Dear Mr Henshaw

I've recently come across a great book called Dear Mr Henshaw. It was written by the American author Beverly Cleary in 1983.

The book is almost entirely made up of letters between a child, Leigh Botts, and his favourite author, Boyd Henshaw.

Here is the blurb:

Leigh Botts has been author Boyd Henshaw's number-one fan ever since he was in second grade. Now in sixth grade, Leigh lives with his mother and is the new kid at school. He's lonely, troubled by the absence of his father, a cross-country trucker, and angry because a mysterious thief steals from his lunchbag. Then Leigh's teacher assigns a letter-writing project. Naturally Leigh chooses to write to Mr. Henshaw, whose surprising answer changes Leigh's life.

I thought it was a great book and it would be the perfect story to read in order to encourage children to write to their favourite authors. I'm definitely going to read it to my Year 5 class. I'll let you know what they think of it.