Letters from the Campaign Trail: LaRue for Mayor

These books are absolutely adorable and highly entertaining! The series is about Ike Larue, a hilarious, cunning and super intelligent, Scottish terrier. These books are written in a letter format.... a series of letters sent to Mrs Larue, Ike's owner, from Ike himself. In every book Ike is up to something new.... a bid to free himself from trouble, a new scheme, etc. The illustrations are set up to show both the reality... in color..... and Ike's version of events... in black and white. My children and I always enjoy reading these!!

I liked this book, but my audience didn't understand it. The language went over their heads. I was sitting their in silent mirth while I watched my listeners drowse. It was too bad. The book was a lot better than it will be recognized for being.

REVIEW:
Ike LaRue, a dog who is enraged by mayor candidate Hugo Bugwort's plan to ban dogs from running wild in the streets, decides that he should run for mayor. This story of the campaign trail is told entirely through letters written by Ike to his owner, Mrs. LaRue, and newspaper articles pertaining to information about the campaign and the wild dogs in the city.

I love how the plot of the story develops in the letters and the newspaper articles. The illustrations are bright and colorful and add to the story on many levels.

GENRE: Fantasy Picture Book
This is a fantasy book because a dog is running for mayor alongside a human, and a dog is writing various letters to his owner. That being said, the world is made-up, but engaging.

USE: show more This is a book for upper elementary grades because of the vocabulary words in the book.
(1) I could pair this book with a lesson about letters. Students could learn how to address letters and then write letters to classmates and family. It would be fun if we could actually send them.
(2) Students could explore the current campaign (wether that be for president, senator, mayor) trail and how candidates convey themselves. This could be on a topic of leadership. show less

LaRue for Mayor is a modern fantasy book about a dog who decides to run for mayor when the candidate begins to denounce dogs. The other candidate faints while speaking and must be rescued by LaRue. This changes the other candidates mind about dogs and they decide to run together. LaRue becomes the mayor's assistant and the town lives in peace between dogs and humans. This book is written through letters and newspaper articles as the campaign progresses.

So this is the most recent book in the series (I think). In this one the dog is running for mayor and it is very funny. He is putting on his campaign to oust the people in charge and stand up for animal rights. They use a lot of political vocal so in some ways it's kind of nice for kids to here around election time so they can ask questions about what things mean. I know a teacher who read this story last November and the kids liked it.

summary: LaRue, a friendly dog, sets out to run for mayor. His owner is currently in the hospital due to an injury caused by a hotdog stand. The dogs all get together in the neighborhood and have meetings at the apartment. During these meetings they make a plan for LaRue to run for mayor. Bugwort actually running for mayor tries to ban all dogs. This is when LaRue takes a stand and runs for mayor himself.

Personal Response: I really enjoyed this modern fantasy. This would be considered modern fantasy because LaRue, the dog, talks and writes letters. This book would be great for 3rd grade to 5th grade.

Classroom extention:
1-Properly learning to write letters.
2-Making posters to run for mayor.

Mrs. LaRue's dog, Ike, decides to run for mayor of Snort City after realizing the front-runner, Chief Bugwort, wants to enforce leash, curfew, and other laws for dogs.