The World According to Humphrey

I teach second grade and am reading this to my class. They are really enjoying the story which is told from the point of view of Humphrey the hamster. The writing is kid friendly and very engaging. If I miss a day the kids are asking me when I'll read about Humphrey again. I bought the other book, Friendship According to Humphrey, and plan on reading that to the kids, also.

My Kindergarten boy LOVES this book! I read it to him every night, and he was very sad when we finished, because he wanted it to go on and on!!!! Humphrey is a delightful character. The teachers, school children and others in the book such as the pincipal, custodian and teacher's husband all are characters the young reader can appreciate and enjoy. Humphrey learns about each character's problem when he goes home with him or her over a weekeend or holiday, comes up with "a Plan" for each to help with the problem, and teaches each child valuable lessons. Nothing not to like here!!!! Great book to be read to Kindergarteners. Good read-it-yourself chapter book for good readers, 2nd grade probably. 15 chapters. Not an early chapter book.

This is an utterly charming book right up there with such classics as "Charlotte's Web" and the "Cricket of Times Square" where an animal gently befriends and teaches humans lessons one usually doesn't learn in school. All it takes is a "Plan" and sometimes "Great Effort" as Humphrey would say.

Humphrey the hamster learns a lot about life - by observing the humans who care for him in his classroom. Each weekend he experiences a different student, learns to read, write and becomes nearly human himself in World According To Humphrey -- a fun hamster's-eye view of life and school.