Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters From Obedience School by: Mark Teague

Genre: Picture Book
Publisher: Scholastic Press; First Edition
Copyright Date: 2002
Number of Pages: 32
Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Summary:
Mrs. LaRue sends her dog Ike to obedience school because of his constant habit of breaking the rules. Ike is sent to the Igor Brotweiler Canine Academy for two months. While he is there, Ike sends the occasional letter to his Master. However, the letters that Ike sends aren't completely honest. His first letter is asking Mrs. LaRue why she sent him to this "prison." When in reality it is actually a pleasant place to live. In the next letter, Ike is thinking of reasons why she might have sent him to obedience school in the first place. The first thought is, she sent him there because he ate the chicken pie... He claims he didn't know she was that upset. In the next letter he explains that Mrs. Hibbin's cats that he supposedly chased up the fire escape in the middle of January are melodramatic and that they probably were lying about being sick for three days... In the next letter he explains to her a little about what is going on there. He calls his teacher his warden and says that she demands he do ridiculous commands that he refused to do... and he was "severely" punished. When in reality, his teacher is very nice and she gives out a lot of dog treats. He not-so-subtly reminds Mrs. LaRue of all the times that he saved her, and that she needs him. Halfway through the next letter Mrs. Klondike (his teacher) takes his typewriter away (all the previous letters were typed) because it was disturbing the other dogs. As the letters go on, he tells Mrs. LaRue that he is thinking about escaping. Then, he gets sick and is diagnosed as a hypochondriac. He is surprised that Mrs. LaRue still kept him there even though he was sick. He reminds her of all the good times they had together and how awful it is to be stuck in a tiny cell.
Then, he escapes. There is a newspaper article about how he escaped from Doggy Detention and there is a reward for his return to the Brotweiler Academy. He sends Mrs. LaRue letters about how miserable he is (even though he is having a great time) he even admits that he misses the Higgins' cats a little bit. He tells her that more than worrying about himself, he worries about her because, she needs a dog. So, he decides to return home.
Upon his return, he saves Mrs. LaRue from being hit by an oncoming truck! So, now, instead of the outlaw, he is the Hero dog. Ike tore her coat again but she says she doesn't care as long as she has her dog back.

Who would benefit from reading this book?/ Who would you recommend this book to?
I would recommend this book to teachers. This book is effective when you want to teach children how to write a letter. Most of the text is in letter form, so it makes it easy to teach children the parts of the letter and where certain elements go on the page. It is also a good book for teaching about real life and imagination because everything Ike says is coming from his imagination while something totally different is happening to him in real life.

What problems/conflicts would this book potentially cause?
I don't think that this book would cause any problems

My Reaction:

This book is hilarious. The author is extremely witty and it is a good story line. It can be used both recreationally and educationally which is good as well. I have read this book a few times and I laugh every time I do. I read it to my nephew who can't sit still while people read, and he loved it too!