{"product_id":"imagination-according-to-humphrey-isbn-9780147517692","title":"Imagination According to Humphrey","description":"\u003cb\u003eHumphrey's eleventh adventure celebrates stories, writing, and the power of the imagination! \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eImaginations 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf 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.\"The theme of perseverance is prevalent throughout this pleasant early chapter book. It includes tips for budding writers and could spark a class discussion about inspiration.\"--\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Humphrey, a delightful, irresistible character, is big hearted, observant, and creative.” —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e on \u003ci\u003eThe World According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Humphrey is a witty, fun, and lovable character with great kid appeal.” —\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e on \u003ci\u003eSurprises According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“This thoughtful yet upbeat tale lends credence to the notion that actions and intentions can be misinterpreted while pointing out the benefits of looking at a situation from another’s point of view. Readers will find that seeing the world from Humphrey’s standpoint is mighty satisfying.” —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e on \u003ci\u003eFriendship According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Narrated in Humphrey’s lively voice, the story is characteristically amusing and incorporates kid-relevant issues, such as being the last chosen for sports teams and the importance of respect, support, kindness, and appreciation. New and returning readers will enjoy the caring hamster’s unique perspective on everything from friendship to fire drills.” —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e on \u003ci\u003eSurprises According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Humphrey is just as lovable and sweet as he was in \u003ci\u003eFriendship According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e. His escapades teach honesty, responsibility, and the consequences of actions.” —\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e on \u003ci\u003eTrouble According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLook for all of the books in the series!\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe World According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFriendship According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTrouble According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSurprises According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAdventure According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSummer According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSchool Days According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMysteries According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWinter According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSecrets According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eImagination According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSpring According to Humphrey\u003cbr\u003eHappiness According to Humphrey - \u003cb\u003enew in 2024!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eBetty G. Birney has written episodes for numerous children’s television shows, including \u003ci\u003eThe New Adventures of Madeleine, Doug, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eBobby’s World\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as after-school specials and a television movie, \u003ci\u003eMary Christmas. \u003c\/i\u003eShe has won many awards for her television work, including an Emmy, three Humanitas Prizes, and a Writers Guild of America award, and won a Christopher Award for \u003ci\u003eFriendship According to Humphrey\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In addition to the Humphrey books, she is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Princess and the Peabodys. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Betty lives in Los Angeles with her husband, an actor.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Find fun Humphrey activities and teacher’s guides at www.bettygbirney.com\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe golden dragon bent his head low and Gil Goodfriend crawled up his neck. When the dragon lifted his head, Gil was higher than Tower Peak, which was the tallest mountain in the kingdom.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt was after lunch and our teacher, Mrs. Brisbane, was reading a book to everyone in Room 26 of Longfellow School, where I live.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe continued:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e“Hold on,” the dragon said. “We’re going up.”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSuddenly, Gil and the dragon rose high above his village. Wind whipped through his hair. It was thrilling until the dragon suddenly veered to the right and swooped down low, grazing ten treetops with his majestic fire-tipped wings. One treetop caught on fire, but luckily, the wind blew the fire out.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSomeone in the back of the room gasped.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMrs. Brisbane kept on reading.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e“Are you all right?” the dragon called to Gil. Surprisingly, he was perfectly fine.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was perfectly fine? My whiskers wiggled at the thought of flying over fiery treetops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGil peered down as they soared above his house. It looked no bigger than a toy. In seconds, the whole village of Bumpshire looked like tiny dots on a white background, even though it was July.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou see, Gil’s village had really terrible weather. It snowed in the summer and it flooded in the winter and they had BIG-BIG-BIG storms all the time. It was miserable, but no one knew how to make it better.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e“Only you can change the weather back to normal,” the dragon said.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e“I’m just a boy,” Gil said. “Why me?”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Yes, WHY-WHY-WHY?” I squeaked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe dragon didn’t answer.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAfter a few moments, Gil shouted, “Am I ever coming back?”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe dragon’s voice boomed, “That depends on you and you alone!”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMrs. Brisbane looked up at all of my classmates.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy tail twitched as I imagined riding a dragon. The biggest animal I’ve been near is a dog. They are pretty scary and have bad breath, but at least they don’t breathe fire!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Don’t stop!” Slow-Down-Simon shouted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMrs. Brisbane closed the book. “I’m sorry, but I have to keep you in suspense until tomorrow.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCalm-Down-Cassie shivered. “The dragon seems nice, but I hope I never meet a real one!”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I agree!” I said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOf course, since I’m a small classroom hamster, all that my human friends heard was “Squeak.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“BOING-BOING!” My neighbor Og jumped up and down in his tank. He’s the classroom frog. Maybe he’s afraid of dragons, too.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Dragons aren’t real,” Tell-the-Truth-Thomas said. “They’re only in books. You shouldn’t believe everything you read in a story.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“There\u003ci\u003e are\u003c\/i\u003e real dragons,” Not-Now-Nicole said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Eeek!” I squeaked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThomas laughed. “You have a good imagination!”