Spring According to Humphrey - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Betty G. Birney has won many awards for writing for television, including an Emmy, three Humanitas Prizes, and a Writers Guild of America Award. Her first Humphrey book, The World According to Humphrey, was chosen for the One Book One School program. In addition to the Humphrey series, she is the author of The Seven Wonders of Sassafrass Springs and The Princess and the Peabodys. She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, where her parents grew up as neighbors on Humphrey Street. 

Find fun Humphrey activities and teacher's guides at www.bettygbirney.com.

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Chapter 1: March Misery

I didn’t hear Mrs. Brisbane’s key turn as she opened the door that morning. I was sound asleep, snuggled under the bedding in my cage. It had been COLD-COLD-COLD all night and I was dreaming of summer. Nice, warm, sunny summer.

Suddenly, I heard Mrs. Brisbane say, “Be-Careful-Kelsey. Your boots are wet.”

And then she said, “Simon! Slow down. I don’t want anyone sliding across the floor and getting hurt.”

I poked my head out of the bedding and saw Mrs. Brisbane and most of my fellow classmates in Room 26 coming through the door. They wore caps and gloves, heavy jackets and boots.

“Sorry I was late,” Mrs. Brisbane continued. “The ice had traffic backed up. I’m glad you all made it here safely.”

Ice? Just the word gave me a chill.

My cage sits near the windowsill, so I decided to peek outside.

“Eeek!” I squeaked.

“BOING!” my neighbor Og chimed in.

For most of the year, I look out at trees and grass and the school parking lot. In the fall, the trees are red and gold. In the winter, they have branches that are either bare or tipped with snow.

But on this March day, the trees were silvery icicles, sparkling like diamonds. The brown earth glistened with a thin coating of shiny crystals.

“I hate winter!” Daniel said.

I turned and saw my friends all seated at their tables.

“I like deep snow, when you can make snowmen and go sledding,” Helpful-Holly said.

“I only like snow when we get a snow day,” Do-It-Now-Daniel said.

A lot of my friends agreed.

“I think ice is cool,” Simon said. “I skated down our driveway this morning without any skates!”

“Oooh, that’s dangerous,” Calm-Down-Cassie said. “My mom slipped on the ice and broke her arm a couple of years ago.”

Mrs. Brisbane nodded. “It is dangerous, Simon.”

Simon just shrugged and said, “I think it’s fun.”

“I like snow.” Not-Now-Nicole shivered. “But I don’t like ice. It’s so . . . icy.”

The way she said it made me shiver, too.

Mrs. Brisbane walked over to the windowsill and peered down at my cage. “Are you warm enough, Humphrey?” she asked. “It might be too cold for you next to the window.”

“I’m all right,” I answered. “As long as I have nice, warm bedding and my fur coat.”

Unfortunately, since I am the classroom hamster, all she heard was “SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK!”

Then Mrs. Brisbane turned to Og. He’s the pet frog in Room 26. “How are you, Og? I know frogs don’t like cold weather.”

Og hopped up and down and made his usual weird sound. “BOING-BOING!”

Mrs. Brisbane turned back to the class. “Well, I don’t like snow or ice when it makes me late for school.”

Tell-the-Truth-Thomas waved his hand and our teacher called on him.

“It’s the beginning of March! It’s not supposed to snow in March,” he complained.

Mrs. Brisbane smiled. “But sometimes it does snow. Have you heard the saying ‘March comes in like a lion but goes out like a lamb’?”

“What?” I squeaked.

Some of the students sitting close to me giggled.

“It means that at the beginning of March, we often have some wild weather roaring in. But by the time April rolls around, the weather is usually mild, like a lamb,” she explained.

Mrs. Brisbane is unsqueakably smart! How does she know so much?

Small-Paul Fletcher raised his hand. “Meteorologists say that extreme winter weather is usually over around the end of February here,” he said. “But it has been known to snow in March. Besides, this was a mix of freezing rain and snow.”

Small-Paul is SMART-SMART-SMART. Maybe he’ll be a meteorologist someday. But wait—don’t they study meteors from outer space?

Mrs. Brisbane nodded. “Meteorologists study weather,” she said. “So they would know.”

Rolling-Rosie raised her hand. “I don’t like ice. It’s hard to stop my wheelchair sometimes.”

I was surprised, because Rolling-Rosie is great at handling her wheelchair. She even knows how to pop a wheelie!

“Does anybody know when the first day of spring is?” Mrs. Brisbane asked.

I glanced out the window again. “It’s definitely not today!” I squeaked.

“Too far away!” Just-Joey grumbled.

Again Small-Paul raised his hand. “March twentieth,” he said.

Some of my friends groaned.

“That’s weeks away!” Stop-Talking-Sophie said.

I was still feeling cold and shivery, so I jumped on my wheel and began to spin. That always gets my whiskers wiggling again.

The door opened and Hurry-Up-Harry Ito walked in.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “We were stuck in lots of traffic.” He handed Mrs. Brisbane a piece of paper. “I have a note from the office.”

Mrs. Brisbane nodded. “Go take off your wet jacket and boots,” she said.

Harry strolled to the cloakroom. I think he could have hurried up a little more, but that’s just the way he is.

“Maybe spring will come faster if we pay attention to the signs that the season is beginning,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “And I also want to tell you about something to look forward to.”

There were murmurings around the room. I could tell she’d gotten my classmates’ interest. Mrs. Brisbane always does!

“Tell us—please!” Kelsey said.

“We need good news,” Felipe added.

“PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE!” I begged her.

Mrs. Brisbane smiled. “Longfellow School is having a Family Fun Night in April. There will be games, prizes, and pizza, and your whole family is invited.”

“I like pizza!” Thomas said. “As long as it doesn’t have mushrooms.” He made a face and everybody laughed.

“There will be lots more to do than eat pizza,” Mrs. Brisbane continued. “And each classroom has to come up with an activity or game. It will take some work, but it will also be fun.”

The news seemed to please my friends. I don’t know much about Family Fun Nights or pizza or mushrooms, but I do know about having fun. I like it!

Tall-Paul raised his hand. “What night of the week is it?” he asked.

“It’s a Thursday,” our teacher answered.

Tall-Paul moaned. “I figured.”

“What’s wrong?” Mrs. Brisbane asked.

“My mom’s a nurse and she works Thursday nights. She could come on Wednesday, though,” he replied.

“I don’t think we can change the date at this point,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “Maybe she can switch with somebody.”

Paul shook his head. “It’s hard to change days. She’s going to be disappointed.”

I think everybody in Room 26 was disappointed for Paul G. I certainly was!

“Well, my dad probably can’t come. I only see him on weekends,” Just-Joey said.

“I know it’s hard when not everyone can make it, but I promise you’ll still have fun,” Mrs. Brisbane said.

“Yeah,” Thomas agreed. “You can still eat pizza! Unless it has mushrooms.”

Then Mrs. Brisbane went back to talking about...