60 pages • 2 hours read
Sharon CreechLove That Dog
Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Middle Grade | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Character Analysis
Jack
Jack is the first-person protagonist through whom readers experience the story. He never confirms his age, but his classroom descriptions and speech suggest that he’s a late elementary school student. In Jack’s first few journal entries, he demonstrates a stubborn exterior, which derives from insecurity. Jack seems to disregard Miss Stretchberry’s instructions based on the entries’ lack of content. But Jack reveals his deep-seated insecurities when relinquishing a poem to his teacher: “Do you promise / not to read it / out loud? / Do you promise / not to put it / on the board? / Okay, here it is, / but I don’t like it” (4). He fears his classmates’ opinions; the final line also suggests that Jack is either his own worst critic or he always prepares for the worst. The latter is consistent with his experiences; Jack loved Sky unconditionally, but the worst-case scenario still happened. Either way, Jack works to overcome these insecurities and step outside of his comfort zone.
After readers break through Jack’s stubborn exterior, they discover his innocent and sincere heart. He’s quick to uplift others’ writing, as he does for a classmate’s tree poem. He addresses Miss Stretchberry with respect, even when requesting that she type his poems differently for the future; he reassures her with a “That’s okay, though” (30). When Jack’s favorite poet, Walter Dean Myers, agrees to visit the class, his reaction reveals nothing but genuine enthusiasm: “That was the best best BEST / news / ever / I can’t believe it” (75). Jack’s relationship with poetry develops from adamant resistance to a willingness to confront confusing poems and experiment with creative ideas.
Miss Stretchberry
Miss Stretchberry is Jack’s teacher. Readers don’t know much about her from the text itself—only that she teaches poetry and sometimes makes brownies for her students. However, her personality shines through subtext and Jack’s responses to her questions and comments. Jack’s first few journal entries are often evasive. While others may look at Jack’s one or two-liners and chide him for lacking effort, Miss Stretchberry never seems frustrated by his stubbornness. Instead, she gently prods him to let her share his poems at his own pace. She doesn’t publish Jack’s work until he gives permission, and when he does, she takes extra care to make the poems feel special by typing them on nice paper and even including a supplementary picture with one. Miss Stretchberry makes her students feel comfortable and valued, which becomes evident in Jack’s increasing love for poetry.
Miss Stretchberry also empowers her students by giving them opportunities to take responsibility for their own creativity. She does so by typing her students’ work on professional-looking paper and posting them to the class board. Later, she presents Jack with a particular challenge: When he asks if his favorite poet, Walter Dean Myers, could visit their classroom, she suggests that he write the invitation himself. When Jack responds by saying, “You should do it. / You’re a teacher” (53), readers are not yet privy to the question being implied. The next entry clarifies this: “I don’t agree / that Mr. Walter Dean Myers / might like to hear / from a boy / who likes his poems” (54). Jack finally addresses Myers directly and invites him to visit the school. Miss Stretchberry could easily write the letter—using sophisticated language—but she wants to give Jack the opportunity to take initiative and observe what can result from his courage and vulnerability. Myers’s visit is as significant as it is due to the event being Jack’s idea. Miss Stretchberry gives voice to her students, bolstering their confidence to try new things and share their hearts with the people around them.
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By Sharon Creech