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“But there were dragons a long time ago,” Cassie said. “Right, Mrs. Brisbane?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMrs. Brisbane smiled. “Some stories are true. They’re called nonfiction. But other stories come out of the imagination. Those books are called fiction, like this book.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“There are dragons that aren’t imaginary,” Nicole said. “My brother has one.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Really?” Mrs. Brisbane asked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Really!” Nicole said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStop-Talking-Sophie raised her hand. “I don’t see any dragons walking around today—but that doesn’t mean they never did. Why did so many people write stories about them?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“That’s a good question,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “Any ideas on why people might have thought dragons lived nearby?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe room was quiet for a moment.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI had no ideas at all. I would NEVER-NEVER-NEVER want to imagine there were real scary dragons!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJust-Joey raised his hand. “Maybe people saw some big old bones—like dinosaur bones—and thought they were from something like a dragon. And maybe there was a forest fire and people thought the beast breathed flames that started the fire.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Yes!” Thomas said. “And then they started to imagine all kinds of things the dragon did.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMrs. Brisbane nodded. “I think it might have happened like that.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI still wasn’t sure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe room was quiet until Not-Now-Nicole giggled. “Maybe we should get a dragon for a classroom pet. One like my brother’s.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt had been hard enough to get used to a frog as the other pet in Room 26. Especially a frog like Og, who makes a weird sound and has some odd habits. But a fire-breathing dragon?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“NO-NO-NO!” I squeaked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe students sitting close to our table heard me and laughed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Don’t worry, Humphrey,” Thomas said. “We’re not getting a dragon . . . because they’re imaginary.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy that time, I wasn’t even interested in an \u003ci\u003eimaginary\u003c\/i\u003e dragon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Tell us about this dragon your brother has, Nicole,” Mrs. Brisbane said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Her name is Pearl and she’s really beautiful,” Nicole said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy classmates burst out laughing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI didn’t think what Nicole said was funny at all. She looked REALLY-REALLY-REALLY upset.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“She is\u003ci\u003e too\u003c\/i\u003e real! I’ll prove it to you,” she said. “I’ll call my mom right now. She’ll tell you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Not-Now-Nicole,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “It’s time for us to get out our math books. You can explain later.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI usually try to learn along with my fellow classmates, even though I don’t have a math book. But my eyelids got heavy and I slipped into my sleeping hut for a short nap.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen I woke up, I crawled back out and glanced across the table by the window where my cage sits.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOg was in his tank next to my cage. I think he was dozing, too, but it’s hard to tell. Sometimes he closes his eyes but he’s not even sleeping.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(I told you, he’s a little odd.)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI glanced out of the other side of my cage and was unsqueakably happy to see that there was no pet dragon blowing hot smoke at me. Whew!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen I looked toward the front of the room.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI don’t know how long I’d slept, but instead of writing numbers on the board, Mrs. Brisbane was talking about writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is my favorite time in the school year,” she said. “Today, we start being writers. I know you all brought your writing notebooks today. Will you hold them up?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe students all held up notebooks, and each one was different.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHelpful-Holly’s had big yellow sunflowers on it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTall-Paul’s had a motorcycle on the cover, while Small-Paul’s had a photo of the space shuttle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI climbed up to the tippy top of my cage so I could see better. I saw smiley faces, princesses, polka dots and stars.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy friends in Room 26 have a lot of interests!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Once you start writing your ideas in your notebooks, you’re on your way to being a writer,” Mrs. Brisbane explained.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“What if we don’t have any ideas?” Hurry-Up-Harry asked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSome of my classmates giggled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I mean, what if we don’t have any ideas about what to write?” Harry said.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“We all have ideas,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “The notebook is a tool to help you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Like a hammer?” Fix-It-Felipe asked. I know he likes hammers, because he can fix about anything.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore of my friends giggled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMrs. Brisbane laughed, too. “In a way, yes. It’s a tool to help you learn how to find ideas and develop them.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHelpful-Holly laughed. “I think Felipe would rather have a hammer.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“All right, enough joking, class,” our teacher said. “To get you started, I’m going to give you an assignment. Start by writing . . .” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe paused to write on the board.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf I could fly, I would fly like a          \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“And then fill in the blank however you like,” she explained. “You can start now, but the bell will ring soon, so bring in your completed work tomorrow.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Fly? Without a plane?” Cassie asked.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You get to decide if it’s a plane or a bird or anything you can imagine,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “Then I want you to write a sentence saying where you would go. This is the beginning of your assignment and eventually you will end up with a real story.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe pointed to her head. “Use your imaginations. And spend some time thinking about your idea before you start writing.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Puffin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301208346853,"sku":"NP9780147517692","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780147517692.jpg?v=1767729865","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/imagination-according-to-humphrey-isbn-9780147517692","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}