before he sleeps?" (Ages 8 to 12) --Karin Snelson
Dogs Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Dogs Books
Biscuit Loves Father's Dayby Alyssa Satin Capucilli
HarperFestival; Published: 2004-04-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.15
Price in other shops:
That'll Do, Mossby Betty Levin
Greenwillow Books; Published: 2002-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.01
Price in other shops:
Marley: A Dog Like No Other. John Groganby John Grogan
HarperCollins Children's Books; Published: 2009-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.02
Price in other shops:
Lord Brocktree: A Tale from Redwallby Brian Jacques
Penguin Group USA; Firebird; Published: 2005-06-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
White Fang (Puffin Classics)by Jack London
Puffin; Published: 1994-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops:
The Call of the Wild (Children's Classics)by Jack London
Penguin Audio; Published: 1997-08-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $11.00
No Roses for Harry!by Gene Zion
HarperCollins; Published: 1976-10-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.45
Price in other shops:
Old Yeller CDby Fred Gipson
Caedmon; Published: 2010-01-05; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.87
Price in other shops:
How to Talk to Your Dogby Jean Craighead George
HarperCollins; Published: 2003-02-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Where the Red Fern Grows (Study Guide)by Anthony Heald
Harcourt School; Published: 1989-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.50
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Becoming Naomi Leonby Pam Munoz Ryan
Scholastic; Scholastic Paperbacks; Published: 2005-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963by Christopher Paul Curtis
Random House; Yearling; Published: 1997-09-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle Schoolby Georgia Heard
Heinemann; Published: 1998-11-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.22
Price in other shops:
The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton Critical Editions)W. W. Norton & Company; W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 1999-11-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.86
Heartbeat (rpkg)by Sharon Creech
Harper Collins Publishers; HarperCollins; Published: 2005-09-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.35
Price in other shops:
The Unfinished Angelby Sharon Creech
HarperCollins; Published: 2009-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.67
Price in other shops:
Mosaic of Thought, Second Edition: The Power of Comprehension Strategy Instructionby Ellin Oliver Keene, Susan Zimmermann
Heinemann; Published: 2007-05-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.15
Price in other shops:
Hate That Cat: A Novelby Sharon Creech
HarperCollins; Published: 2010-02-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.80
Price in other shops:
Bud, Not Buddyby Christopher Paul Curtis
Laurel Leaf; Laurel Leaf; Published: 2004-09-14; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.06
Price in other shops:
Rulesby Cynthia Lord
Scholastic; Scholastic Paperbacks; Published: 2008-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.57
Price in other shops: