Hate That Cat

Hate That Cat

Creech, S. (2008). Hate that cat. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Genre: Poetry

Age Level: 8-10

Summary:  Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech stars a young male student who believes he can’t write poetry. He believes that poetry must rhyme and contain long sentences but his teacher tells him otherwise and encourages his writing. At the beginning of the book, he writes about how much he hats cats especially one in particular. Throughout the book, he models poems after famous poets such as Poe, Tennyson, and Myers. At the end, he has grown fond of writing poetry and cats since his parents bought him a kitten.

Reflection: Sharon Creech creates a very original story with Hate That Cat. The book is about a young male student learning to write poetry but it also teaches the reader the basics of poetry construction. This book shows multiple elements of poetry and examples of each. The main character Jack explains alliteration by writing “purple pickle,” “polished pencil,” and “chocolate chalk.” He explains onomatopoeia by writing “All that buzz buzz buzz and pop! pop! and drip and tinkle and trickle.” Examples of similes are shown as well as metaphors. Jack writes “the chair in my room is like a pleasingly plump momma” and “the black kitten is a poet leaping from line to line.” One of the types of poetry known as concrete poetry is displayed in this book also. Concrete poetry is written and printed in a shape that signifies the subject of the poem. This book of poetry was a fun read for me because like the main character, I also don’t care for cats. This would be a great book to begin a poetry unit with since it explains so many different elements of the poetic writing style.