Books in series
#1
The World According to Humphrey
2004
The first book in the series about everyone's favorite classroom pet!
You can learn a lot about life by observing another species. That’s what Humphrey was told when he was first brought to Room 26. And boy, is it true! In addition to having FUN-FUN-FUN in class, each weekend this amazing hamster gets to sleep over with a different student, like Lower-Your-Voice-A.J. and Speak-Up-Sayeh. Soon Humphrey learns to read, write, and even shoot rubber bands (only in self-defense, of course). With lots of friends to help, adventures to enjoy, and a cage with a lock-that-doesn’t- lock, Humphrey's life is almost perfect. If only the teacher, Mrs. Brisbane, wasn’t out to get him!
Boys and girls can't help falling in love with Humphrey!
#2
Friendship According to Humphrey
2005
After the holidays, Humphrey is shocked by a big surprise in Room 26-a new class pet! Humphrey tries to be welcoming, but Og the frog doesn't respond to any of his friendly squeaks or visits (remember, he has a lock-that-doesn't-lock). Plus, the students are so interested in Og, they almost stop paying attention to Humphrey altogether. Humphrey doesn't like the mad-bad-sad feelings he's had since Og came, but luckily he still gets to have adventures with different kids on the weekends.
Friendship can be tricky, but Humphrey is an intrepid problem-solver. If any hamster can become buddies with a frog, he can.
Praise for The World According to Humphrey:
#3
Trouble According to Humphrey
2007
Humphrey usually helps solve problems, but now he’s caused a big one: Golden-Miranda gets in trouble when Humphrey is caught outside of his cage on her watch. No one knows about his lock-that-doesn’t-lock and he can’t exactly squeak up on her behalf. While Humphrey manages to show Pay-Attention-Art that math is important outside of class, help Sit-Still-Seth actually sit still, and survive a trip to the vet, can he clear Miranda’s name without giving up his freedom forever? Friendship According to Humphrey received a Christopher Award and kids voted The World According to Humphrey the winner of state book awards in RI, MD and PA. Plus, it’s nominated for eleven others so far (WA, MN, FL, LA, OK, SC, PA, NC, UT, IA, ME). Reviewers have called him “delightful,” “irresistible,” “big hearted” and “perky.”
#4
Surprises According to Humphrey
2008
Being a classroom hamster means having to be ready for anything?but suddenly there are a lot of big surprises in Humphrey?s world. Some are exciting, like seeing the playground during a fire drill and getting to roll around in a hamster ball. But some aren?t so good, like a cat creeping around, a different janitor who might be from another planet, and the most shocking thing of all?the possibility of Mrs. Brisbane retiring. Even with all that?s going on, Humphrey makes time to help a few classmates with their problems. But could Mrs. Brisbane leaving school be one problem that?s just too big for this little guy to solve? Friendship According to Humphrey received a Christopher Award, and kids voted The World According to Humphrey the winner of children?s choice awards in six states. Plus, it?s been nominated for ten others.
#5
Adventure According to Humphrey
2008
The students in Room 26 are learning about boats and building their own for a race on Potter's Pond. Humphrey the hamster loves dreaming about being a pirate and watching his friends build ships. But when he mistakenly ends up at sea on the day of the boat race, he finds himself in the middle of more adventure than he bargained for! Humphrey is back in this charming story of a hamster on the high seas of hilarity.
#6
Summer According to Humphrey
2009
In his sixth adventure, Humphrey heads off for the great outdoors. When Humphrey hears that school is ending, he panics. School ends? What's a classroom hamster to do if he's not in school? But as it turns out, there's something thrilling in store for Humphrey and Og the going to Camp Happy Hollow with Ms. Mac and lots of the kids from Room 26!
Camper Humphrey meets a friendly wild mouse, tracks down Og when he gets lost by the lake, and uses his wily charm to help kids adjust to cabin life and make new friends. Everyone's favorite classroom pet keeps entertaining kids across the nation, and his books have won eight state awards and were nominated for fourteen others.
#7
School Days According to Humphrey
2011
Humphrey is excited to get back to Room 26 and see all his old classmates. But on the first day of school, a bunch of strange kids arrive and no matter how loudly he squeaks up, they don't realize they're in the wrong room! Once Humphrey gets over the shock of being with a whole new group of students, he gets busy learning all about them and their problems. There's Rolling-Rosie, who can pop wheelies with her wheelchair, Tall-Paul and Small- Paul, who don't like to hear about their height, Hurry-Up-Harry, who loses track of time, and more.
He hasn't forgotten about his friends from last year, and of course they miss him a ton. But when they start talking about taking him from Mrs. Brisbane's room, Humphrey gets unsqueakably nervous. How could he say good-bye to Mrs. Brisbane and Og for good?
Nominated for twenty-one state awards and the winner of seven, the Humphrey series is a hit across the country.
#8
Mysteries According to Humphrey
2012
EEK-EEK-EEK! Mrs. Brisbane is missing!
Humphrey has always investigated things, like why Speak-Up-Sayeh was so quiet and Tall-Paul and Small-Paul didn't get along, but this is a true mystery—Mrs. Brisbane is missing! She just didn't show up in Room 26 one morning and no one told Humphrey why. The class has a substitute teacher, called Mr. E., but he's no Mrs. Brisbane. Humphrey has just learned about Sherlock Holmes, so he vows to be just as SMART-SMART-SMART about collecting clues and following leads to solve the mystery of Mrs. Brisbane (and a few others along the way).
