A Book of Dog's Letters?

Illustrator Mark Teague Reads From His Popular Book

(CBS)  The Early Show kicks off another summer of the Early Reader's Club with popular author and illustrator Mark Teague.

His most recent book, "Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School," was on The New York Times bestseller list for 29 weeks, and has won multiple awards.

Ike LaRue - the star of "Letters from Obedience School," has been Teague’s biggest success so far. Ike is a dog and the entire book is a series of letters he writes to his owner, begging her to pick him up from obedience school where he's been sent for bad behavior - namely, stealing food off the kitchen counter, terrorizing neighborhood cats and howling when Mrs. LaRue leaves the house.

The book evolved from a story Teague was working on about kids at summer camp. When he decided to have a dog as the main character instead of kids, camp morphed into obedience school, and the story was off and running.

His drawings also reflect the difference between kids' mournful letters home and their happy reality. Part of each page is in color, showing Ike's life at obedience school, complete with fancy meals, doggie spas and nice instructors. The other part of each page is in black and white and depicts the horrible situations Ike claims to be enduring.

The inspiration for Ike LaRue has been Teague's own dog (who has since passed away), his brother's dog, as well as Teague’s young kids.

Teague burst onto the children's book scene in 1989 and was immediately recognized by Publisher's Weekly as one of 11 prominent new authors. He has written and illustrated six books (that count includes one that will be released in August). He has also collaborated with several well-known authors to illustrate a lot of children's books.

He has two young daughters.