The World According To Humphrey (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
The World According to Humphrey is a heart-warming tale that I only recommend to those who are prepared to seriously consider hamster ownership. Humphrey is the class pet of Room 26, and he is the most intelligent and handsome hamster around. The story begins with Humphrey in crisis; the current teacher in Room 26, who bought Humphrey and took him home every night, was actually a long-term sub for Mrs. Brisbane. Mrs. Brisbane is returning after a prolonged absence, and Ms. Mac (the sub), is now leaving for Brasil. Humphrey is shocked to learn he will be staying on in Room 26 without her. Humphrey's point of view, (you can learn a lot by caring for another species) is by turns humorous and helpful, as he strives to fix human issues whenever encountered. This book does a great job of capturing the day to day life of a public school classroom, and excels at portraying the nexus of school and personal life for both students, teachers, and even principals. This is a quick read that I think can be read aloud to anyone starting with 1st grade, but would still be relevant for the 4-5th grade set.The spoilers below are character notes for our OBOB team.(view spoiler)[Ms. McNamara (Ms. Mac, Morgan McNamara) - The substitute teacher that steps in to begin the school year for Room 26. She buys Humphrey to help teach the children responsibility. And, of course, one can learn a lot by caring for another species. Ms. Mac seems to be a more liberal teacher and a free spirit who is young and has ambition to see the world. Humphrey loves her and is closest to her throughout the story.Humprhey - the most intelligent and handsome of hamsters, Humphrey is the class pet of Room 26 at Longfellow school. Humphrey learns to read and write, and he can understand humans even though his words only come out as squeaks. Humphrey is extremely adept at solving human problems and is able to help every one around him, especially Aldo and others that care for him over the weekend. Without Ms. Mac, Humphrey must be cared for by a volunteer every weekend. Mrs. Brisbane (Sue) - The permanent teacher in Room 26. Mrs. Brisbane is shown to be a fantastic teacher who is equally adept at navigating inter-personal issues of students. The reason she misses the beginning of the year is that her husband was in an accident, struck by another car. Mrs. Brisbane does not like hamsters or the extra work of caring for Humphrey. She refuses to take him home, so a system is created where volunteers take Humphrey home every weekend. This works great until Thanksgiving weekend, when Mrs. Brisbane is forced to bring Humphrey home with her.Mr. Brisbane (Bert) - Bert is now wheelchair bound and quite bitter about what has happened to him. He is always frowning and doesn't have anything to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. Humphrey is shocked by how rude he is to Mrs. Brisbane. However, Sue tells him that it is time for him to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life and to get on with it. He is re-energized after Humphrey "escapes" and leads Mr. Brisbane on a chase throughout the house. This leads Mr. Brisbane to create a maze for Humphrey, and Mr. Brisbane rediscovers his love of crafts and woodwork and eventually begins teaching a class on that at the community college. He brings Humphrey a cage extension for Christmas and he helps the kids create a playground for Humphrey.Aldo Amato - the night janitor at Longfellow school. Richie is his nephew, so he comments that Richie better leave a clean desk! Aldo is a humrous, lugubrious fellow who had lost his job and was grateful for his new job as janitor. However, the problem with this is he could no longer see his friends and was a bit lonely, even with visiting his large family on the weekends. Also is a performer at heart, always looking to entertain Humphrey and bring him treats. Aldo often has his dinner break in Room 26 so he can spend time with Humphrey. Humphrey empathizes with Aldo, and when he sees an ad for the moonlighter's club in the paper, he cuts it out and makes sure that Aldo finds it on the overhead projector. This works out great, as Aldo meets his fiance, Maria there. Maria - Aldo's fiance met through the Moonlighter's club. She works at a bakery so keeps odd hours as well. She is really nice and likes Humphrey, and Humphrey likes her. Humphrey gets to meet her when he spends the weekend at Richie's.Speak-Up-Sayeh - Sayeh is the first student to take Humphrey home for the weekend. Sayeh has issues in class as she won't answer when called upon. Mrs. Brisbane has to have a conversation with her, and promises not to call on Sayeh if she will raise her hand on her own sometime in the next two weeks. Sayeh is very gentle and kind, but she is afraid that kids will make fun of her accent, and she is embarrassed because of this. She shouldn't be, as she is one of the smartest kids on