Love That Dog Summary and Analysis PDF

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Love That Dog Summary and Analysis...

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Overview Love That Dog is a Newbery Award-winning middle grade book by Sharon Creech. Published in 2001, the book combines comedy and tragedy in detailing young Jack’s journey to loving poetry—a journey that takes form via free verse journal entries. Though Jack initially scoffs at the idea of writing poems, he later learns the value of his own voice. This guide refers to the 2002 Bloomsbury Children’s Books paperback edition. Plot Summary Jack, a student in Miss Stretchberry’s class, initially spurns her writing prompts. He doesn’t understand poems—nor what makes them poetry—and dislikes his own work. Nevertheless, he begins incorporating new phrases and structure in his journal. Though reluctant, Jack allows Miss Stretchberry to post them on the class board, albeit anonymously. She asks Jack to write about a pet, but he claims to not own one. Jack reveals that he used to have a pet—a yellow dog named Sky—but he rarely speaks of him in detail. As the class reads more famous poems, Jack starts to appreciate elements of poetry, growing more comfortable with his own reading and writing. Jack’s classmates enjoy his anonymous poems about Sky’s adoption and how he used to play. Still, Jack fears that his writing isn’t real poetry. When he finally comes forward, his classmates compliment him. Jack asks Miss Stretchberry to encourage other anonymous poets to share their names. Jack’s understanding of poetry grows upon discovering Walter Dean Myers, the poet behind “Love That Boy.” Jack sneaks one of Myers’s books home so that he can copy the poem and hang it on the ceiling above his bed. Jack writes a secret poem that borrows Myers’s phrases and structure. He encloses the poem in an envelope as he doesn’t want to anger Myers by plagiarizing. Miss Stretchberry quells his fears and offers to include a caption denoting the poem’s inspiration. Jack likes the idea but doesn’t want his poem posted. He doesn’t disclose the poem to readers until the book’s final page. Upon learning that Myers is a living poet, Jack asks Miss Stretchberry if they could invite him to visit. Miss Stretchberry encourages Jack to write Myers a letter. Jack is elated at the thought of meeting his favorite poet, but Miss Stretchberry tempers his expectations by informing him of the publishing process.

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Jack asks Miss Stretchberry to teach him how to type his own poems. Jack’s first typed poem tells the tragic story he withheld for the whole book. The story begins with Sky playing with the neighborhood kids on the street. Jack noticed his dad coming home before hearing one of the kids warn everyone about an oncoming car. He saw Sky chase a ball into the street, only for the dog to get hit by the car. Jack’s dad moved Sky to the lawn, but the dog died shortly after. Jack thinks the poem is too sad for Miss Stretchberry to post, but she convinces him to do so with his name. Miss Stretchberry has exciting news: Myers agreed to visit the class while visiting a friend in town. Jack is ecstatic and takes extra care to hide his secret poem. In a second letter to Myers, Jack describes his visit: Myers smiled the whole time, read the class’s poems, and mentioned that he would feel honored if someone wrote a poem based on his own. Jack includes one more paper in the thank-you note: his secret poem “Love That Dog.”

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses Pages 1-9 Pages 1-9 Summary Jack, a young boy in Miss Stretchberry’s class, opens his journal by insisting that only girls write poetry. For the first few weeks, he refuses to engage with his lessons. The first poem Jack considers is William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow,” but he doesn’t understand what makes it a real poem as the lines are too short and don’t rhyme. Jack begrudgingly writes a poem on the condition that Miss Stretchberry not post it on the class board. Using the same structure and meter as Williams’s poem, he writes about “a blue car / splattered with mud / speeding down the road” (4). Jack becomes defensive when asked about the blue car’s significance. The class reads Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and William Blake’s “The Tiger.” Jack doesn’t understand the poems’ literal meaning but increasingly appreciates their rhythm and sounds.

