Dear Mr. Henshaw
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40 free Dear Mr. Henshaw trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Beverly Cleary's Dear Mr. Henshaw is a short book that stays with readers for decades. Told through a sixth-grader's letters and diary entries, it follows Leigh Botts as he copes with his parents' divorce, a new town, an unreliable father and whoever keeps raiding his lunch bag. This quiz covers the whole story: Leigh's fan mail to his favorite writer, life with his hard-working mother, the famous lunchbox alarm, the writing contest and the bittersweet ending. A few questions step outside the plot to the award the book received, its illustrator and its sequel. It is pitched for students checking what they remember before a reading test, for teachers and parents who want ready-made comprehension questions, and for adults revisiting a childhood favorite. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so it works on screen or printed out for a class.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which book by Mr. Henshaw does Leigh Botts love so much that he writes to its author year after year?
Ways to Amuse a Dog
Ways to Amuse a Dog stays with Leigh for years. He builds a diorama of it in fourth grade and gives a book report on it in fifth.
Q 02What is the name of Leigh Botts's dog, who rides along in his father's truck after the divorce?
Bandit
Bandit got his name from the red bandanna he wore in place of a collar. He simply jumped into the truck cab one day and stayed there.
Q 03What does Leigh Botts find covering the trees on an after-school walk that finally lifts his gloomy mood?
Butterflies
Butterflies cover the trees so thickly that Leigh misses them at first, until the sun comes out and they take flight. On the run home he notices the alarm boxes on the shops.
Q 04What does Leigh Botts's father call him on the phone instead of using his name, much to Leigh's annoyance?
Kid
Kid is the word that grates on Leigh, along with his father never saying he misses him. Worse still are the many weeks when no call comes at all.
Q 05What does Leigh Botts's mother refuse to have repaired, leaving him bored enough to write to Mr. Henshaw?
The television
The television stays broken, so a bored Leigh grudgingly works through the author's list one letter at a time. He signs one of those letters as an ex-friend.
Q 06Which American children's book prize did Beverly Cleary win in 1984 for Dear Mr. Henshaw?
Newbery Medal
The Newbery Medal finally went to Cleary after two near misses. Earlier novels of hers had been named Honor Books in 1978 and 1982.
Q 07Which food does a boy in the background ask about when Leigh Botts phones his father's trailer?
Pizza
Pizza is what the unseen boy wants to go out for, and hearing it makes Leigh hang up. He cries afterwards, hurt that another child is off to eat with his father.
Q 08What kind of business employs Leigh Botts's mother part-time and supplies the fancy treats in his lunch bag?
A catering firm
A catering firm run by her childhood friend Katy has her cooking for weddings and parties. Katy sends goodies home with her to go into Leigh's lunches.
Q 09Which word does Leigh Botts add to Mr. Henshaw's name when he starts addressing diary entries to the author?
Pretend
Pretend goes between Mr. and Henshaw because Leigh felt silly writing to nobody. Later he finds he can simply put his thoughts on paper and drops the device.
Q 10What does Leigh Botts tell his father to do with the family dog as the visit ends?
Keep him for company
Keep him for company is Leigh's verdict, thinking of his father's long, lonely drives. The dog hops into the cab as if riding along was what he had wanted all along.
Q 11In which year of school is Leigh Botts when he writes his very first misspelled fan letter to Mr. Henshaw?
Second grade
Second grade is where the story opens, with a short fan letter full of spelling mistakes. By sixth grade Leigh is bombarding the same author with a list of things to answer by Friday.
Q 12What does Mr. Henshaw enclose with his joking late reply that leaves Leigh Botts fuming about extra work?
His own questionnaire
His own questionnaire, ten items long, was really a set of writing prompts in disguise. It gets Leigh telling the author about himself, his family and the things he wishes for.
Q 13What kind of dwelling did Leigh Botts and his parents share before the divorce in Dear Mr. Henshaw?
Q 21To which seaside California town do Leigh Botts and his mother move after the divorce in Dear Mr. Henshaw?
Pacific Grove
Pacific Grove suits Leigh's mother, who has always loved ocean breezes. The real town borders Pebble Beach, home of the famous golf links.
