CI 5442: Poetry Book Review

The book Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech is the well-written and heartwarming follow-up story to Love That Dog, both of which are novels in verse. The books follow a young boy as he learns to appreciate poetry for what it can be rather than what it always “must” be. In this second book, Ms. Stretchberry is able to bring more sophisticated poetry mechanics to life for her students. By reading the thoughts of Jack—in poem form—as he learns about alliteration and onomatopoeia while overcoming the loss of his dog Sky, Creech creates a story that is both heartfelt and educational. Her use of poetry and first person diary-esque dialogue invites readers into Jack’s world and lets readers learn to about poetry themselves, first hand.
Creech’s ability to show readers what is going on inside of Jacks mind is a key aspect of the novel. As the reader follows Jack they learn more and more about his feelings and relationships with the things around him. The one-sided aspect of the journal should, perhaps, make it difficult to keep up with the dialogue between Jack and Ms. Stretchberry but Creech counters this by giving the journal a sense of continued dialogue. It is easy enough to determine what is going on both within the journal and in the outside world simply by connecting the journal entries to one another.

After reading Love That Dog, it seems as though there is nothing more the reader can learn about Jack, but during the reading of his second poetry journal more details about him are brought to life in a way that enhances his charm and highlights the effects of poetry on all manners of people. Creech emphasizes some of the key pieces of figurative language that are often associated with poetry in the text, alliteration and onomatopoeia. While she uses many different examples in Jack’s entries to illustrate the meaning and use of these devices, she is sure to point out that they are not essential parts of the poem. Creech creates a foil to Jack’s poems and beliefs about poetry in the form of Jack’s Uncle Bill—a university professor. Uncle Bill is highly critical not only of Jack’s poems but also the poems of William Carlos Williams and other famous authors discussed in Ms. Stretchberry’s class.

The most remarkable aspect of the text is Creech’s development of Jack’s understanding of poetry. In the text, Jack poses a very good question, “if you cannot hear/ do words have no sounds/ in your head?/ Do you see/ a/ silent/ movie?” (16). He poses a similar question about the use of onomatopoeia and how sound words would be interpreted by someone who cannot hear. These questions lead the reader to wonder why they appear in Jack’s journal. We learn that Jack’s mother is deaf and that she feels sound—tapping out the rhythm. Jack’s mother serves not only as a catalyst for these questions about poetry and sound, but also as a reminder readers that the emotions, thoughts, images, etc. evoked by a poem are more important than a poem’s form, rhythm, and style. It is these qualities that make poems worth the reader’s time—something Jack comes to understand despite his Uncle Bill’s protestations.

Creech uses Jack and his family as the protagonists in the fight against those who dread and fear poetry. By using a child’s reactions and opinions to poetry—especially “classic” poetry from authors like Tennyson and Poe—Creech empowers readers; she gives them the tools and ability to look at poetry with a fresh and confidant eye. No longer is poetry the dreaded, impossible compilation of words on a page, it is the ticking of a clock, the purring of a cat, the image of an eagle clasping a rock with its talons. Creech entertains, empowers, and teaches her audience to appreciate and confidently approach poetry by showing readers the path of understanding taken by Jack as ha navigates through the misconceptions of poetry. The novel is a clever, disguised learning experience that is enjoyable for all who encounter it.