Ellen Tebbits News Today

From the May/June 2024 special issue of The Horn Book Magazine: Our Centennial.

After a year off, the super-fun, volunteer-led Portland bike festival is back—for 3 whole months.

After a year of isolation, Beverly Cleary’s 1983 Newbery-winning “Dear Mr. Henshaw” takes on new meaning, as protagonist Leigh navigates an unromanticized and bittersweet childhood full of loneliness and struggles against an elusive father figure. One look at Cleary’s book, and “Dear Mr. Henshaw” stands out as sad; far sadder than any of her other works. In fact, as she explained in a 2019 interview for WETA, Cleary wrote “Dear Mr. Henshaw” at the behest of two letters from chil...