Comparison Novels

Creech, S. (2001). Love that dog. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Jack hates poetry but has to write poetry for his teacher. He responds to his teacher about the poems they are reading in class by writing in verse.  He tells several poems about his dog, including with a poem that is modeled after a favorite author. Jack writes to the author and invites him to speak to the class.

Love That Dog would appeal to readers who like poetry, or those who like novels that are written in poem form.

I would encourage students to check it out by possibly making a table display with other books by the author, poetry unit or even include with an animal theme.

Other books by Sharon Creech.

Hate That Cat:

This is the sequel to Love That Dog, that continues Jack ‘s  story during a new school year through poems.

Heartbeat:

This is similar to Love That Dog, as in it is also written in verse.  In this particular book everything in life is changing and Annie has to find where she fits in to it all.

Walk Two Moons:

This novel is written in narrative format and is much longer  than Love That Dog, but has the same theme of finding oneself that readers will love.

Selznick, B. (2011). Wonderstruck. New York: Scholastic.

Two stories and two different times, interwoven together: one told in words, the other told  in pictures, Ben and Rose are both in search of family and both share a struggle of being deaf. Over time they come to realize they are connected.

Wonderstruck is two stories interwoven together with words and pictures.  I believe students who would be interested in this book may be those who read graphic novels, or may prefer picture books but are required to read a chapter book. 

I would promote this book maybe in a display with other common themes such as overcoming obstacles or an author display with other Selznick books including those he has illustrated.

Other books by Brian Selznick:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret:

This book is very similar to Wonderstruck.  It  is told through both story and images but only tell one story.

The Marvels:

This book  is the same as Wonderstruck as it is two stories interwoven together. One told via pictures ; the other by prose.

The Boy of a Thousand Faces:

This includes Selznick’s illustrations but is a much smaller book that tells one story.