Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

From Goodreads,

"Jack hates poetry. Only girls write it and every time he tries to, his brain feels empty. But his teacher, Ms. Stretchberry, won't stop giving her class poetry assignments -- and Jack can't avoid them. But then something amazing happens. The more he writes, the more he learns he does have something to say."

Goodreads - Love That Dog

Awards:

• Claudia Lewis Award (2002)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (2003)
• New Mexico Land of Enchantment Award for Young Adult (2004)
• Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award Nominee (2004)
• Zilveren Griffel (2007)

It's finally National Poetry Month again!  That means that all month I will be reviewing books that are filled with poetry and prose.  I received this book in a Scholastic book order and figured it would be a quick and easy read to kick off National Poetry Month.  

This book is written in poetry by the main character Jack.  At the very beginning he doesn't like poetry, but he does his class assignments as he is supposed to.  He starts by writing poems about a blue car and about the dog he used to have.  Over the course of this short book we learn why the blue car and his dog are so important and why Jack continues to write poetry about them. 

Favorite poem from Love That Dog, 

"Tiger! Tiger! burning bright

 In the forest of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" 

When I first started this book I didn't think I was really going to enjoy it.  It was choppy, as some poetry books seem, and it wasn't going into a lot of depth.  But as the book went on we learned about Jack and the dog he used to have.  The title of the book is actual a play on the title of the poem "Love That Boy" by Walter Dean Myers.  This poem, along with other popular poems are included in this book.  I love the incorporation of popular and famous poetry in this book.  I would definitely use this book in a classroom while teaching a poetry unit.  There are just so many references to other poems, plus there is the whole story of Jack thinking that poetry is for girls and that he isn't good at it.  The book really breaks some stereotypes and helps students understand that poetry isn't that difficult.  I would break this book up into sections with a class and we would read a section a day and we would discuss the different styles of poems and we would definitely do a lot of poetry writing.

One thing I didn't like about this book is that the only people we really got to know in this book was Jack, his dog, the teacher, and Walter Dean Meyers.  Jack didn't talk about friends or about family in detail.  I somewhat felt like this book is being written in a journal or composition notebook that has to stay at school.  It seems as if Jack is writing to his teacher in response to a poem that was read to the class.  I would have enjoyed getting to know his friends or his family a little better.  And if I'm being completely honest I would have enjoyed getting to know Jack a little more in this book.  I just felt so disconnected from the characters.

Overall I give this book 3 stars.  I would recommend it to teachers to use in the classroom.  I don't think a child would just willingly go pick up and read this book.  There's a lot of potential for discussions in this book and I think it would be best suited for a teacher to lead students with this book.