Dear Mr. Henshaw Themes

Is a family still a family when it's cut in half? That's the question Beverly Cleary tackles in Dear Mr. Henshaw. Cleary wrote this book for all kids, but mostly for the large number of kids whose...

Who am I? Where do I belong? Where will I fit in?If you've ever asked yourself those questions, congratulations—you're a psychologist, and you're thinking about the complicated question of identi...

Older and wiser. That's our boy Leigh by the end of Dear Mr. Henshaw. Coming of age is all about growing up, but it has less to do with buying bigger clothes than it does with all the stuff that's...

Letters and diaries and stories, oh my. This story is saturated in writing. The whole book is written in an epistolary/diary form, for starters. The main character is an avid reader who wants to be...

You know what they say: when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.That's not how the saying goes? Sorry, it must have been an old joke we heard once. Let's try that again.When the going gets...

Don't fence me in: that old cowboy song is Dad's motto. He loves the freedom of the open road and not having to account for anyone but himself. Here's the thing, Dad: that's not cool when you're ma...

Being the new kid in town—ugh.In Dear Mr. Henshaw, Leigh Botts is that new kid. He's kind of a loner, and he's a bit timid/shy/introverted (take your pick). Plus, he's just lost his dad and his d...

As the famous philosopher Mick Jagger taught us, you can't always get what you want. Everyone wants things. In Dear Mr. Henshaw, Leigh wants friends, all of his lunch, a relationship with his dad,...