The Poet’s Dog by Patricia MacLachlan

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Poet’s Dog by Patricia MacLachlan Jeannette Hulick MacLachlan, Patricia The Poet’s Dog. HarperCollins, 2016 [112p] Library ed. ISBN 978-0-06-229263-6 $15.89 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-06-229262-9 $14.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-06-229265-0 $14.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 2-4 Irish wolfhound Teddy narrates as he finds a pair of children in the woods during a winter storm and brings them back to the cabin of his recently deceased owner (a [End Page 81] poet named Sylvan). The trio waits out the storm for days while getting to know each other, with young Flora and Nickel able to understand Teddy’s speech. Teddy tells them about Sylvan’s getting sick and eventually dying and how Ellie, one of Sylvan’s poetry students, has been coming to the cabin to take care of Teddy since Sylvan’s death. Meanwhile, the children wait to be reunited with their parents—after their mother’s car went into the ditch, she went for help and couldn’t make it back before the car was towed by authorities to keep it from getting buried in the snow. There’s an awful lot of contrivance to this story, beginning with the initial premise (authorities are going to tow a car but leave two children stranded in a blizzard?) and ending with Teddy being adopted by Flora and Nickel. The connection between Flora’s middle name, Jewel, and her mother’s name, Ruby, to Sylvan’s deathbed admonition to Teddy to “find a jewel or two” is particularly heavy handed. These plot machinations, combined with Teddy’s solemn narration, gives this a tone that feels more adult-centered than childlike. Still, Teddy’s quiet, poetic voice does resonate against the snug, winter setting, and the thought of hunkering down in a cabin during a storm with a talking dog is an alluring one. Dog-lovers and budding poets with a taste for quiet whimsy, or fans of MacLachlan’s measured and lyrical writing, may want to check this out. Copyright © 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois