Dear Mr. Henshaw Trivia

Love Leigh Botts? Did you know there's a sequel? Without spoiling the story, we'll just say that he gets a new dog and a crush as he continues to figure out life without his dad. (Source)

At the part where Leigh has lunch with the famous author, there's an illustration showing a couple of people smoking in the restaurant. Most restaurants don't allow that these days, but back when Paul O. Zelinsky did the illustrations, it was pretty common. It's the little things that give away our age sometimes, right? (Source)

Beverly Cleary turned 100 years old in April 2016. She published her first book at age 34 and her last at 83. Just goes to show you're never too young or too old to write. (Source)

Beverly Cleary grew up in a town so small that it didn't even have a library, so her mother had books from the State Library and opened up a small library in a room above a bank in town. When Beverly finally went to school in a big town, she was way behind in reading, so she knows what it's like for kids who struggle to keep up in school. (Source)

Talk about perseverance. Mrs. Cleary's daughter said this about her famous mom: "My ancestors crossed the plains in covered wagons, and so my mother is from Pioneer stock. ... She's very disciplined. When she would write every morning, she would sit down after breakfast, my brother and I would go to school, and she'd write, till noon or so. She never waited for inspiration, she just got to it." Cleary sure slipped that lesson into Dear Mr. Henshaw. (Source)

In 2008, a school in Portland, Oregon, was renamed for the city's most illustrious children's author. We bet they've got plenty of copies of Dear Mr. Henshaw in their library. (Source)