Dear Mr. Henshaw Read Online Free

big one.
    At dinner Dad remarked that when he was driving along, he often saw one shoe lying on the highway. He always wondered how it got there and what happened to its mate.
    Mom said one shoe sounded sad, like a country-western song. While we ate our mince pie we all tried to think up songs about lost shoes. I’ll never forget them. Mine was worst:
    Driving with a heavy load
    I saw a shoe upon the road
    Squashed like a toad.
    Dad came up with:
    I saw a shoe
    Wet with dew
    On Highway 2.
    It made me blue.
    What’ll I do?
    Mom’s song really made us laugh. It was the best.
    A lonesome hiker was unluckee
    To lose his boot near Truckee.
    He hitched a ride with one foot damp
    Down the road to Angels Camp.
    Dumb songs, but we had a lot of fun. Mom and Dad hadn’t laughed that much for a long time, and I hoped they would never stop.
    After that, whenever Dad came home, I asked if he had seen any shoes on the highway. He always had.
    Monday, December 25
    Dear Mr. Pretend Henshaw,
    Last night I was feeling low and was still awake after the gas station stopped pinging. Then I heard heavy feet coming up the steps, and for a minute I thought it was Dad until I remembered he always ran up steps.
    Mom is careful about opening the door at night. I heard her turn on the outside light and knew she was peeking out from behind the curtain. She opened the door, and a man said, “Is this where Leigh Botts lives?”
    I was out of bed and into the front room in a second. “I’m Leigh Botts,” I said.
    â€œYour Dad asked me to drop this off for you.” A man who looked like a trucker handed me a big package.
    â€œThanks,” I said. “Thanks a whole lot.” I must have looked puzzled because he said, “He sent out a call over his CB radio for someone coming to Pacific Grove who would like to play Santa. So here I am. Merry Christmas anda ho-ho-ho!” He waved and was off down the walk before I could say anything more.
    â€œWow!” I said to Mom. “Wow!” She just stood there in her robe smiling while I began to tear off the paper even if it wasn’t Christmas morning. Dad had sent what I always wanted—a quilted down jacket with a lot of pockets and a hood that zips into the collar. I tried it on over my pajamas. It was the right size and felt great. Getting a present from my Dad in time for Christmas felt even better.
    Today Katy invited us for Christmas dinner even though this has been a busy season for catering. She also had some of the other women who work with her and their kids and a few old people from her neighborhood.
    On the way home Mom said, “Katy has a heart as big as a football stadium. It was a lovely dinner for lonely hearts.”
    I wondered if she was thinking about last Christmas when we tried to make up songs about lonely lost shoes.

    Wednesday, January 3
    Dear Mr. Pretend Henshaw,
    I got behind in my diary during Christmas vacation because I had a lot of things to do such as go to the dentist for a checkup, get some new shoes and do a lot of things that don’t get done during school.
    Today I wrote a fictitious name, or pseud. as they sometimes say, on my lunchbag. I printed Joe Kelly on it because that was the name of the boy in Ways to Amuse a Dog so I knew it was fictitious. I guess I fooled the thief because nobody stole the water chestnuts and chicken livers wrapped in bacon that Katy broiled just for me. They are good even when they are cold. I hope the thief drooled when he watched me eat them.
    Monday, January 8
    Dear Mr. Pretend Henshaw,
    Dad phoned me from Hermiston, Oregon! I just looked in my book of road maps and saw where it is, up there by the Columbia River. He said he was waiting for a load of potatoes. I could hear a juke box and a bunch of men talking. I asked about Bandit, and he said Bandit was fine, a great listener on a long haul even though he doesn’t have much to say. I asked Dad if I could ride with him