What books are similar to Dear Mrs. LaRue?

The 10 closest matches to Dear Mrs. LaRue by Mark Teague on ReadingList include Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude, Ten Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break If You Want to Survive the School Bus, Arnie, the Doughnut, Double Fudge, and Falling for Rapunzel. Each is scored on shared themes (training, humorous stories, and letters), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–5), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like Dear Mrs. LaRue reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–5), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.

How does ReadingList choose similar books?

Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Books like Dear Mrs. LaRue

If you liked Dear Mrs. LaRue, read Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude first — the closest match in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.

Looking for books like Dear Mrs. LaRue by Mark Teague (Humor · grades 3–5)? It’s most often read for its themes of training, humorous stories, and letters. The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.

These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades 3–5 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

Reading the whole similar-books list? Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

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Try it on audio — free. Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

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Why each is a match

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Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dudegrades 3–5: Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Louisiana Readers' Choice Awards list, and same genre (Humor). Amazon → books like this →
Ten Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break If You Want to Survive the School Busgrades 3–5: Shares themes of humorous stories, both on the Louisiana Readers' Choice Awards list, and same genre (Humor). Amazon → books like this →
Arnie, the Doughnutgrades 2–8: Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (2–8). Amazon → books like this →
Double Fudgegrades 4–6: Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Falling for Rapunzelgrades K–3: Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
Knocked Out by Nunga-Nungasgrades 3–5: Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (3–5). Amazon → books like this →
Let's Do Nothinggrades K–3: Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
No More Dead Dogsgrades 2–8: Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (2–8). Amazon → books like this →
Skippyjon Jonesgrades K–3: Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
Substitute Teacher Plansgrades K–3: Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →

Books like Dear Mrs. LaRue for younger readers (K–2)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps K–2— same scoring, different audience.

Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold · grades K–1 — Shares themes of humorous stories and same genre (Humor).
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas · grades K–2 — Shares themes of humorous stories and same genre (Humor).
The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3).
A Lion is a Lion by Polly Dunbar · grades K–0 — Shares themes of humorous stories and same genre (Humor).
Bubba the Cowboy Prince by Helen Ketteman · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3).

Books like Dear Mrs. LaRue for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 3–5— same scoring, different audience.

The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3).
Banana Twist by Florence Parry Heide · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days by Stephen Manes · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Bubba the Cowboy Prince by Helen Ketteman · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3).
Buz by Richard Egielski · grades K–3 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (K–3).

Books like Dear Mrs. LaRue for middle school (grades 6–8)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 6–8— same scoring, different audience.

Banana Twist by Florence Parry Heide · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days by Stephen Manes · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Dog Breath by Dav Pilkey · grades 2–8 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (2–8).
My Horrible Secret by Stephen Roos · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of humorous stories, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).
Ribsy by Beverly Cleary · grades 4–6 — Shares themes of pets, same genre (Humor), and overlapping grades (4–6).

Common questions

What books are similar to Dear Mrs. LaRue?: The 10 closest matches to Dear Mrs. LaRue by Mark Teague on ReadingList include Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude, Ten Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break If You Want to Survive the School Bus, Arnie, the Doughnut, Double Fudge, and Falling for Rapunzel. Each is scored on shared themes (training, humorous stories, and letters), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–5), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like Dear Mrs. LaRue reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–5), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.
How does ReadingList choose similar books?: Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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