class and always gets 100% on her vocab. Humphrey goes home with her, and he helps Sayeh get her mother to try learning English. Soon the whole family is involved in speaking English (they are from India, I believe). Humphrey just thinks the family knows more words than him because he can't understand them. Sayeh gains confidence from teaching her parents to speak English, and finally raises her hand the next week to acknowledge that she received 100% on her vocab test (she would previously not raise her hand). Humphrey also hear that Sayeh has a beautiful singing voice, which Sayeh shows to the class on Halloween when she sings the national anthem.Stop-Giggling-Gail Morgenstern- Gail has trouble with giggling in class, hence her name. She is a good-hearted kid, and she gets in less trouble once Garth's issues are ironed out and he is not so disruptive and giggle inducing. Wait-for-the-Bell-Garth Tugwell- Garth was an erstwhile well-behaved student gone suddenly bad. He was friends with AJ, but now he shoots rubber bands at him, and he also sets Humphrey free and tries to get him to run away. He calls Humphrey "rat", and has a bad run of behavior that eventually lands him alone inside for recess with Mrs. Brisbane. She finds out that Garth's mom is really sick (sounds like possibly cancer and chemotherapy treatments), so Humphrey cannot go home with him. That is really the reason for his behavior, and Mrs. Brisbane says she will come up with a plan to allow Garth to see Humphrey over the weekend.Raise-your-hand-Heidi Hopper - She often blurts out with answers without raising her hand first. She is a constant presence in class, always excited to answer questions. Her mom is one of the room mothers as well. Lower-Your-Voice-A.J - A.J. is always talking to loud, which is a mystery to Humphrey until he goes home for the weekend with A.J. AJ is Anthony at home, where Humphrey finds that the family always has the TV blaring, along with Mom's radio in the kitchen. Family life revolves around the TV, even through the night with baby feedings, adults not sleeping, and children getting up early for cartoons. Humphrey can't get rest, and he wants to teach the family to not talk so loud. He sneaks out and unplugs the TV, which leads the family to discover playing card games, board games, playing outside, and enjoying quiet time. The parents find that the TV was unplugged, and decide to leave it that way while the kids are outside playing.Also, Garth comes over to play with Humphrey thanks to Mrs. Brisbane. This rekindles AJ and Garth's friendship, and Garth does a lot better after this.Pay-attention-Art - Art Patel, his mom is one of the room mothers. Humphrey goes home with him the weekend after Thanksgiving. Of course, Art has trouble paying attention and is often roused by the teacher or him mom when she's around. He doesn't have trouble paying attention to Humphrey during their visit.Miranda (Golden-Miranda) - Always knows to Humphrey as Golder-Miranda due to roll call, she is kind and Humphrey thinks she is the perfect person. He goes home with her, and with the help of her mother gives Humphrey's cage a complete cleaning. The only problem is Clem, their dog. He bulls his way into the room when the animals are home alone, and even gets Humphrey's cage door open. Miranda soothes Humphrey, who enjoys the attention. Clem - Miranda's dog that attack Humphrey when they are left alone. Humphrey is ready for him the second time and snaps his nose with a rubber band. Clem doesn't bother Humphrey again, so Humphrey doesn't have to smell that bad breath.Repeat-that-please-Richie - Aldo's nephew. Aldo thinks the capital of Kentucky is hot dog, tean frankfurter, then Frankfort. He is often asked to speak up because he mumbles, although he is quite smart. He keeps his desk extra clean so his Uncle Aldo doesn't have to clean up after him at night. Mr. Morales - Principal of Longfellow school. While he is the most important man in the world at Longfellow school, his secret is that no one at home listens to him, especially his children. He always wanted a Hamster as a child but his dad wouldn't let him because they couldn't afford it. He volunteers to take Humphrey home on the first weekend after Ms. Mac leaves.Brenda and Willy - Mr. Morales' own children that do not listen to him. Mr. Morales uses Humphrey (with Humprhrey's help of course) to teach teamwork, cooperation, queitness, and how to calm down.Mr. and Mrs. Robinson - Neighbors to the Brisbanes.Room Mothers, Mrs. Hopper, Mrs. Patel - Mrs. Hopper is Heidi's mom, and Mrs. Patel is Art's mom. They help with Halloween, Christmas, and have input on other activities, such as keeping Humphrey in room 26. Notable books:Guide to the Care and Feeding of Hamsters, by Dr. Harvey H. Hammer. There is a tip from this book featured at the end of each chapter. (hide spoiler)]
