I liked this book a lot actually. I liked the main character Ike because he was clever and witty. I liked the illustrations a lot because they were well designed, and I enjoyed the plot of the story. The book was about a dog and his owner who were supposed to go on a cruise, but since their neighbor was hospitalized, the cruise was cancelled and the dogs owner, her dog and the neighbors two cats all went on a road trip together. The dog, Ike, is the one who is narrating the book through postcards he is writing to the owner of the cat. Poor Ike throughout the story keeps getting in trouble because of the cats and is having an all around miserable time which made me feel bad for him. He is also a clever and witty dog. An example states, "How was I supposed to know the little scratchers were afraid of heights?" The illustrations were also well developed because they are bright and colorful and enhance the text well. In all of the illustrations Ike has a thought bubble which displays what is happening in the text, but that is black and white. This symbolizes that it happened in the past and that is what he is thinking about. What is happening in the present is always in color which I thought was cool. I enjoyed the plot because you read postcard after postcard about how terrible of a time Ike is having until his owners car breaks down at the end of the story. The person who rescues them is a captain of a cruise ship. The captain invites them all on his cruise, so Ike gets to go on his cruise after all. The big idea of this book is that if you are patient, good things will come to you. ( )

LaRue Across America: Postcards From the Vacation by Mark Teague is one of a series of books featuring Ike LaRue, a dog, his owner Gertrude LaRue, and the (horrid) cats who live next door. In this book, the cat's owner, Mrs. Hibbins, needs to be hospitalized due to a heat wave. Mrs. LaRue offers to care for her cats. She cancels their planned vacation, an ocean cruise with Ike, and replaces it with a cross country trip by car with the cats. Ike immediately starts sending postcards to Mrs. Hibbins in an attempt to get rid of the cats.

This book is hilarious and the illustrations are wonderful. Teague has Ike picturing the way he remembers the event in black and white (since dogs are colorblind) while the real scenes are in color. It's a nice juxtaposition. The endpapers include a map of the United States with their route marked. Ike's self-delusion while he thinks he is covering his true motives should be obvious to children in the target age range, 4-8. (The Lexile score is AD900L, so it's based on adult directed reading.)

I do have one nagging question running through my mind, however. Do people still write postcards? It occurred to me that having Ike send email pleas might be more current than postcards. Certainly most children would now understand email messages.

I am passing this gem of a book along to my niece ( )

A terrific postmodern story from the point of view of a dog who wishes he was some place else. This story engages the ready by letting the reader "see" what the main character is imagining. The narrator is writing letters back home while traveling across the country with cats. This is a great example of how a writer can engage the reader through different perspectives of the same story.

Sometimes you come across paths in life where things just don’t go as planned. Unfortunately for Ike, his neighbor's hospitalization results in the cancellation of his planned summertime cruise. In addition, two ornery cats are added to the drive across the U.S. His owner, Mrs. LaRue is convinced this will be the perfect solution to not only the cat, but her proneness to seasickness. Will cats and dogs ever learn to be friends? This is a great book that shows what cats and dogs do best, get on each other’s nerves and “fight.” This book is more for adults but it can easily be read to students in the classroom or children at home. Anyone who loves animals will love this book that is full of drama between the cat and the dog who are trying to behave in the small space that they have across the country. The illustrations are so smooth and pretty! The author even includes a map to follow along on the journey. ( )

An entertaining road trip with LaRue. ( )