Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School; Letters From Obedience School

A beguiling dog laments his fate at obedience school through a series of hilarious letters home--by the best-selling illustrator of HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOOD NIGHT? When Ike Larue is "imprisoned" at the Igor Brotweiler Canine Academy, he tries everything to get sent home--weepy letters to his owner, even illness. In reality, Brotweiler is more like camp than prison, but still, Ike's not cut out for life w/o Mrs. Larue & his creature comforts. Finally, he runs away only to find himself back in Snort City--just in time to save Mrs. Larue's life.Teague is at the top of his fetching form in this madcap comedy where the real world of Brotweiler & the one Ike imagines are brilliantly depicted thru split-screen visuals, the former in color & the latter in b&w.

Mark Teague's inspiration for this book came from two great dogs in his life, his own dog, Earl, who made food pilfering his life's work, and his brother's dog, Ali. "Ali would limp when he wanted attention," Mark remembers. "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." Both dogs, dearly loved, are incorporated in the character of Ike LaRue. Mark Teague has been tickling the funny bones and imaginations of kids for more than fifteen years. His book, How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?, written by Jane Yolen, was named an Ala Notable Book and a Book Sense Book of the Year Finalist. Mark lives in Coxsackie, New York, with his wife and their two young daughters.