Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

I have heard the name Sharon Creech many times, but had never read an entire book by her. This was definitely a quick read--I think it took maybe 15 minutes. I think the concept is neat because it has a very stream-of-consciousness quality to it.

In my mind as I was reading, I could hear the voice a little boy who didn't want to write poetry. The various entries echo sentiments of a lot of the reactions young writers have to creating poetry. I like that this book shows how different poetry can be from what we might be familiar with. Not all poetry has to rhyme and that can be hard to get across to kids.

This book chronicles how poetry is conceived by this young boy Jack. He seems to be an ordinary boy who is asking why and talking about the love he had for his dog Sky. As he became more comfortable about his words actually being real poetry, he was able to express more and make the writing more detailed.

I think it would be great to have a favorite author come to the classroom, maybe a local poet would be more likely to be available. For kids to see the poet and interact would be a great, authentic experience they would likely remember. I can remember the writer/singer Doug Wood coming to our Earth Day celebration at school when I was in elementary school--only I was sick that day and couldn't meet him. I was heartbroken because we had sang so many of his songs and I had been so excited! Even after all of these years, I still remember the Minnesota Mosquito author visiting my school.