Pages 1-9 Analysis Jack’s first poem clearly responds to a teacher’s instructions: “I don’t want to / because boys / don’t write poetry. / Girls do” (1). This entry establishes his attitude toward poetry. Because of the book’s journal format, readers only hear Jack’s side of any given conversation or question. The next entry, which further elaborates on the previous one, only spans three lines: “I tried. / Can’t do it. / Brain’s empty” (2). Jack rejects this assignment; he increasingly defies grammar, dropping subjects and possessive pronouns. He follows the archetype of many a classic novel of a stubborn youth who resists convention—who resists effort. When reflecting on “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams, Jack is confused about what makes it a real poem. If Williams can write about chickens, he reasons, “then any words / can be a poem. / You’ve just got to / make / short / lines” (3). Jack mimics the writing style of his class’s mentor texts (literature studied for craft) as depicted in his own short lines. The next entry shows Jack mirroring Williams’s poem further; he borrows the poem’s format and inserts his own image, a “blue car” (4). In these first few entries, Jack appears

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unimaginative, as though he only participates out of obligation. The story later reveals a genuine, heartfelt motive behind this resistance, his choice of imagery being more precious to him than he originally suggests.

Pages 10-21 Pages 10-21 Summary Jack gives Miss Stretchberry permission to display his poems, but he doesn’t want his name displayed. He concedes that they look nice when she types and prints them out. Miss Stretchberry asks Jack to write about a pet, but he resists, saying he doesn’t have one. He had one once—a yellow dog—but refuses to write about him. Jack comes to enjoy short poems with vivid imagery, particularly “dog” by Valerie Worth. Miss Stretchberry wants to display more of Jack’s poems, especially his own dog poem, but Jack insists on remaining anonymous as he doesn’t believe his writing is actually poetry. Jack likes the way his work looks posted but has a few suggestions: He wants more space between the lines, and though he likes the picture of the yellow dog next to his poem, it doesn’t look like his own yellow dog. Jack reads another Frost poem called “The Pasture,” but he struggles to connect with it as much as Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”

Pages 10-21 Analysis This section reveals more of Jack’s character. Jack begins to yield, allowing Miss Stretchberry to anonymously publish his poems. He makes an innocent comment that betrays his blooming curiosity: “(And what does anonymous mean? / Is it good?)” (11). Readers don’t know Miss Stretchberry’s response, but they can assume she explains how “anonymous” is neither good nor bad. The fact that Jack wishes to know this shows that he cares more about his poems’ quality than he led on. This innocence reemerges as he continues reading, particularly when confused. For example, after reading his second Frost poem—“The Pasture”—Jack doesn’t understand why Frost would spend time and energy writing things that don’t make sense. Jack concludes that Frost “has a little / too / much / time / on / his / hands” (21). Throughout the book, Jack questions why people read and write poetry. Poetry doesn’t appear to serve a practical purpose, but it

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increasingly draws Jack’s attention and influences his character development. Readers also learn how much Jack loves his dog. After studying Valerie Worth’s poem, “dog,” Jack compares the poet’s imagery to his own dog’s characteristics. Jack demonstrates his feelings through an affectionate description: “That’s just how / my yellow dog / used to lie down, / with his tongue all limp / and his chin / between / his paws” (16). Jack cherishes each small detail, revealing the boy’s sensitivity; his genuine tenderness was previously shadowed by resistance. Jack begins questioning what components make a true poem. He’s not convinced that his journal entries—responses to poems read in class—qualify as poetry. The publishing process affects his perception of his own work; Miss Stretchberry typing one of his poems on yellow paper validates his developing authorial identity. Jack even suggests improving the next typed poem by adding more space between the lines like he originally wrote it. Seeing his published work gives Jack the confidence to take more ownership of his writing.

Pages 22-41 Pages 22-41 Summary Jack theorizes that poems are just words that create mental pictures—and drawing on his own experience—thinks that the famous poets simply believed their work were true poems after seeing them printed on nice paper. The other students begin to notice Jack’s work, though he chooses to remain anonymous. Jack writes a poem about the first time he met Sky, his yellow dog. Jack’s father surprised him with a trip to the animal shelter, the two adopting Sky by the end of it. The poem bluntly concludes that the other dogs will “get killed dead” if people don’t adopt them (27). Jack allows Miss Stretchberry to publish the poem but tells her to omit the sad ending. He titles the poem “You Come Too,” a name derived from Frost’s “The Pasture”—the poem Jack doesn’t like. Jack later reads “Street Music” by Arnold Adoff and applies the poem’s musical sounds to a poem about his neighborhood. He writes about kids playing in the street and how the older ones call out “Car!” He also describes the “Caution! Children at play!” signs and how cars don’t follow said warnings at times (33).

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Inspired by S. C. Rigg’s poem “The Apple,” Jack creates a concrete poem (one physically modeled after the poem’s subject). He takes credit for this one and his classmates compliment his creativity. Jack asks Miss Stretchberry to encourage another anonymous poet—one who created an admirable concrete poem about a tree—to publish their name as well.

