Love that Dog / Hate that Cat: Hate that Cat

Jack #2

by Sharon Creech

Key Features Description Jack is sure of two he hates poetry, and he hates cats. But over the year, he learns to express himself in a new way - and he may even reconsider felines.With plenty of poetry from Tennyson, Eliot, and Poe, along with a hilarious hero and one amazing surprise, Newbery Medalist Creech makes magic once again, in this narrative poem sequel to her acclaimed Love That Dog. Jack is sure of two he hates poetry, and he hates cats. But over the year, he learns to express himself in a new way - and he may even reconsider felines.With plenty of poetry from Tennyson, Eliot, and Poe, along with a hilarious hero and one amazing surprise, Newbery Medalist Creech makes magic once again, in this narrative poem sequel to her acclaimed Love That Dog. Product Details Item #: NTS516814 9780545168144 Paperback Book 160 Comedy and Humor, Poetry, Songs, Verse 5 - 8 Guided Reading GR Level T DRA 40 - 50 ACR 5.0 Key Features Item #: NTS516814 9780545168144 Paperback Book 160 Comedy and Humor, Poetry, Songs, Verse 5 - 8 Guided Reading GR Level T DRA 40 - 50 ACR 5.0

Genres: Poetry, Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Animals

Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

I was born in South Euclid, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and grew up there with my noisy and rowdy family: my parents (Ann and Arvel), my sister (Sandy), and my three brothers (Dennis, Doug and Tom).

For a fictional view of what it was like growing up in my family, see Absolutely Normal Chaos. (In that book, the brothers even have the same names as my own brothers.) Our house was not only full of us Creeches, but also full of friends and visiting relatives.

In the summer, we usually took a trip, all of us piled in a car and heading out to Wisconsin or Michigan or, once, to Idaho. We must have been a very noisy bunch, and I'm not sure how our parents put up with being cooped up with us in the car for those trips. The five-day trip out to Idaho when I was twelve had a powerful effect on me: what a huge and amazing country! I had no idea then that thirty-some years later, I would recreate that trip in a book called Walk Two Moons.

One other place we often visited was Quincy, Kentucky, where my cousins lived (and still live) on a beautiful farm, with hills and trees and swimming hole and barn and hayloft. We were outside running in those hills all day long, and at night we'd gather on the porch where more stories would be told. I loved Quincy so much that it has found its way into many of my books—transformed into Bybanks, Kentucky. Bybanks appears in Walk Two Moons, Chasing Redbird, and Bloomability. Bybanks also makes a brief appearance (by reference, but not by name) in The Wanderer.

When I was young, I wanted to be many things when I grew up: a painter, an ice skater, a singer, a teacher, and a reporter. It soon became apparent that I had little drawing talent, very limited tolerance for falling on ice, and absolutely no ability to stay on key while singing. I also soon learned that I would make a terrible reporter because when I didn't like the facts, I changed them. It was in college, when I took literature and writing courses, that I became intrigued by story-telling. Later, I was a teacher (high school English and writing) in England and in Switzerland. While teaching great literature, I learned so much about writing: about what makes a story interesting and about techniques of plot and characterization and point of view. I started out writing novels for adults (published as Sharon Rigg): The Recital and Nickel Malley were both written and published while I was living in England (these books were published in England only and are now out of print.) But the next book was Absolutely Normal Chaos, and ever since that book I have written mainly about young people. Walk Two Moons was the first of my books to be published in America. When it received the Newbery Medal, no one was more surprised than I was. I'm still a little bit in shock.

After Walk Two Moons came Chasing Redbird, Pleasing the Ghost, Bloomability, The Wanderer, and Fishing in the Air. I hope to be writing stories for a long, long time.

I am married to Lyle Rigg, who is the headmaster of The Pennington School in Pennington, New Jersey, and have two grown children, Rob and Karin. Being with my family is what I enjoy most. The next-best thing is writing stories.

© Sharon Creech

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love that book
like a boy loves a cat
I said I love that book
like a boy loves a cat
Love to take a pen in the morning
love to take a pen
Write like that!

Love that book
like a cat loves birds
I said I love that book
like a cat loves birds
Love to feast on its pages
Love to feast on
Perfect words!

