Love that Dog (and) Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech

Verse novels always on my list of favourite books. Titles like Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, Farm Kid by Sherryl Clarke, Tom Jones Saves the World by Steven Herrick and Love that dog by Sharon Creech are among my most favourite books, so I was particularly excited to see another title by Sharon Creech, Hate that cat when I recently visited a new local book shop.

Today was the first day of my holidays and as a treat I started the day by reading Hate that cat. It certainly did not disappoint. Following on from Love that dog, we again enter the marvelous English class of Miss Stretchberry – such a lovely name. Over the course of a term or perhaps a month or even a year, students read a wide range of poetry and we read Jack’s responses to this through his poetry but his responses are so much more than just a commentary on the poetry, through his writing Jack tells us so much about his family, his dog, his cat, his own emotional development and his view of the world. As in Love that dog, the poems are presented in chronological order. I just re-read the poem from January 4th and it made me smile.

I have Love that dog as a cassette tape and it is a treasured possession of mine. Sharon Creech also provides copies of all the poems that Miss Stretchberry uses in class and in this second book she also thoughtfully provides an extensive poetry reading list. I hope to buy some of these titles for our school library very soon.

I especially like the way Jack tries out the poetry forms after each lesson. The poems are also a conversation between Jack and his teacher:

And I think I understood

what you said about

onomoto-something

and alliter-something

not HAVING to be

in a poem

and how sometimes

they ENRICH a poem

but sometimes

they can also make a poem

sound purple.

Purple!

Ha ha ha.

Listen to an audio sample here. 

Students in Years 4-6 will love these two fabulous books. I wish I had time to really explore both of these with a class because there is so much to read and enjoy. Look for all the books by Sharon Creech in your school library you will not be disappointed. I have talked about eight of her books on this blog - just click her name from the post labels. (Post edit 8th December, 2024 It was a moment of greatest joy in my life when Sharon Creech found this original post and made her comment!).

Teachers will take this story to heart, recognizing Miss Stretchberry’s skilled and graceful teaching and Jack’s subtle emotional growth both as a person and a writer. This really special triumph is bound to be widely discussed by teachers and writers, and widely esteemed by Creech’s devoted readers. Kirkus Star review

Listen to an audio sample here.