Poetry Friday--Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech

Hate That Cat is a novel written in poetry. It is the sequel to Creech's Love that Dog. Like the first book, it is the story of Jack who must write comments about the weekly poetry lesson in a classroom journal. Jack's teacher, Miss Stretchberry has followed her class to the next grade. Jack is happy about this fact because Miss Stretchberry "understands my brain."

The journal takes us through the school year as Jack sorts out his feelings about his dog's death, his fear of cats, and his love of words. Jack tries his hand at poetry, too, and we see him use his new-found writing skills as he attempts to mimic some of the master poets his teacher introduces to the class.

Teachers will find a year's worth of poetry lesson plans in this little novel. Creech has rounded up a nice collection of easy to read verses by some of our most respected writers such as:

This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

And this one:

Love That Boy
By Walter Dean Myers

Love that boy,

like a rabbit loves to run

I said I love that boy

like a rabbit loves to run

Love to call him in the morning

love to call him“Hey there, son!”...

Unlike other recent novels written in poetry, like Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust, this book is not written in verse to set a tone or tell a story in a tight form. Jack does not always write in verse and we see Jack's work improve as he works through his lessons.

I listened to the audio version of the story and I highly recommend it. The narrator, Scott Wolf, does a fabulous job of putting us in Jack's head. And, at just slightly over an hour, it's a great way to entertain yourself while running errands.

This week's roundup is being hosted by Laura Salas: http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/