Love that Dog has been a favorite of mine ever since its publication, and I hoped that Hate that Cat would live up to its predecessor. What a joy to find it more than lives up to expectations! Creech's latest explains the workings of poetry, poses some profound questions, and explores the nature of love while sharing a heartfelt story. Teachers will find this pair a tour de force for introducing and expanding a poetry unit.

[Shai · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny that both the cat and Jack hates each other. However, because of the kitten that Jack adopted, they had a civil relationship in end. I enjoyed reading this book but I still prefer the Love That Dog than this.

[Clarice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hadn't read any of Sharon Creech's poetry until this book. It was way different than her other writing, but I still thought it was good. All of the poems were written by Jack, a boy in elementary school. It acts like a diary of sorts. It was definitely unique, and I hadn't read anything like it. If you are looking for a quick poetry book, then I would recommend this book to you.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, after reading and loving Love That Dog!, I thought I would definitely Hate That Cat! - considering the story seemed so complete, so satisfying already.
But as much as I tried, I couldn't really hate it, just like Jack couldn't go on hating alliterations and onomatopoeia and cats in general or even that black fat mean cat in particular. The story definitely goes a level higher in Hate That Cat! Jack is older, the poems need to be more ENRICHED, as his wonderful teacher puts it. What a great compliment Jack gives her, by the way:
You understand
My
Brain!

Love That Dog! and Hate That Cat! deserve to be read as companions, both making the process of understanding poetry and expressing feelings through words clear to children and adults alike.

Love
Cat
Too!

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are few things nicer than catching a glimpse of an upcoming children’s book title and bursting into laughter at the cover. A nice laugh, of course. I don’t suppose that many people thought that Sharon Creech’s Love That Dog was in particular need of a sequel. It was a perfectly nice book but a succinct and, in many ways, self-contained verse novel. A slim little book, ideal for those reluctant readers who need to read a book for class but don’t want anything “too long” (oh, insidious phrase). It also happens to be one of the few verse novels out there that justifies the format, rather than just appearing as a series of randomly broken up sentences. Now Creech has followed up that acclaimed bit of verse with Hate That Cat, a logical extension to the previous title. In the first book Jack dealt with the death of his dog with the help of poetry. In the second, we learn more about his family and about some felines that challenge his resolve.

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 unexpected Christmas present and an even more unexpected friend.

The novel works, in large part, because it resolves unresolved issues from the first title. By the end of Love That Dog, Jack sort of came to terms with his deceased friend. What’s more, he became a fan of poetry. But he never really got to the point where he’d want another pet. His fear is palpable, particularly when he writes "even if you had a nice cat / that you loved / it might run outside / and into the street / and get / squished / by a car / going fast / with many miles to go / before it sleeps." Now his teacher and his parents conspire to get him another pet and, what's more, one that's as unlike his old one as possible. That would normally be a recipe for ootsy cutesy-ness, but Creech is cleverer than that. For one thing, the evil black cat that enjoys scratching and hissing at Jack whenever it has a chance to do so, is mildly redeemed by the story's end, but in a grudging kind of way. I liked that. It was easier than ending the book with everything sunshine and roses.

The poetry selection in this book is just as lovely as it was in its predecessor. There's a nice bit of Poe, some William Carlos Williams, T.S. Eliot, Valerie Worth, Christopher Myers, and others. And this time I remembered to keep flipping back and forth between the story and the poems in the back of the book as I read. Not everyone’s going to know to do that, you know. Footnotes that mention that you can find the poems Jack’s discussing at the title's end would have been distracting, certainly, but I still think they could have been interwoven into the text. When a class reads this book together, the teacher is able to tell them to read the back of the book. But when a kid is reading it on his or her own, they won’t know until it’s almost too late. Fortunately Jack’s just a great kid to read about. You can’t help but love his ever hopeful “Is he alive?” or “Is she alive?” queries to the long long dead poets he regularly encounters (little wonder he's such a Walter Dean Myers fan).

