11. Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

 

11. Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

Cleary, B. (1983). Dear Mr. Henshaw. NY: Morrow.

Dear Mr. Henshaw begins with Leigh Botts writing a letter to his favorite author, Mr. Henshaw, as a class assignment. The author writes back and asks Leigh some questions that his mother insists he answer. As Leigh answers Mr. Henshaw, we learn about his struggles with his parents' divorce, his relationship with his father, his loneliness because of being the new kid in town, and his feelings of being just medium. Mr. Henshaw encourages Leigh to keep a diary, and the book is written in that format. Through his writing, Leigh works through some of his feeling about his parents, his dog, and his life in a new school.

One of the many themes of this book is how kids deal with divorce.  In today’s world, living in a single parent family is common, but this book was written almost 40 years ago when it was still a taboo. Leigh feels isolated, being raised by a single mother and having absent father. Leigh’s grieving process over his missing father evolves in the story, so kids can still relate. The ending surprised me.  It felt like the author cut it short. My mind began to wonder about what happened next.  Did Leigh go on a run with his father the next summer?  Did he ever get to meet Mr. Henshaw? 

If I were to teach this novel, I would have students write what they think would happen to Leigh.  Or maybe have them write an alternate ending to the story.  I found a web sight that is a study guide for the book and is a good resource for information. It talks about themes, symbols, irony, literary elements in the story to name a few.  It would be a good place to start when designing lessons.

https://www.gradesaver.com/dear-mr-henshaw

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