Hate That Cat

When last we saw Jack he had learned to love the poet Walter Dean Myers and to accept that his dead dog was gone. Now it’s an entirely new school year and Surprise! Miss Stretchberry is unexpectedly his teacher again. Of course, she’s not too pleased with the series of anti-cat poems he’s been writing lately. Lately a fat black cat has been terrorizing Jack at his bus stop and he is in a full-on anti-feline mode as a result. But there may be some surprises for Jack coming up. Miss Stretchberry is introducing him to concepts like onomatopoeia and synonyms. Though his Uncle Bill (a college prof) is pooh-poohing what constitutes a "real" poem, Jack is able to use his poetry to discuss everything from his mother's deafness to an show more unexpected Christmas present and an even more unexpected friend. show less

It’s a new school year and Jack is unexpectedly back in Miss Stretchberry’s class, again studying poetry. Miss Stretchberry has introduced the class to new poets (Poe, Williams, and Eliot, among others) and students are to write in their poetry journals once more.

Jack writes a series of nasty poetry about cats, a reaction to a horrible black cat who terrorizes him at the bus stop. Cats, according to Jack, are also “not dogs” and therefore bad. Concerned, his teacher and his parents conspire to get him a kitten for Christmas, which takes him about .01 second to fall in love with. He names her Skitter McKitter, after her “skitter, kittery” personality.

Jack disagrees with his Uncle Bill, a stuffy professor of poetry, who show more doesn’t seem to think much of free verse. Jack clearly has his own thoughts on the matter and records them in his poetry journal, citing his dad when he says about his uncle, “sometimes I envy your mom not being able to hear” and “if uncle Bill is allergic to cats maybe he won’t be able to visit us anymore.” To this, Jack writes, “hahaha.”

Creech is incredibly creative in the way she weaves poetry lessons into the storyline, demonstrating poetic terms in the process. Hate that Cat is quite short and easy to access. The poetry is written in a way that doesn’t seem like poetry, so that younger teens can access it. Hate that Cat is wonderfully charming; I laughed, became scared, and on at least one occasion cried; all this in a 125 page book! show less

Following R's Summer Reading (1 of 3): assigned for the Summer before 4th Grade, she liked it despite expectations and A and I also thought it was great fun. It plunges the reader in without any preamble, and figuring out what's going on is half the pleasure. Apparently it is clearer to those having read the first book, but I liked that I hadn't.

The verse is inspired by influential poems, challenging but not ridiculous, and the actual verse stands up well even without knowing its inspiration well enough to see the borrowings. Some crucial stanzas are reprinted at the end, perhaps the author's intention for it to be used to capture the interest of grade school children.

In addition to the good use of poetry, the bit about Jack's mom show more being deaf is subtly done and adds another layer of appreciation for words and sounds. Probably worth seeking out Love that Dog. show less

Just as good as the last one. I love Jack's voice and how he expresses himself through poetry. I love getting little glimpses into his life. I loved reading Jack's musings about hearing and deafness and how we experience poetry and life in more than just sound. I didn't love that Jack was interpreting for his mom at the poetry recital. If the teacher wanted to be inclusive she should have hired an interpreter.

Y'all remember Jack from Love That Dog, right? Remember how he thought he hated poetry until he started writing some himself? Well, he's back. A whole new school year, a new writing notebook, a furry nemesis, and the same teacher who followed his class up a grade.

In Hate That Cat, Jack's class is studying different poems. At first some of them don't seem to make much sense. (What is up with the red wheelbarrow, anyway??) But the more he reads them, the more they grow on him. And the more poems he writes, the more he figures out about himself and his family and his place in the world.

This would be a great book to include in poetry units. In the back of the book Creech includes the poems that Jack talks about and imitates. I'd hand this show more to fans of Love That Dog, poetry buffs, and young writers.

Read more on my blog:
http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2008/10/book-review-hate-that-cat.html show less

She's Got Books on Her Mind

First of all I did not know this was a sequel. The original summary is just talking about the main character, Jack, and what the story is going to be about in verse. You do get something ruined for you... If you want to read this book I recommend you read Love That Dog first.

I'm very happy I am finally writing a review on a verse book. It's been a while. I have never read a verse book for kids so this was a first for me. At first Jack talks about how he's in a new grade but with the same teacher and how this big mean cat is annoying him to no end. He even declares that he hates that cat. The story is told through journal and you get the sense that the teacher, Miss Stretchberry, is responding to what he says show more in the journal in two different ways:

1) She talks to him during class about his journal entry and he in turn writes a response to their talk in the journal.

2) She basically makes her whole lesson plan for his benefit.

She literally assigns every poem they discuss in the book about cats. I didn't realize how unrealistic that was until now. But, it's really not that big of a deal. The story is about Jack and cats so it wouldn't make sense for the author to deter from that theme. Also, I'm probably exaggerating. There were lots of poems that were regular poems that he transformed and made his own.

At first the verse was hard to get into. I forgot how weird and spacey it could be. A lot of how Jack wrote was very boyish and fast. It took a while but I started letting go and enjoying what poems Jack came up with. Jack would respond to the poems presented in class. The ones he made were basically almost all about cats or dogs. At the end you were shown the poems he took ideas from or the beat from to make his own. Some of my inspiration poem favorites are:

The Red Wheelbarrow
by William Carlos Williams

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

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

I guess I like William Carlos Williams work. This book has kind of made me want to adventure to find more poets and poems out there that entertain me or otherwise fill me with some type of emotion. And that's what this book is all about and should be all about.

Overall: Took a while to get into but I did enjoy the poems Jack created and the poems they were inspired from. I feel like children will enjoy this much more. It's a great way for them to discover verse. show less

This book was a joy to read! Like many novels in verse, it is a quick and easy read, with a lot of white space to help the story move along. Jack, the main character, tells the story of his hate for cats through poetry. There is no way a cat can compare with a pet dog, who met in the prequel to this, Love That Dog. We learn how that hatred turns to love when he receives a kitten from his parents. Jack's initial dislike for poetry lessens as we witness his incredible talent at writing a poem, often imitating famous poets in the process. The book will make you laugh and smile. Highly recommended, especially for reluctant readers.