Character Analysis
As the alter ego of real author Beverly Cleary, fictional children's author Boyd Henshaw is a hoot.
In the beginning of the story, Leigh is doing an author study and asks Mr. Henshaw, his favorite writer, some questions. When his answers finally come back, Leigh reads them out loud and tells Mr. H. how it went over in class. He says, "I didn't think Miss Martinez would like silly answers, like your real name is Messing A. Round, and you don't have kids because you don't raise goats" (8.2).
Corny jokes, right? We'll forgive him, though. He takes the time to answer Leigh's letter, and that is huge.
#1 Fan
Leigh has idolized Mr. Henshaw since the second grade and tells him he wants to be a famous writer like him when he grows up. He's obsessed with Mr. H.'s book Ways to Amuse a Dog; his teacher reads it to him in second grade, and he reads it by himself in third grade. In fourth grade, he makes a diorama of it, and in fifth grade he gives a book report about it. It's no coincidence that about this time Mr. Henshaw writes to Leigh suggesting he read a different book of his for a change. Leigh reads Moose on Toast and likes that one, too.
At first, Mr. Henshaw's answers to Leigh's letters are pretty short. But when Leigh is in sixth grade, he has to write a report about an author and chooses—who else?—Mr. Henshaw. He asks him 10 questions, with the 10th being the one that probably gets Mr. Henshaw's attention:
10. 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. (7.10)
Mr. Henshaw answers that letter—a little late, but he answers—and he asks Leigh 10 questions right back. What a pain, right? But here's the secret: Mr. Henshaw isn't only interested in the answers to the questions; the questions are his first piece of advice to Leigh about how to be an author. The advice? If you want to be an author, "read, look, listen, think and write" (10.1). Those 10 questions are really just writing prompts, getting Leigh to tell Mr. H. about himself and his family, and the kinds of things he thinks about and wants for himself.
And it works. After a ton of complaining about it, Leigh writes. Pretty sneaky, Mr. Henshaw.
Even sneakier, Beverly Cleary.
Pen Pal
The author report is a turning point in Leigh's relationship with Mr. H. The author stays in touch and sends picture postcards now and then; he's obviously figured out through Leigh's letters that Leigh is struggling with his parents' divorce and his new school. As a children's author, he understands kids, and he probably senses that, with Dad gone, Leigh could use a male mentor. He starts being more of a presence in Leigh's life, a sounding board for Leigh to vent to about his problems.
He's got another big piece of advice for an aspiring young writer: keep a diary. When Leigh feels silly writing to nobody, Mr. Henshaw suggests he pretend he's writing to someone in particular. Leigh decides that someone will be none other than "Mr. Pretend Henshaw," until one day, Leigh doesn't need to pretend. He learns he can just write down his thoughts on a piece of paper.
As Leigh writes more, Mr. Henshaw gives him advice about story writing, and even admits that he also had trouble thinking of story ideas when he was young. That makes Leigh feel a little better:
I was surprised that you had trouble writing stories when you were my age. I think you are right. Maybe I am not ready to write a story. I understand what you mean. A character in a story should solve a problem or change in some way. I can see that a wax man who melts until he's a puddle wouldn't be there to solve anything and melting isn't the sort of change you mean. (45.1)
When Leigh decides to take Mr. H.'s advice and write about something he knows, he wins a writing prize in the school competition. He's super grateful for the author's help over the years. He writes:
I had to tell you something. You were right. I wasn't ready to write an imaginary story.[…] I just thought you would like to know. Thank you for your help. (59.1-2)
Our direct knowledge about Mr. Henshaw is pretty limited. We never see a picture of him; we never see a piece of his writing except a drawing of a postcard he sends to Leigh. We know he must like animals (all three books of his that Leigh mentions are about animals) and young authors-to-be.
But Leigh (and Beverly Cleary) do a great job letting us know what kinds of things Mr. Henshaw must be thinking and writing about. He never says a word directly about Leigh's family troubles—he's not one to butt in—but he knows the best way to help Leigh is to give him an outlet to think and write about those problems. He must know how much those letters and postcards mean to Leigh after hearing about how little he hears from his dad.
When Leigh has lunch with Mrs. Badger, the author from the writing competition, he asks her if she's ever met Boyd Henshaw (whom Leigh really, really wants to meet). She describes Mr. H. as "a very nice young man with a wicked twinkle in his eye" (58.22). Yeah, he's mischievous all right. We can totally see it.
Count us in as Mr. Henshaw's #1—oops, make that #2—fan.