Summary
As if obedience school wasn't bad enough, Ike is now in prison! The Hibbins' cats are missing, and Ike is being blamed. With Mrs. LaRue vacationing in France, and the Snort City Police Department stalled by a string of canary burglaries, he must take matters into his own paws and mount an investigation to prove his innocence. Will Ike be able to solve the crime and preserve his spotless reputation?

Scholastic

• This book is a sequel to Dear Mrs. Larue.  If your students are not familiar with the book, build background knowledge by reading the original first!

• Make a "Fact or Fiction" chart showing the things in the story that were factual and the things that Ike made up.

• Help students connect reading to the "real world"!  List all of the different word places in the illustrations.  Example:  newspaper, hotel sign.

Notable Words, Phrases, & Quotes

Listed below are some words and phrases that you may want to discuss with your students before you begin to read the story.

altercation
interrogate
deception
speculated
"on the lam"
rife
culprits

• Ike has escaped from obedience school! Click here to match the pictures to the news headlines and see if he finds his way home.

• After reading the story, use the illustration of the  Investigation Central web on the bulletin board as a guide to create a "clue web" using Inspiration or Kidspiration.  Make sure the students look for clues in the illustrations, newspapers, and letters.

• Learn more about writing friendly letters by clicking here!

• Have students write a friendly letter to Ike!

• Assign each student or a student pair a page spread from the book that contains a letter to Mrs. Larue.  Have the students write a letter to Mrs. LaRue telling her what was really happening!