All About Middle-Grade Review: The Poet's Dog

The Poet's Dog by Patricia MacLachlan, September 13, 2016. 96 pages. Published by Katherine Tegen Books. Source: Publisher.

Teddy is a gifted dog. Raised in a cabin by a poet named Sylvan, he grew up listening to sonnets read aloud and the comforting clicking of a keyboard. Although Teddy understands words, Sylvan always told him there are only two kinds of people in the world who can hear Teddy speak: poets and children.

Then one day Teddy learns that Sylvan was right. When Teddy finds Nickel and Flora trapped in a snowstorm, he tells them that he will bring them home—and they understand him. The children are afraid of the howling wind, but not of Teddy’s words. They follow him to a cabin in the woods, where the dog used to live with Sylvan . . . only now his owner is gone.

As they hole up in the cabin for shelter, Teddy is flooded with memories of Sylvan. What will Teddy do when his new friends go home? Can they help one another find what they have lost?

First Sentence

I found the boy at dusk.

I was sorely tempted to just never read The Poet's Dog as it looked like it was going to be one of those dog books that break your heart. You know that ones I'm talking about, right? Well, it was not like those ones, okay.

• If you read between the lines in what I previously said about this book, then you can rest assured that reading it won't break your heart (in one fashion). While it might be deemed a spoiler to even hint at that, I always think one should be warned, whether for good or bad, when it comes to books about animals. You know, since they tend to, well, end sadly. Although there is still a sad element to this book, it is one that you would not really expect. 

• The best way I can think of the describe Patricia MacLachlan's book would be, that it softly tells the story of how a dog and two children, brought together by chance during a winter storm, bring new hope and healing to each others' lives. To be quite frank, this book is not really a page-turner, it's more of a quiet and subtle story. 

• While I did find myself enjoying it after I figured out that it was not going to rip my heart to shreds. For one thing, it was rather sweet seeing how all three of them bonding during the storm and how their encounter brought about a fresh start for each of them. It was, well, good but not great. Perhaps it was just not the right book for my reading taste. 

• Overall, The Poet's Dog was a nice story with a warm message. The writing and storytelling were good, but not excellent. I just was underwhelmed when it came to this book. That being said, I really liked the ending of the book because it was just, well, heartwarming and so deserved. I would have been rather disappointed if it had ended any other way because he deserved all the good things!!

Final Verdict: The Poet's Dog- It was good, but not great. That's about all I can say at this point...

The Poet's Dog earns

A copy of this book was received for review consideration. All thoughts are my own.