Pages 22-41 Analysis Jack becomes more open-minded about poems he initially disliked. He rejected Frost’s “The Pasture” out of a lack of understanding; however, the title of Jack’s poem about the day he met Sky references a line from “The Pasture.” The line “You come too” (25) also finds its way into the poem itself. Frost’s message was lost on Jack, but elements of it still left an impression on his writing. Good poetry, even if enigmatic, sticks with readers—something Jack notices in several poems he initially criticized. Jack also learns how flexible poems can be. While prose adheres to grammar, spelling, and specific punctuation, Miss Stretchberry’s class reads poetry that plays with words and sounds. Inspired by S. C. Rigg’s “The Apple,” a concrete poem filled with apple-themed adjectives and nouns, Jack writes a similar poem about a dog. The poem’s structure not only outlines a recognizable dog, but the letter arrangement within words creates an effect that may require more than one read. Jack writes the word “head” twice, one above the other, with a large space after the “e” to create the illusion of a face: “he ad” (37); the second “head” is used to depict other features. Jack’s playfulness shows that his poetry-writing experience centers around exploration and innovation. Jack’s name first appears in-text, within the story, when he finally chooses to publish under his name. Readers know Jack’s name from the book’s first entry—but story-wise, he remains anonymous until he links himself to his latest poem. With this poem, Jack takes ownership as a creator, a position that also calls for vulnerability as his feelings and thoughts become accessible to his classmates. Despite his initial embarrassment, his classmates respond positively. Due to the book’s first-person point of view, readers can’t perceive events outside of Jack’s own experiences. The other students’ responses help readers understand Jack from a new point of view and demonstrate his impact on the class.

Pages 42-63 Pages 42-63 Summary

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The class reads a poem by Walter Dean Myers called “Love that Boy,” which Jack instantly adores. He steals the book to copy the poem, which he then tapes to his bedroom ceiling so that he can read it again. He sheepishly apologizes for taking the book without permission. Jack writes a secret poem about Sky and Miss Stretchberry posts it on the board. Jack tells her not to display the poem as it borrows too many words from Myers’s work, and he doesn’t want to anger his favorite poet. Miss Stretchberry assures Jack that Myers wouldn’t be angry and she adds a caption: “Inspired by Walter Dean Myers” (50). Jack likes the idea but still doesn’t want the poem displayed. Jack asks if Miss Stretchberry could invite Myers to visit their school. When she suggests that Jack invite the poet himself, he insists that he can’t as “I think Mr. Walter Dean Myers / would like to hear / from a teacher / who uses big words / and knows how / to spell / and / to type” (54). Jack ends up writing the invitation. Miss Stretchberry mails the letter but informs Jack that Myers might not read it for months as the publisher must process it first. Disappointed, Jack stifles his hopes.

Pages 42-63 Analysis Readers can immediately recognize the significance of Myers’s poem, “Love That Boy,” as it mirrors the book itself. After reading “Love That Boy,” Jack shows unprecedented enthusiasm. In his excitement, Jack’s syntax (word order) reflects that of children sharing a new obsession. He likes the poem for two reasons: “One is because / my dad calls me / in the morning / just like that / [...] / And also because / when I had my yellow dog / I loved that dog / and I would call him / like this— / I’d say— / Hey there, Sky! / (His name was Sky)” (44-45). Jack’s repetitive syntax —“just like that,” “like this—,” and “I’d say—” (45)—breaks straightforward communication like free verse poetry does prose, his redundancy emphasizing the depth of his feelings. The syntax is also distinctly childlike, which further endears readers to his character and growth. Jack mirroring other poets was originally framed as unimaginative or uninspired, but a later entry casts this tendency in a different light. Jack hides a poem heavily inspired by Myers’s work, revealing that he feels self-conscious about borrowing from him. But Miss Stretchberry encourages Jack, legitimizing his work by captioning the poem: “Inspired by Walter Dean Myers” (50). The disclaimer relieves Jack, who writes, “Now no one / will think / I just copied / because I / couldn’t think / of my own words” (51). Throughout the book, Miss Stretchberry’s

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class learns to write based on mentor texts—ones that showcase different poetic conventions such as free form structure and a variety of topics. Myers’s poem sparks Jack’s creativity, which he uses to fuel more of his reading and writing. Jack still curbs his enthusiasm when insisting that Miss Stretchberry write a better letter to Myers. He finally writes the letter himself, albeit one listing reasons why Myers might not be able to visit: “And the phone is ringing / and the fax is going / and the bills need paying / and sometimes they get sick / (I hope you are not sick, / Mr. Walter Dean Myers)” (56). Though Jack finds many reasons to hold himself back, he still writes to his new hero—which has profound implications later in the book.

