STORIES COME IN all shapes and sizes. There are no set rules when a writer begins to write a story. There are no guidelines for him to follow. It is entirely up to him what shape his story takes. But most readers do expect a story to have a beginning, a middle and an end and to be set out in chapters. But with Love That Dog, Sharon Creech has written a story that challenges these expectations.
Pick up the eye-catching yellow Love That Dog and you will have something special and very unusual in your hands. Open it, and the first thing you notice is that the pages are set out in short sentences like a poem. Some pages have only three lines printed on them. What are you looking at? A poem that lasts 90 pages? What is Love That Dog? Is it a diary? Is it poetry? Is it a novel? Who cares? It is up to you to lose yourself in this highly original book and then make up your mind about it when you've finished. Some things just refuse to have labels attached to them.
Jack's teacher, Miss Stretchberry, has been reading poems to her class. She has read them poems about snowy woods and fields, about street music in the city, and one day she even read them a poem about an apple that was shaped like an apple. How cool was that? A poem that was actually shaped like the object it was about!
Jack is a boy and boys are not supposed to like poetry. It's a girl thing. But Jack has been inspired by the poems Miss Stretchberry has read and he can't get them out of his mind. On September 13, Miss Stretchberry asks the class to write a poem of their own, and that is the start of something special for Jack. He tries to write a poem but his brain is empty and nothing will come out. And Miss Stretchberry continues to read poems to her class and Jack continues to think. In February, he has a brilliant idea. He decides to write a poem about his dog, Sky. And he decides to write the poem in the shape of a dog.
Love That Dog is one of the most original books you will read this year. It is pure pleasure from start to finish. It is entrancing in its description of how a young boy grows to appreciate the power of poetry and use this power to express his love for his dog. Jack's journey into the land of poems is funny, moving and witty. Read it and then share it with somebody else.
Love That Dog