The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech

A Sneak Peak from Newbery Medalist, Author Sharon Creech of

The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech

jacket design by Kate Engbring

Copyright 2013

ISBN 978-0061892387

Ages 8-12

Teaching Resources:  Teach Creech

Amazon Review: 2013

Richie Partington rated it 5 of 5 stars

Richie's Picks: THE BOY ON THE PORCH by Sharon Creech, Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins, September 2013, 160p.

"People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence"
-- Paul Simon (1964)

Jacob was not like other boys John and Marta had know.  He did not speak, not to them and not to others, but communicate, he did.  Jacob's music and artwork opened a door into his soul and John and Marta peered inside.  They encouraged his creativity, fostered his enthusiasm for finding happiness in the simplest of things, and they grew to love-- the boy on the porch.  This book will warm your heart.  

Mrs. Flores 

Love That Dog and Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech

Author Spotlight Page

Sharon Creech-- two novels in verse:  

These two novels take readers through two beautifully written stories about the connection of a boy named Jack to his dog Sky (and even a cat). It also illustrates a teacher's passion for teaching students about poetry and themselves, and a child learning to become something more than he first realized. Jack's exposure to Poetry-- reading, writing and appreciating this art form, is what binds the stories and the characters together.  The stories flow beautifully.  Whether you love or hate cats or dogs, love or hate poetry, you will love Jack's two stories about them them all.  I read each book in one sitting. 

Mrs. Flores  

Love That Dog

by Sharon Creech

Cover Art by William Steig

Copyright 2001

ISBN 978-1-404-66655-9

Ages 11-13

Teaching Resources: Love That Dog and Hate That Cat

Hate That Cat

by Sharon Creech

Cover Art by William Steig

Copyright 2001

ISBN 978-0061430947 

Grades 4-8

Teaching Resources: Teach Creech

Excerpt of a review from the School Library Journal about Hate That Cat:  

Jack is once again in Miss Stretchberry's class, developing his poetry composition skills and learning from the masters. Jack works his way into these concepts by means of Miss S's introduction to the work of Edgar Allan Poe, T. S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, Valerie Worth, and Walter Dean and Chris Myers, and her constant encouragement of his own attempts. He also learns the poetry of silence as he and his mother communicate through sign language and tender gestures. It is a worthy sequel to Love That Dog.