Dear Howie,
Even though you do tend to overuse a certain simile (finely tuned concert piano, anyone?) and overdo the adjectives about one character (that clever dachsund puppy) my class and I love you anyway. You write and worry about your writing, after all, just as they do in your clever series, Tales from the House of Bunnicula of which my personal favorite for reading aloud is It Came from Beneath the Bed. Your creator, James Howe, captures the trials and tribulations of young writers perfectly. Moving back and forth between Howie’s story and his writing journal is brilliant.
I read this story to my class every year as they grapple themselves with the complex issues of writing a good story. Cliff hangers, overusing certain words (…concert piano…), getting bored, and so forth, just what my students are dealing with too. One year we even created a list of “Howie’s Rules for Writing.”
Thanks for being a realistic, charming, and entertaining role model for my young writers.
All the best,
Monica Edinger
educating alice 
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