My co-worker started to read this book and then eventually had to stop. “I think I need to reread the first book,” she admitted, which sounds pretty ridiculous when you consider how slim these stories are. But after a while I could see why she’d say that. When I read the part of the book that said that Jack’s mother was deaf, I couldn’t remember if that had been mentioned in Love That Dog and if it was important or not. The initial introduction is almost a throwaway line ("My mother likes my short lines. She runs her fingers down them and then taps her lips once, twice."). After a while, though, Creech works this new story into the whole kerschmozzle and it pans out very well.

It is admittedly a bit convenient that Miss Stretchberry would just happen to be teaching a new grade and that that grade would just happen to have Jack in it again. But then it’s not as if that sort of thing doesn’t happen from time to time. And though I do not think that there is any way Ms. Creech can continue Jack’s story any further (sequel ideas: Mind That Turtle? Tolerate That Budgie?) she has done a very good job at justifying his further adventures. For fans of the original book, Hate That Cat is going to simply provide more of what they want. And for those who've never read "Love That Dog" it will still resonate as a great book of sounds, inflections, images, and just plain n' simple fun words. A great little book.

Ages 8-12.

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sequel to Love that Dog, Hate that Cat (published in 2008) presents pretty much the same novel in verse format, and with first person narrator Jack in the second book, in Hate that Cat being depicted by Sharon Creech (and after having learned how to appreciate poetry and to enjoy penning verses in Love that Dog) now having to navigate the sometimes rather confusing and opaquely murky waters of poetic terms (at school, during English class), but thankfully also being told by his teacher Miss Stretchberry and so unlike his anally retentive college instructor Uncle Bill that devices like similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, alliteration etc. are interesting, useable, are important lyrical tools but are also never ever as significant and as essential as the thoughts, as the actual poetical musings and feelings one puts on paper, and with Hate that Cat also wonderfully and expressively, poetically depicting and presenting Jack to us readers as a sensitive, yet also poignantly opinionated, middle school boy (someone who says what he thinks, writes what he thinks, still misses his deceased dog Sky but does warm up to the cats Jack in the beginning of Hate that Cat claims to not at all like, to in fact even majorly despise, when he is given a tiny black kitten as a Christmas present). And yes, in Hate that Cat, Miss Stretchberry is therefore teaching Jack and his classmates to recognize, appreciate, and write verse using poetic conventions and devices but to also not become either overwhelmed by or too into this (see above for more), and of course, as Jack writes his poems and his lyrical musings, his first person narration text and verses, we discover more and more in Hate that Cat about Jack and his family (for example that Jack's mother is deaf and how at first Jack really does not want a new pet after having lost Sky and thus being afraid of getting and and perhaps again having to sat goodbye to another beloved companion animal).

A sweetly engaging story and also a worthy companion to Love that Dog is Hate that Cat (and not nearly as depressing as the latter either since when Jack's kitten gets lost, there appreciatively is a nicely positive and happy ending provided by Sharon Creech for Hate that Cat), and indeed, a story that reads easily and quickly (not just for the intended audience, for older children from about the age of eight or so onwards but in my opinion also for interested adults). And yes, Jack’s straight-forward observations about poetic conventions and feeling at first rather overwhelmed at and even annoyed by them, yes, this does ring true and feels authentic in and with Hate that Cat. Because and truthfully, I certainly had pretty much the same reaction as Jack textually does when first being confronted by metaphors, alliteration, assonance and the like during middle school, but that unlike Jack in Hate that Cat with a teacher like Miss Stretchberry who both understands this and shows to her students that poetical terms and conventions are but tools and not the be all and end all of poetry, our teacher was in fact much more like Jack's Uncle Bill and that this certainly did tend to make poetry more of a chore and not the obvious joy that Miss Stretchberry renders it in Hate that Cat, making Sharon Creech's text not only delightful, poetry appreciating but also a bit of wishful thinking for those of us readers who have experienced and are experiencing poetry teaching that is one-sided and only cares abut external form and style.

Highly recommended and once again five stars is Hate that Cat, nicely engagingly readable and just like with Love that Dog also an informative and educational introduction to poetry and poets in general (with my only extremely minor annoyance being once again that similar to Love that Dog, I do kind of wish that with Hate that Cat Sharon Creech would have the poems and poets' names that Miss Stretchberry makes use of in class be included in the text proper with footnotes and not just at the back, but that yes, I do very much appreciate that there is a nicely technical bibliography on poetry included in Hate that Cat, as the lack of such a bibliography in Love that Dog is a bit frustrating).

