Author: Sharon Creech
Rating: 
Reading Level: 2nd to 5th grade
Pages: 153
Publisher: HarperCollins
Edition: Hardcover, 2008
I was really delightfully surprised at how I enjoyed reading this one. I remember loving Love That Dog and did not think that I was emotionally manipulated — although most of the time I feel Creech’s books highly “manipulative.” And again, I cried over this little story and did not hate the fact that I cried. I have been wondering about Verse Novels and this book does not only present itself as a verse novel, it discusses the notion of poetry — light ones vs. “serious” ones; children’s self-reflective writing vs. classic, grand poetry. It’s definitely a very teacher-y book. I can see 4th-6th grade teachers all over thinking to themselves, “I can use this in my poetry unit! It even teaches techniques such as similes, metaphors, and alliteration!” The introduction of a deaf mother is an interesting touch. Maybe a little forced but it does offer the opportunity for the young readers to think and discuss the notion of beat/rhythm as “sounds” and actual physical vibrations. (Oh, my, god, can this book even be used by Science Teachers about sound waves?!!)
Anyway. I am pleased with the book.
is a re-read. I loved this book upon first reading — more than 10 years ago. This second reading surprised me. I don’t remember ANY of the details, and I am usually really good at recalling details. Every scene and character was brand new to me — and not in a good way at all. I detest the didactic tone and the transparent “messages” of all the benefits of the imagination! (I don’t detest imagination, of course, just the way its worth is being handled in the book — and hey, whose idea is it that adults lose their imagination? I have a lot more imagination than some of the youngsters I know!)
This National Book Award Winner failed to intrigue me, either. It is nostalgic — faint echoes from old favorites such as Little Women and the E. Nesbit books. Some of the humor seems forced to me and the general complaint from other adult readers that the grown-ups in the story have almost no depth at all is a valid one. And to an extend, the children are stock characters themselves, each embodies a set of characteristics without surprises or changes. Their predicaments also don’t concern me much as a reader. Maybe I am too cynical and maybe this is a book for much younger children?
Fairrosa Cyber Library 