In the first book of the series, The World According the Humphrey, Humphrey a hamster who lives in Room 26 learns how to read, write, shoot rubber bands (only in self-defense, of course), turn of TVs, teach English as a second language, and more. He lives in a cage with a lock that doesn't lock and has an adventurous spirit, which leads him to become an unforgettable classroom pet. The topics related to this book include responsibility, understanding differences, language, international studies, coping with change, teacher/student relationships, and family. This book would be a wonderful read aloud in the classroom. As a teacher you could easily incorporate the themes and topics from the book into classroom discussions as writing prompts, extension activities, and research opportunities for many subjects. Some discussion topics I thought would be ideal in the classroom include: -Why does Humphrey see the world from a different point of view than the other students in Room 26? What do you imagine Humphrey would think of your classroom?-Ms. Mac tells Humphrey, “you can learn a lot about yourself by taking care of another species.” What do you think she means by this statement?-Do you talk to your pets or other animals? What do you imagine your pets say back to you? How do they tell you that they’re happy or unhappy?-Why don’t A.J.’s parents plug the television back in once they discover what Humphrey has done? Name five to ten fun things you like to do besides watching television. If suddenly there were no more TVs, how would you entertain yourself?Some classroom activities I thought would be ideal in the classroom include:-Mr. Brisbane built an elaborate addition for Humphrey’s cage. Draw a picture of the inside of Humphrey’s cage the way you think he’d like it to be. (Don’t forget the lock-that-doesn’t-lock.)-Ms. Mac leaves Room 26 to teach in Brazil and she writes to the class and Humphrey several times. Research Brazil in groups, focusing on one aspect of the country or culture, and then present what you’ve found. Possible topics for students to research include geography, landmarks, language, the rain forest, the Amazon River, Brasilia, carnival, and games.
What do You think about The World According To Humphrey (2005)?
This is a great book. I really enjoyed reading it for a number of reasons. This book is written from the perspective of a hamster known as Humphrey who is a student in a class known as Room 26. Reading a book from a hamster’s perspective is unusual and I feel this would intrigue a pupil an interest and inspire the pupil to continue reading. At the same it is challenging for a reader to continually read from this perspective and would encourage a child to use their imagination in order to understand life seen through someone else’s eyes. This book is set in a classroom and describes pupils and teachers and therefore easy for a student to associate with the context and identify with the activities and adventures which take place, further motivating them to read the book. This book is also educational as it describes social skills, for example taking responsibility and looking after a living being. The pupils in the story are responsible for taking care of the hamster, they clean the cage and feed it. There are also rules which illustrate good manners, for example being polite and listening to instructions. The appropriate age range for this book would be 7±.
—Michael Mccarthy
I was dreading reading this Bluestem nominee, but I was pleasantly surprised at the charm of the book. Yes, this story told from the point of view of a classroom hamster is sometimes cloyingly sweet, but the voice of Humphrey reminded me of my favorite fictionsl third grade girl (Clementine) and the story moves fast. I think children in the target for the book (3rd-5th) will really like the little hamster, and the lack of a defined grade will spread the book's appeal (we never find out what grade the kids in room 26 are in). Humphrey faces and helps solve a number of family problems that kids will recognize (too much tv, acting out over a sick mother, a scary dog, a grumpy older relative, etc.). Would make a very good class read-aloud for 3rd and maybe even 4th grade.
—H
First in a series of six books by author Betty Birney, The World According to Humphrey is a very cute story told from the perspective of a hamster. I listened to the audiobook version of this with my son. Humphrey begins his story with Mrs. Mack and a classroom of children who love him. When Mrs. Mack picks him up at the pet store she tells him that he “can learn a lot about yourself by taking care of another species and you’ll teach those children a thing or two.” So when a substitute teacher Mrs. Brisbain is called in she has Humphrey spend a night with each of the children. Humphrey really does learn a lot and helps to solve the problems of the people around him. Each chapter includes hamster care tips which do not detract from the story and some are quite humorous. A wonderful series for children ages 7 to 11 who enjoy stories centering on animals.
—Brenda
