The Poet's Dog

Alone in a fierce winter storm Nickel and Flora are brave but afraid. A dog finds them. Teddy speaks words and brings them to shelter. The Poet's cabin has light and food and love. But where is the Poet Teddy will tell the story of how words make poe... Read more

Alone in a fierce winter storm Nickel and Flora are brave but afraid. A dog finds them. Teddy speaks words and brings them to shelter. The Poet's cabin has light and food and love. But where is the Poet Teddy will tell the story of how words make poems and connect those who hear each other. The Poet's Dog from Newbery Medal-winning author Patricia MacLachlan is a poignant story about two children, a poet, and a dog and how they help each other survive loss and recapture love. I found the boy at dusk. The blizzard was fierce, and it would soon be dark. I nosed his hand gently. He wasn't afraid of me. He was afraid of the storm. I could see tear streaks on his face. He led me to his sister crouched under a big tree, a blanket wrapped around her. She was younger, maybe eight. The boy pulled the blanket more tightly around her. I nosed her, too. When she stood up, my eyes looked into hers. I would take care of them. From Newbery Medal winner Patricia MacLachlan comes a poignant story about two children, a poet, and a dog and how they help one another survive loss and recapture love. 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 Less