Excerpts

Dear Mr. Henshaw AER May 12 Dear Mr. Henshaw, My teacher read your book about the dog to our class. It was funny. We licked it. Your freind, Leigh Botts (boy) December 3 Dear Mr. Henshaw, I am the boy who wrote to you last year when I was in the second grade. Maybe you didn't get my letter. This year I read the book I wrote to you about called Ways to Amuse a Dog. It is the first thick book with chapters that I have read. The boy's father said city dogs were bored so Joe could not keep the dog unless he could think up seven ways to amuse it. I have a black dog. His name is Bandit. He is a nice dog. If you answer I get to put your letter on the bulletin board. My teacher taught me a trick about friend. The i goes before e so that at the end it will spell end. Keep in tutch. Your friend, Leigh (Lee) Botts November 13 Dear Mr. Henshaw, I am in the fourth grade now. I made a diorama of Ways to Amuse a Dog, the book I wrote to you about two times before. Now our teacher is making us write to authors for Book Week. I got your answer to my letter last year, but it was only printed. Please would you write to me in your own handwriting? I am a great enjoyer of your books. My favorite character in the book was Joe's Dad because he didn't get mad when Joe amused his dog by playing a tape of a lady singing, and his dog sat and howled like he was singing, too. Bandit does the same thing when he hears singing. Your best reader, Leigh Botts December 2 Dear Mr. Henshaw, I got to thinking about Ways to Amuse a Dog. When Joe took his dog to the park and taught him to slide down the slide, wouldn't some grownup come along and say he couldn't let his dog use the slide? Around here grownups, who are mostly real old with cats, get mad if dogs aren't on leashes every minute. I hate living in a mobile home park. I saw your picture on the back of the book. When I grow up I want to be a famous book writer with a beard like you. I am sending you my picture. It is last year's picture. My hair is longer now. With all the millions of kids in the U.S., how would you know who I am if I don't send you my picture? Your favorite reader, Leigh Botts Enclosure: Picture of me. (We are studying business letters.) October 2 Dear Mr. Henshaw, I am in the fifth grade now. You might like to know that I gave a book report on Ways to Amuse a Dog. The class liked it. I got an A-. The minus was because the teacher said I didn't stand on both feet. Sincerely, Leigh Botts November 7 Dear Mr. Henshaw, I got your letter and did what you said. I read a different book by you. I read Moose on Toast. I liked it almost as much as Ways to Amuse a Dog. It was really funny the way the boy's mother tried to think up ways to cook the moose meat they had in their freezer. 1000 pounds is a lot of moose. Mooseburgers, moose stew and moose meat loaf don't sound too bad. Maybe moose mincemeat pie would be OK because with all the raisins and junk you wouldn't know you were eating moose. Creamed chipped moose on toast, yuck. I don't think the boy's father should have shot the moose, but I guess there are plenty of moose up there in Alaska, and maybe they needed it for food. If my Dad shot a moose I would feed the tough parts to my dog Bandit. Your number 1 fan, Leigh Botts September 20 Dear Mr. Henshaw, This year I am in the sixth grade in a new school in a different town. Our teacher is making us do author reports to improve our writing skills, so of course I thought of you. Please answer the following questions. How many books have you written? Is Boyd Henshaw your real name or is it fake? Why do you write books for children? Where do you get your ideas? Do you have any kids? What is your favorite book that you wrote? Do you like to write books? What is the title of your next book? What is your favorite animal? Please give me some tips on how to write a book. This is important to me. I really want to know so I can get to be a famous author and write books exactly like yours. Please send me a list of your books that you wrote, an autographed picture and a bookmark. I need your answer by next Friday. This is urgent! Sincerely, Leigh Botts De Liver De Letter De Sooner De Better De Later De Letter De Madder I Getter Dear Mr. Henshaw AER . Copyright © by Beverly Cleary . Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary, Paul O. Zelinsky All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.