In today's language arts session, Yanuell read, La Rue Across America: Postcards from the Vacation by Marc Teague. The main character and veteran letter writer Ike, is back with the same feisty determination that established his hilarious voice in earlier Teague books. In this title, the disgruntled dog has a bone to pick with his neighbor, Mrs. Hibbins. She has been hospitalized due to a heat wave in Snort City, leaving Mrs. LaRue and Ike in charge of her two cats. Ike is incredulous that he has to change their summer vacation plans. Instead of his long-awaited ocean cruise, he'll now be taking a road trip with the detestable felines. The story is structured around Ike's cross-country adventures with his unwanted traveling companions and his ceaseless efforts to convey the supreme injustice of the situation to Mrs. Hibbins. Each of the postcards is a priceless piece of self-delusion, as Ike feigns concern for Mrs. LaRue and Mrs. Hibbins while his own motivations are quite clear. The character's endless complaints are hilarious, and his wonderful illustrations are laugh-out-loud funny. The illustrations involve large spreads with the postcards superimposed on the crazy goings-on and expressive faces on the animals and humans. Yanuell absolutely loved this book and wanted to go through and read it a second time paying closer attention to the tension between Ike and the cat which is clearly depicted in the illustrations. The back cover of the book is a huge map of the United States, marked with the traveling path of the characters in the story. There were several special places mentioned in the book that Yanuell wanted to research after our reading and comprehension discussion. He researched: Dino-Land Theme Park in South Dakota, The Empire State Building in New York City, and the Grand Canyon. Yanuell was thrilled to research these on the computer and then revisit each event in the book involving the characters.