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Title: Dear Mrs. La Rue: Letters From Obedience School by Mark Teague ISBN: 0-439-20663-4 Publisher: Scholastic Pub. Date: September, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.65 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Snoopy's successor
Comment: Not since Snoopy himself penned those famous words, "It was a dark and stormy night", has a canine been so eloquent on paper. Having been sent to obedience school for what he deems minor infractions, Ike LaRue finds himself writing pitiful letters to his owner afar. Kids reading this book will have to distinguish between the overdramatic things Ike says and the colorful pictures that display how life really is. As they read the book, children will see that while Ike may state some over-exaggerations, he truly does feel affection for his owner, Mrs. LaRue.
Author Mark Teague is hardly unknown to the world of children's illustrations. The ever-popular "How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?" featured his own unique illustrating methods. But he is just as able an author. "Dear Mrs. LaRue", is an adept melding of text and artistry. In each scene the viewer sees the truth in color, and Ike's fabulous imaginations in bleak black and white. Interestingly enough, it is difficult to say exactly how much Ike says is fanciful. For example, Ike's insistence that he has saved his owner numerable times from speeding vehicles turns out to be more than true at the end of the story. Also, a final shot of the cats Ike has hounded suggests that they may not be the angelic creatures so believed of their owners.
The book is an excellent one for children, containing more than a few visual jokes for adults. Parents can choose whether or not to explain what Ike's diagnosis of "hypochondria" really means or why they laughed when one of the final pictures displayed a jubilant display of people carrying "I like Ike" signs.
Mark Teague notes on the book flap that when his own dog wanted attention it would feign a limp, "But if he was distracted by something - a squirrel or an interesting smell - he was likely to forget which paw was supposedly hurt and give himself away". With such an inspiration, this book wasn't necessarily bound to be good. It just happened to work out nicely that way.
Rating: 5
Summary: I like Ike, and so will most children and their parents
Comment: When I came across this book, I knew I had to read it. A dog writing letters home from dog obedience school? How can this not be an enjoyable book? Poor, misunderstood Ike has been sent off to the Igor Brotweiler Canine Academy by his harried owner Mrs. Gertrude R. LaRue. Ike does what any dog would do in such a situation; he tries to make his owner feel so guilty about putting him there that she will come and get him. He does have a point of sorts, as the straw that broke the camel's (or, in this case, Mrs. LaRue's) back has two very different sides to it. As the days pass, Ike becomes defensive, then he changes tactics in an effort to show his owner how much she needs him back. Will poor Ike ever see his home again? Will he never again be able to munch on another one of Mrs. LaRue's apple pies? Perish the thought.
This book is aimed at children four to eight years old, although parents and weird adults like me should also get a kick out of it. The letters are funny, and one could - if one were so inclined - make an object lesson out of comparing Ike's situation with that of a misbehaving child, but the big sell here is really the pictures. Each page is graced with vivid illustrations contrasting the reality of Ike's life at the Academy with the melodramatic visions of oppression and misery he tries to convey in his letters to Mrs. LaRue. If you are looking for that special book to convince your young child that reading is fun, Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School may well be that book.
Rating: 4
Summary: That's one irrepressible pooch!
Comment: Ike LaRue is a dog wronged. Accused of eating a chicken pie without permission, scaring the neighbor's cats, and tearing his owner's camel hair coat, he finds himself shipped off to a posh obedience school. But Ike, being quite the ham, exaggerates his "imprisonment" in a series of letters to his accusing owner, Mrs. LaRue. Despite his protestations concerning the food, the "guards", and the lousy medical care he receives (being unfairly labeled a "hypochondriac") while in the clutches of the Igor Brotweiler school, his judgmental owner never springs the poor pooch.
Mark Teague brings his pretentious pup to glowing life in a series of truth vs. fiction illustrations that show Ike's reality in contrast with the imagined conditions he portrays in his notes home. It's difficult not to smile at the lengths Ike goes to in order to prove himself innocent, while pleading for his owner to rescue him from a fate worse than death.
Is Ike justified in the end? Let's just say that all dogs have their day and Ike's is better than most.
This is one of those exceedingly rare books that will appeal to children AND parents. The large, lively graphics, wit, and overall cleverness in concept make this an endearing classic already. Even my three year old son, who can in no way understand many of the sly jokes, repeatedly wished to have us read this one - always a great endorsement. On first reading I thought the book was a little much, but it grows on you, getting funnier with each reading. I've never really seen a children's book like this one before and for sheer flair "Dear Mrs. LaRue" gets a big thumbs up.
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Title: How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague ISBN: 0517885565 Publisher: Dragonfly Pub. Date: 08 July, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin, Harry Bliss ISBN: 006000150X Publisher: Joanna Cotler Pub. Date: 14 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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Title: Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin ISBN: 0689845065 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Pub. Date: 01 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Walter, the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle, Glenn Murray, Audrey Colman ISBN: 1583940537 Publisher: North Atlantic Books Pub. Date: 10 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Click Clack Moo : Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin ISBN: 0689832133 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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