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely little book--a story told in blank verse and linked to famous poems. I love the protagonist and his personality and the way the story grows. I read this book aloud (a must with poetry) with my nine year old daughter who had recently completed a poetry unit at school. She loved it, too! Sharon Creech has impressive talents. I love the way she explores words and communication, storytelling and character in this little gem. It will turn kids on to poetry because it's just so fun! Highly recommend it! I give this book a 4.5. *Note: this is the second book of the story. Read "Love that Dog" first.

[Jenna P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I normally can't stand poetry because of how serious it is, but this took away any issues I had. It had a lighter feel than heavy and meaningful poetry, even with a dark sense of humor. I thought it was almost as good as the first one, love that dog.

[Jamey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book, and I love how the character is the same. I love that it was about moving on, and that things are not as they appear to be. Jack in the first book was learning how to live with his dog's death, and now it is about bringing a new member to the family. He learns that somethings may look scaring, but in reality looks are not always what appear to be. I love this author and I love this book, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone. It is just a awesome book of growth and learning. I love it and I hope you will too!

[Mariah Roze · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book with one of my students. She and I both preferred this book over the first book, Love That Dog.

Jack is at it again with writing poetry to his teacher. He moved up a grade and so did his teacher. However, this book is focused on a cat that he hated, but eventually loved. There are a lot of poems that focus around that cat; just like in the first book with the dog.

[Travis]

You can't really put a review on poetry books, but it was really good, and funny

[johnny ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm glad jack made a cat friend after losing his dog.

[Kallie.C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hate that cat was another great poetry book. This book is an add-on to Love that Dog and in so it was following after it. But something different about this one is the concept was a little more complex with more details to it. It was still an amazing book but it just had more details which can be good in ways because it added on more to the story. The book itself had a good story and I could easily follow along with it without being lost in the story.

[Kaylee D · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had read the first book and was unsure if I wanted to read this book. I was not a huge fan of this series and that could be because I am not a big poetry person. I did like the poetic language that was used in this book however at some points I got very bored. It was a very hard book for me to finish and at some points, I just read a different book. Overall I would not read this again but if you are looking for a quick poetry book this one might work for you.

[Carissa M · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accidental little library find! I think it was nice to breeze through a children’s book when I tend to take everything too seriously. Creech’s use of poetry to teach poetry to a child is admirable. As an adult, it was cool to read all the references to great poets (some of who I hadn’t heard of!)

Covers a wide array of emotions in a way that’s understandable for children. This will be something I show all the kids in my life.

[maeve · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's funny to me how closely music and poetry exist together in my head like if you read one through it like takes on a rhythm of its own but more than that it takes on a pulse like the naming of cats is a sort of swooping waltz thing but black cat is the most synth pad bass drum beginning of the last great american dynasty-esque thing ive ever heard

[Janna Gifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech is a poetry book that is geared towards the intermediate age group. This book is about Jack who hates poetry and cats but in Miss Stretchberry’s class, he has to express himself through poetry. He starts to write poetry about how he hates cats and then he starts to write about everything he learns and his problems with his Uncle Bill. I rated this book five stars because I love the poems and it is a great educational poetry book to learn all about the ways to write poetry. Just reading through all of the poems, I could not stop laughing and understanding what Jack was going through because I do not always like to write poems. I started to look at this book as an educational tool for students and see that Sharon Creech is ingenious how she introduces all of the elements of poetry in the poems itself and lends itself as examples. The poems are not hard to read or decipher and the children will love the topics of his cat problems. I think that the students can relate to the language because the language of the poems is written as a child would write poetry with the hint of sarcasm in the poems towards his teacher and his uncle. I just find the poems easier to teach the elements because the poems interest the students and then I can dissect the poems for each student. Take for example the poem with him thinking of onomatopoeia words and he lists a bunch of funny words that the children can understand.

[Chloe Heins · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the follow-up book to “Love That Dog,” we follow the character Jack into the next grade level, where Ms. Stretchberry happens to be his teacher again, and Jack has to keep another collection of poems. I noticed a change in maturity level in this collection of Jack’s poems, in both language and content. It was fun to see him grow as an individual and as a scholar (it sort of has Bildungsroman vibes).
This book also has a great conversation about what qualifies as poetry, which is a conversation I’ve been having with my own students. In this book, Jack stumbles back and forth between believing and disbelieving his writing is “real” poetry — mostly because his professor-uncle says it isn’t, with the same beliefs of the poems they read in Jack’s class. I believe a lot of students have pre-conceived notions that poetry must be profound, “deep,” and about non-“ordinary” things — I know I notice those thoughts in my own students. This book can lead to a great discussion of what poetry is, and who decides that.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sequel to Love That Dog. Jack is back and so is Miss Stretchberry, who has moved up a grade and is again Jack's teacher this school year. This novel-in-verse is not quite as tightly plotted as the previous one, but Jack's poetry is even more evolved. Once again, Jack uses poetry to cope with the issues of his life (in this case, the adjustment to a new pet and his acceptance of his mother's deafness). Jack continues to emulate famous poets, serving as a model for children learning poetry. More advanced poetic concepts (alliteration, onomatopoeia, simile/metaphor) are introduced and then practiced by Jack in his poems.

[Kaylee K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of liked this book because it was kind of confusing. This book would be perfect for 4th graders because it's really easy to read. If you liked the book love that dog then you will love this book because the narrator talks about the dog a lot. Here is a short summary of the book. I love dogs but now there is this big, fat, and mean cat that always bits me, hisses at me and so on. But now that i have my own black cat, she is so cute and I don't hate that big, fat, mean cat so much anymore..

[Avery · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that this is a short review but not much went on in the book. Jack, the main character, is really disliking a certain black cat. Throughout the book, he writes poetry about that cat that he hates. As the book goes along he realizes that the black cat isn't really that bad. He tends to like that cat towards the end of the book as it progresses. This book is short and easy to read. I recommend this book to anyone who likes short easy reads. This book wasn't my favorite but, the book wasn't the worst so I rated it three out of five stars.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple, but heartwarming story of a boy who writes only in poetry and learns to love the things he thinks he hates at the beginning (alliteration, onomatopoeia,...and cats!). I quite liked it - especially the end. I also liked the thoughts of his mom, who is deaf, and how she experiences the world as well. A lovely sweet ending.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was fun, interesting, and easy to read. I recommend this book for anyone who doesn't usually like poetry because I'm the same way but I still enjoyed the book. I've heard people say that you should read the book "love that dog" before you read this book but I personally did not find any confusion.

[Kate (pooxs_insta) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this - a young student writes poems for his English teacher that seem to follow a conversation. An amusing and accurate insight into the child/teen mind regarding language, composition, feeling and messages.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little book (only takes 30 minutes to read). However, it was trying too hard to live up to Love That Dog. Love That Dog had charm and surprise; not so much in Hate That Cat. Still it was cute.
And I liked the poetry.

[Rashika (is tired) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story: I DNFed this book in middle school because I was really mad about all the cat hate but I finally read it many years later and it was totally worth it.

[Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay but it was worse than the first one. It is almost the same but this one is about a cat! It was a really quick read and wasn't too bad.

[Hazel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This boo had a very good play on its words I really enjoyed. Though at some point it got bland but is is a poetry book and for a poetry book it was pretty good.

[Riley Nevarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS ONE JUST AS GOOD AS THE FIRST ONE! LITERALLY LAUGHED AND CRIED, AGAIN! So good, cannot wait to read this to my 10th graders!

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read Love That Dog gazillions of times (I use it to teach my class about poetry) but I put off reading Hate that Cat.

I don't know why. I think it's because I adore Love that Dog so much and didn't feel like I needed anything else. I've even owned this book for a couple of years. It's just been sitting on my shelf.

Needless to say, my expectations were high. Sharon Creech is one of my favorite authors and I'm mad about Love that Dog. I think my expectations were TOO high because I just felt a bit let down.

It was cute and creative and had all the same elements as the first book, but it just felt like too much of a repeat but without the heart from Love that Dog.

I think I'll need to read this again when I'm in a different mood. I still liked it, I just didn't love it.