Pages 64-74 Pages 64-74 Summary Jack can’t shake the nagging hope that he might meet his new hero. Miss Stretchberry wants to publish the poem he wrote about anxious anticipation, but he insists he didn’t pay much attention to the words. Jack wishes to type his next work himself and Miss Stretchberry shows him how to do so. Jack types a poem called “My Sky.” In the poem, Jack plays on the street with Sky and the neighborhood kids. Jack’s father returns home from work and distracts him at the moment a blue car whips down the street and hits Sky. Jack’s father moves Sky to the lawn, but the dog dies shortly after. Jack is afraid the poem may depress his classmates, but he allows Miss Stretchberry to display it with his name.

Pages 64-74 Analysis The quality of Jack’s journal improves as he hones his skills. Jack doesn’t always write to publish, but Miss Stretchberry wishes to legitimize his work anyway. Jack doesn’t understand the significance of his anticipation poem, claiming that it’s “just words / coming out of [his] head / and [he] wasn’t paying / too much attention / to which words / came out / when” (65). Throughout the book, Jack’s understanding of poetry develops, the writing process feeling more and more accessible to him. Even if Jack didn’t intend for anyone to see his anticipation poem, his writing skills developed enough to create an honest work that even utilizes literary

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devices: He uses a simile to compare how anxiety spins him around “until your brain / feels like / a squished pea” (64). The simile, though simple, describes the experience of overthinking. Miss Stretchberry’s decision to publish the poem shows Jack that even spontaneity can create impactful art as such poems come from the heart. Jack finally provides more details about Sky. Jack announces that this entry is the first he typed by himself, nudging readers to pay close attention. The poem starts by polishing and unifying details from earlier entries: a blue car, the neighborhood kids playing in the street, and Jack’s dad calling out, “Hey there, son!” (69). Jack continues, using italics for emphasis: “And I turned around / and I saw / blue car blue car / splattered with mud / speeding down the road” (70). These lines harken back to Jack’s response to William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow.” It is this moment that links the aforementioned unrelated details and Jack’s various characteristics, from his guarded persona to the curious and eager writer at his heart. The moment readers process these connections coincides with the secret closest to his heart: Sky’s death. While spontaneity can lead to impactful art, the slow reveal of Jack’s loss speaks to the thoughtful side of poetry and the power of words in working through one’s pain.

Pages 75-86 Pages 75-86 Summary To Jack’s delight, Myers has a friend in the city and agrees to visit the school. Bursting with excitement, Jack writes about the preparations for his arrival. He also asks Miss Stretchberry to hide his Myers-inspired poem. Myers enthralls Jack: “All of my blood / in my veins / was bubbling / and all of the thoughts / in my head / were buzzing / and / I wanted to keep / Mr. Walter Dean Myers / at our school / forever” (81). Jack writes a thank-you note complimenting Myers’s reading voice, his laugh, and his mention of being “flattered” if someone wrote a poem inspired by his own (84). Jack also includes the secret poem, titled “Love That Dog.”

Pages 75-86 Analysis Jack’s syntax continues to reflect his youthful enthusiasm. As Jack develops his skills, he implements more literary devices such as repetition, exaggeration, and diction—each choice mirroring his innocence and growth alike. He repeats words like “wow,” “really,” and “best” upon learning of Myers’s visit. This repetition not only nudges readers to pay close attention but also showcases Jack’s state of mind in an exaggerated—but no less genuine—way. He

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sees Myers’s visit as “the best best BEST / news / ever” (75) and later describes Myers “smile smile-smiling” (82). Jack exaggerates without use of repetition as well, thanking the poet “a hundred million times” for taking a break from his busy life to visit (82). Jack’s diction nearly doubles as onomatopoeia, like when he describes Myer’s laugh as “bubbling up and / rolling and tumbling / out into the air” (83). He chooses sounds that express his emotions, the fast paced rhythm of the consonants representing excitement. Jack’s linguistic creativity shows how both his mind and heart grew througho...