Dear Mr. Henshaw, by Beverly Cleary

The story is broken into 6 sections.

Section 1 p. 1-19 Section 4 p. 61-87

Section 2 p. 20-37 Section 5 p. 89-114

Section 3 p. 39-59 Section 6 p. 114-133

Section 1 – Due May 10

1. Why did Leigh begin writing to Mr. Henshaw?

2. What did Mr. Henshaw’s answers to Leigh’s questions tell you about the author’s personality?

3. Why did Leigh become angry with Mr. Henshaw?

4. What did Leigh mean when he called himself “the mediumest boy in the class”?

5. What did you learn about Leigh’s family?

Section 2 – Due May 12

1. How did Leigh’s life change after his parents’ divorce?

2. Why did Leigh continue to answer Mr. Henshaw’s questions?

3. What advice did Mr. Henshaw give Leigh about becoming an author? Why would keeping a diary be one way of following this advice?

4. Why did Leigh enjoy helping Mr. Fridley with the flags?

5. What problems did Leigh have at lunchtime?

6. How were Leigh and Mr. Henshaw’s feelings about letter-writing changing? How do you know?

Section 3 – Due May 16

1. Why did Leigh begin his diary with “Dear Mr. Pretend Henshaw”?

2. How did Leigh try to prevent his lunch from being stolen? Why didn’t this work?

3. What did Mr. Fridley suggest as a solution to the lunch box problem?

4. Why did Leigh ask his mother if she was planning to get married again?

5. How did Leigh’s father show that he had not forgotten about his son at Christmas time? Do you think that this made up for all the other acts of neglect?

6. Why was Christmas a difficult time for Leigh?

7. What evidence showed that Leigh’s writing skills were improving?

Section 4 – Due May 18

1. Why did Leigh feel guilty about his parents’ divorce? Should he have felt guilty?

2. What two things upset Leigh when he called his father?

3. Why did the butterflies make Leigh feel better? And why do you think the butterflies reminded him of the Cinderella story?

4. Why was Leigh angry when his father sent him twenty dollars? How do you think you would have felt if you were in Leigh’s place?

5. What did you think Leigh meant when he described Mr. Fridley as “so nice, sort of baggy and comfortable”? What phrase might you use to describe a person who is nervous and fussy?

Section 5 – Due May 23

1. Why do you think Mr. Henshaw suggested that Leigh wasn’t ready to write a story?

2. How did Leigh’s lunch box alarm change his life in unexpected ways?

3. Why was Leigh’s story about a trip with his Dad better than the one about the wax man or the lunch box?

4. What do you think Leigh’s mother meant when she said that she would not remarry her former husband because he “will never grow up”?

5. Describe Leigh’s feelings when he discovered that he received “Honorable Mention” for his story in the Yearbook.

6. ***Answer this on a separate piece of paper. Imagine that you are Leigh and feel the need to communicate with your father. Write an honest letter to your father telling him how you feel about the divorce?

Section 6 – Due May 25

1. Why was Leigh able to go to the Famous Author luncheon and meet Mrs. Badger?

2. Why did Mrs. Badger enjoy Leigh’s story more than the others?

3. What do you think Mrs. Badger meant when she said that Mr. Henshaw was a “man with a wicked twinkle in his eye?”

4. Why had Leigh’s father really come to visit?

5. Why did Leigh allow Bandit to stay with his father?

Complete one of the following activities. Due May 31

A. Throughout Dear Mr. Henshaw there are many suggestions for writing well. Make a list of “Tips for Writers” based on the advice found in the book. What do you think of this advice?

B. Discuss the influence Mr. Henshaw’s books and letters had upon Leigh. Name a person who had had an important influence on your life and what affect it has had upon you.

C. Write a letter to your favorite author. You must turn it in, but then you can mail it.