I'm dog-tired after a spirited game of chase with Allison. She's becoming quite good at it; her barking is getting better, and her pounces are almost wolf-like. True, she'll never have a tail like mine (which helps a pup like me balance and bounce), but my loveable human is learning! Allison says that she's afraid the heat might drive us "stir-crazy" and so makes sure we are doing different things - even while we're stuck inside.
Lately I guess I have been a little crazy. A howl here and there, long sessions of barking (I swear I smelled a skunk last night, even if my humans didn't believe me!), and lots of dives under the couch. To keep me busy, Allison decided to show me some of her postcards and guidebooks from when she went exploring around England and other fun places. We couldn't adventure far in the heat, but we could adventure with our imaginations!
An afternoon nap: Italy at my snout and England at my hind-paws.
Continuing on an imagination adventure (once I'd finished my nap), Allison and I read a book about a dog named Ike who has his own journey. He too collects a bunch of postcards from the places he visits. Anyone up for a roadtrip? Ruff!
In Mark Teague's LaRue Across America, Ike LaRue is faced with a problem. When Ike's human does a very silly thing and agrees to take the neighbor's cats on vacation, our canine hero decides to send a number of postcards home throughout the cross-country trip. Mainly to tell his neighbor that her pesky felines are putting a cramp in his carefree style! The cats, for example, refuse to play at the water slides and even cause chaos in the giftshop of a dinosaur park. Arooo! Silly kitties!
Not all is as it seems, though. What the imaginative Ike writes in his postcards is maybe a little bit...dramatic. Readers will laugh when they realize the contrast between Ike's adventure's and his increasingly desperate-to-escape-cats-as-car-companions messages. Mark Teague has made Ike's imaginings black and white, while the narration features colored illustrations, as Allison points out (see the above example taken from Teague's Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters From Obedience School). Even human grown-ups will appreciate the finer details of the story and the skillful illustrations. Happily, Ike's vacation ends with a wonderful twist that human-pups will love, the postcard-penning pooch finally getting his dream vacation. Two paws up and a tail wag for this book and also for Letters From Obedience School. Best for human-pups from K-4, the Ike LaRue books are a must-read!
*Note: My human Allison has had the fun of meeting Mark Teague in person at a book signing. She says he's very nice, and she highly recommends checking out the rest of his books!
I wonder if I could get Allison to plan a road trip for us? Hmmm. A dog can dream. Woof!
Yours in postcards and imagination vacations,
Sam I Am
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