Cleary, B. (1983). Dear Mr. Henshaw. New York: Scholastic Inc.. Dear Mr. Henshaw tells the story of Leigh Botts with letters to his favorite author and eventually his journal. Leigh writes to his favorite author as an assignment in school. He enjoys Mr. Henshaw's book Way to Amuse a Dog, it remind him of his dog Bandit. Bandit doesn't live with him right now, he stays with his Dad that drives an 18 wheeler. His Dad is gone most of the time and his parents are divorced. Leigh and his Mom struggle financially and she has a job with a caterer who lets his Mom give Leigh amazing food for his lunch. Others are aware of his wonderful lunch and Leigh's lunch is stolen several times, Leigh determine to create a sort of alarm to protect his lunch. Mr. Fridley is the janitor at the school and is kind to Leigh, it is his idea for Leigh to discover how to arm his lunch with an alarm. Leigh writes to Mr. Henshaw over the course of several years and is annoyed when the author answers Leigh's letter full of questions with questions of his own. His mom makes him answer back and Leigh lets Mr. Henshaw know that if his Dad was here he would tell him to climb a tree. Leigh does most of the writing, Mr. Henshaw replies infrequently. Leigh tells him all about his life, struggles and his budding writing skills. He was included to meet a famous author based on his work but unfortunately it was not Mr Henshaw. Leigh misses his Dad and he learns that his Dad despite his promises to come home to see his boy has another family he stays with when he is off the road. He confronts his Dad with his pain and his Dad tries to make it better by visiting him with Bandit. Leigh is so excited to see them both but realizes Bandit belongs on the road with his Dad instead of with him. Beverly Cleary in this 1984 Newbery Award winner constructs a lovely book that is a classic for several generations of students. The layout of the book with the dates in the corner engages the reader to flip back to see how long ago the previous letter was written. The simple revealing look into Leigh's life to an outside speaks to the common theme of being heard. Leigh and his Mom struggles to make ends meet and her care for him reminds the reader of how life is difficult but better together. His disappointment and hurt with his Dad and sometimes even Mr. Henshaw helps articulate words to similar feelings. Teaching with Favorite Newbery Books by Lori Licciardo-Musso has different ideas on how to incorporate Dear Mr. Henshaw with teaching including students keeping a diary, outlining and labeling a map of California, vocabulary study and meeting authors of other books by research and connecting with them.