Friday, July 10, 2015

Ten top animal friendship stories

Sarah Lean's books include A Dog Called Homeless and Harry and Hope, the story of the friendship that develops between a girl and a donkey. One of her top ten animal friendship stories, as shared at the Guardian:
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

This sparse little book is beautifully difficult to define. It’s a kind of diary, a series of responses to a teacher, a selection of poems, written entirely in verse by Jake. The seeming difficulty that Jake has in writing poetry – what it is, how to write it, what to write about - appears to be the basis of the story at first. But as it progresses, it’s the yellow dog that becomes the focus, and what the reader wants to know about. Inspired by a famous poet’s work that Jake is loathe to copy, he writes a poem about the yellow dog, revealing the difficulties inherent in writing about love and loss.
Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue