This is a story in poems of a boy who hates poetry working through his poetry assignments and coming to love some poetry. This sounds way less interesting than the story is for through his poems he also asks a favorite poet to come visit his school and he does! He also tells through several stories about the dog he had and loved and who died. I would put the reading as good for probably 3rd to 5th or even 6th grade. It would be a good option for a reluctant poet since the main character is also a reluctant poet.

Ages: 8-12
Awards and Honors: Volunteer State Book Award (Tennessee)
Great Stone Face Book Award (New Hampshire)
Christopher Award
Maine Student Book Award
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award (Vermont)
IRA/CBC Children's Choice
Mitten Award (Michigan)
Carnegie Medal Finalist
Amazon.com Editors’ Pick
Publishers Weekly Best Book
Book Sense Pick
New York Public Library's “One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing”
School Library Journal Best Book
Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts (NCTE)
ALA Notable Children’s Book

A touching novel in verse about a boy learning about poetry and how he can express his emotions and memories. ( )

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award

I have read a couple of Sharon Creech's books, and I can safely say that this is a very quick read like maybe 20-30 minutes. If it wasn't part of a series I honestly would have given it a lower rating just because it feels like it ends open. It feels like the book is building to something but then it doesn't go there. But knowing that it's number one in a series makes that a little bit easier.

I figured from the very beginning that there is something about the dog that had happened. I also figured that this book was kind of about a child who had suffered a trauma being helped to open up. Which is what I've gathered from it and I hope that that continues into the next books in this series.

I really like that this kind of addresses multiple things, writing as therapy, how weird it feels to write emotions when you're a kid, and just how hard it is to make something look pretty on paper and present it to your teacher.

I also like that this whole thing was told through little weekly poems. As each date at the top is exactly a week apart from the other. ( )