Q 22In which Central Valley city did Leigh Botts live before the divorce, where his father still keeps a trailer?
Bakersfield
Bakersfield sits among the farms whose produce truckers like Leigh's father haul around the valley. Leigh calls the long, straight interstate through those fields boring.
Q 23What blunder by the custodian does Leigh Botts spot before class, leading to a morning job at school?
Flying a flag upside down
A mobile home
A mobile home was all the family could manage once the new truck swallowed their money. Leigh's mother is glad the tiny cottage they live in now cannot be hauled away.
Q 14What is Leigh Botts's mother studying to become at community college alongside her part-time job?
A nurse
A nurse is the goal: she is training as a licensed vocational nurse. Leigh loves her cooking and only wishes she did more of it at home.
Q 15What is the name of the school custodian who jokes that Leigh Botts needs a burglar alarm for his lunch?
Mr. Fridley
Mr. Fridley also makes pupils laugh by calling their retainers false teeth when he reminds them not to throw them away. His alarm joke plants the idea Leigh later builds.
Q 16What Christmas present from his father reaches Leigh Botts late on Christmas Eve, brought by a stranger?
A jacket
A jacket was exactly what Leigh had been wanting. The next day he and his mother go to Katy's for Christmas dinner.
Q 17Which classmate invites Leigh Botts home after school to help put an alarm on his door?
Barry
Barry notices Leigh after the lunchbox alarm goes off in the cafeteria and soon becomes a friend. Lacking the right battery for the job, they play with his models instead.
Q 18Which crop are Leigh Botts and his father hauling in the true story he enters in the writing contest?
Grapes
Grapes are the load in Leigh's memory of the day his father took him along in the truck. He dashes the piece off with one day to spare, leaving out the waitress and the video games.
Q 19What recognition does Leigh Botts's trucking story earn in the Young Writers' Yearbook contest?
Honorable mention
Honorable mention brings no prize, and Leigh admits he is disappointed not to be meeting the famous author. He shrugs it off as one of those times you lose.
Q 20How does Leigh Botts's mother answer when his father asks whether there is any chance for them?
She refuses him
She refuses him firmly, however much Leigh had hoped for a reunion. When the truck pulls away again he feels grateful for the visit and sad at the same time.
Flying a flag upside down, the state one, was the slip Leigh saw while killing time before the doors opened. Asked to help with the flags daily, he no longer had to dawdle on the walk in.
Q 24From which state does Mr. Henshaw send Leigh Botts a postcard saying he is busy writing and chopping wood?
Wyoming
Wyoming surprises Leigh, who thought the author lived in Alaska. The card carries a suggestion that changes everything: start keeping a diary.
Q 25What do Leigh Botts and his mother buy and eat in the car by the beach after his upsetting phone call?
Fried chicken
Fried chicken eaten while watching the waves settles them both. By the end of the meal Leigh is no longer angry with his mother.
Q 26What does Leigh Botts's father mail him along with a note apologizing for losing the dog?
Twenty dollars
Twenty dollars came with the suggestion to buy an ice cream, which made Leigh furious. His first plan for the money is to save it toward a typewriter.
Q 27Where does a kindly old man call Leigh Botts 'son' while helping him choose parts for his lunchbox alarm?
A hardware store
A hardware store worker gives Leigh both the pieces and advice on putting them together. Being called son makes Leigh wish his own father would speak to him that way.
Q 28How does the mystery of who was raiding Leigh Botts's lunch end?
The culprit is never caught
The culprit is never caught, and Leigh decides he is glad not to know. He reasons that whoever it was may simply have had nothing good in his own lunch.
Q 29What title does Leigh Botts give the story he finally enters in the Young Writers contest?
A Day on Dad's Rig
A Day on Dad's Rig delights the visiting author, who urges Leigh to go on writing authentic stories. His earlier attempt, about a melting wax giant, went nowhere.
Q 30Why does Leigh Botts get to attend the lunch with a famous author after all?
A winner copied her poem
A winner copied her poem out of a book, so her place passed to Leigh. He is driven to the Holiday Inn, where the students sit with the author at one long table.