Nominated for twenty-four state awards and the winner of seven, the Humphrey series is a hit across the country.
#9
Winter According to Humphrey
2012
A hamsterific celebration of the best time of the year
Room 26 is abuzz. The students are making costumes and practicing their special songs for the Winter Wonderland program and Humphrey is fascinated by all the ways his classmates celebrate the holidays (especially the yummy food). He also has problems to solve like how to get Do-It-Now-Daniel to stop procrastinating, convince Helpful-Holly to stop stressing over presents, and come up with the perfect gift for Og the frog. Of course he manages to do all that while adding delightful heart and humor to the holiday season.
Nominated for twenty-four state awards and the winner of seven, the Humphrey series is a hit across the country. And he's becoming a one school/one book favorite!
#10
Secrets According to Humphrey
2014
Humphrey is back in his tenth adventure in the beloved middle-grade series!
So many secrets are flying around Room 26 that Humphrey can barely keep track. Mrs. Brisbane knows a student is leaving, but Humphrey can't figure out which one. (Even more confusing, Mrs. Brisbane seems unsqueakably happy about it.) The class is studying the Ancient Egyptians, and some of the kids have made up secret clubs and secret codes. Even Aldo is holding back news from Humphrey.
Humphrey's job as classroom pet is to help his humans solve their problems, but all these secrets are making it HARD-HARD-HARD!
#11
Imagination According to Humphrey
2015
Humphrey's eleventh adventure celebrates stories, writing, and the power of the imagination!
Imaginations are running wild in Mrs. Brisbane’s class, but Humphrey is stumped. His friends are writing about where they would go if they could fly, but Humphrey is HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY right where he is in Room 26.
It’s pawsitively easy for Humphrey to picture exciting adventures with dragons and knights in the story Mrs. Brisbane is reading aloud. He has no trouble coming up with Plans to help his friends and tricks to entertain them. His imagination even goes a little too far when he wonders if Carlos’s imaginary friend might be a ghost.
If only his imagination wouldn’t disappear when he tries to write. Luckily, Humphrey likes a challenge, and Mrs. Brisbane has lots of writing tips that do the trick.
#12
Spring According to Humphrey
2016
Spring is in the air, and lots of things are growing—including the Room 26 family!
Signs of spring are very exciting to everyone at Longfellow School. Mrs. Brisbane's class has seen flowers poking out of snow and baby birds hatching, and Just-Joey even brought in tadpoles that are growing into frogs. It also means Family Fun Night is coming up, and all of the students' families are involved in making amazing activities.
Humphrey helps in many ways, of course, but he can't stop wondering about his own family. He doesn't know anything about his mom or dad. Luckily, all of his wonderful friends help him see that families come in many shapes and sizes, and Humphrey's might be the biggest (and best!) one of all.
#18
Humphrey's Ha-Ha-Ha Joke Book
2011
Dear friends, I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE being the classroom hamster of Room 26. I've learnt lots about making friends and making them laugh along the way. So I've decided to collect my favourite jokes together in this HA-HA-HA hilarious joke book. And best of all, I included your favourite jokes as well. Thank you, readers, for making me laugh too. Your funny friend,
Humphrey
Author
Betty G. Birney
Author · 46 books
From kindergarten through graduation, I attended school in Affton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Then I graduated from Webster College (now Webster University) in Webster Groves, Missouri. Of course, I majored in English and kept on writing. After working in advertising in St. Louis, Missouri and in Chicago, Illinois, I eventually moved to Southern California. First, I worked for Disneyland (fun job!) in the advertising department. The monorail whizzed past my window all day long. Then I worked at the Disney Studio in Burbank, where I had another fun job, writing and producing television and radio commercials and theatrical trailers (previews of coming attractions) for everything from re-releases of "Cinderella" and "Fantasia" to "Tex." When the Disney Channel was started, I became a writer and story editor for WELCOME TO POOH CORNER. Since then, I've written more than 200 episodes of animated and live-action television programs including MADELINE, DOUG, BOBBY'S WORLD, DUMBO'S CIRCUS, THE PUZZLE PLACE, CAMP CANDY, LITTLE MOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, WHERE'S WALDO, FRAGGLE ROCK and ZOOBILEE ZOO. That's right, I write cartoons! I also wrote a number of award-winning afterschool specials and many interactive CD-ROM programs, including the award-winning "Berenstain Bears on their Own," "Richard Scarry's Busiest Neighborhood Ever," and "The Crayon Factory." A made-for-television family movie I wrote, MARY CHRISTMAS, starring John Schneider, Cynthia Gibb and Tom Bosley, aired on the PAX network in 2002. It was the highest rated movie in PAX history and has aired each Christmas season since then. I have been fortunate enough to win a Writer's Guild of America Award and three Humanitas Prizes (as well as two other nominations). In 2002, I won a Daytime Emmy Award for MADELINE, after two previous Emmy nominations. More recently, I received the Christopher Award for FRIENDSHIP ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY, many children's choice awards for THE WORLD ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY and was inducted into the Affton (MO) School District Hall of Fame.
