"Dear Mr. Henshaw"

What elementary teacher hasn't read the book "Dear Mr. Henshaw" written by Beverly Clearly and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky to their class? If you haven't read this one yet, you must. What a classic story written by Beverly Cleary. She always writes great books that I can read to my students. This particular book has won the John NewBerry Medal of Honor. The age recommendation is for readers from 8-12 years old. I have read this to my fourth graders we well as my ESL middle school class. I purchased this book for $5.99 paperback edition.

Main Characters:

Leigh Botts
Mr. Boyd Henshaw
Leigh's Father
Leigh's Mother
Bandit the dog

What the story is about:

Leigh Botts is a little boy who lives with his mom. His father and mother are divorced and it hasn't been easy on Leigh. Leigh's dog Bandit stays with his father. He drives a truck cross country and makes deliveries. His mom works part time for a catering company. She is going back to school to become a nurse.

The premise of this story is that Leigh writes letters to his favorite author Mr. Boyd Henshaw. He started writing to him when he was in second grade and has been writing to him ever since. At first, Leigh never hears back from Mr. Henshaw and Leigh is upset. Finally, when Leigh is in the sixth grade and in a new town, Mr. Henshaw finally responds to Leigh's letters in writing. Mr. Henshaw sends a list of questions that he wants Leigh to answer. Leigh is mad about this. He doesn't want to answer his questions but his mom makes him.