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 Dear
Mrs. La Rue: Letters From Obedience School
(Hardcover)
by
Mark Teague (Illustrator)
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A dog's life is hardly to be envied
if one believes the words of Ike, a rambunctious
pooch sentenced to obedience school by his
exasperated owner, Mrs. LaRue. Having repeatedly
terrorized the neighbors' cats and snatched one
snack too many from the kitchen counter, Ike finds
himself enrolled at Igor Brotweiler Canine Academy.
The hero begins a clever letter-writing campaign to
Mrs. LaRue that paints a grim (and hopefully
guilt-inducing) picture of his Brotweiler
experience. But readers are privy to the hilarious
truth. Teague (How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?)
depicts the pampered pup at the spa-like academy in
brightly colored vignettes, juxtaposed with
black-and-white prison-like scenes that illustrate
Ike's imagined hardship. He composes his
correspondence with dramatic flair, whether
describing his "inmate" experience ("The guards here
are all caught up in this `good dog, bad dog'
thing") or reflecting on his misdeeds back at home
("Were the neighbors really complaining about my
howling?... Let's recall that these are the same
neighbors who are constantly waking me up in the
middle of the afternoon with their loud
vacuuming").Throughout, the devilish laughs are in
the details (waiters in white coats serving academy
dogs gourmet meals and frozen drinks; Ike's images
of a hard life in striped prison garb plus
ball-and-chain). Even the duo's reunion (to much
fanfare) plays off of an earlier joke. All in all, a
tail-wagger of a book that will have readers howling
with amusement. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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