Surprises According to Humphrey
Read Surprises According to Humphrey Online
Authors: Betty G. Birney
The best surprise ever!
I-Heard-That-Kirk came bounding into the room with a big smile on his face.
“Mrs. Brisbane, I’m sorry about yesterday. To make up for it, I have a surprise for Humphrey. Can I give it to him now?” he asked.
A surprise for
me
? That got my whiskers wiggling.
And it started Gail giggling. “What is it?” she said. “Let me see!”
Soon, the other students were gathered around Kirk, begging him to let them see the surprise.
“Okay, Kirk. What is it?” asked Mrs. Brisbane. Her arms were folded, and she had a suspicious look on her face. After all, Kirk had done a few things that would make any teacher unhappy.
This time, Mrs. Brisbane held out her hand. “Let me see it, Kirk,” she said. Boy, she sure didn’t trust him.
Kirk reached in his backpack and pulled out something I couldn’t see. All of my friends went “ooh” and “aah,” which made my heart thump faster and faster.
“Can you see it, Og?” I squeaked to my tablemate.
There was no answer.
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Betty G. Birney
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First published in the United States of America by G. P. Putnam’s Sons,
a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2008
Published by Puffin Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2009
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Copyright © Betty G. Birney, 2008
All rights reserved
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS EDITION AS FOLLOWS:
Birney, Betty G.
Surprises according to Humphrey / Betty G. Birney. p. cm.
Summary: While continuing to help his classmates solve their problems, Humphrey, pet hamster of Longfellow School’s Room 26, faces many surprises, like rolling in a hamster ball, a substitute janitor who might be an alien, and the possibility of Mrs. Brisbane retiring.
[1. Hamsters—Fiction. 2. Schools—Fiction. 3. Interpersonal relations—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.B5229Su 2008
[Fic]—dc22 2007007457
ISBN: 978-1-101-65369-2
Printed in the United States of America
Designed by Katrina Damkoehler
Text set in Stempel Schneidler
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
To the GREATS—
Samantha and Carter Radman
Rita and Josie de Leeuw
and Ethan Birney.
2:
Stop, Drop and More Surprises
Humphrey’s Top Ten Good Surprises
M
onday mornings are different than other mornings. That’s just one of many things I’ve learned in the months I’ve lived in Room 26 of Longfellow School.
For one thing, on Mondays, I’m usually tired from a weekend spent visiting the home of one of my fellow classmates. That’s the BEST-BEST-BEST part of my job as classroom hamster.
My friends are also quieter than usual on Mondays. It takes them at least half a day to get back up to speed after their weekends away from school.
Don’t-Complain-Mandy Payne complains more than usual on Mondays. Today, she complained that it was too hot. Our teacher, Mrs. Brisbane, opened a window.
Sit-Still-Seth Stevenson jitters in his seat more on Monday mornings. But he tries to sit still; he really does.
And even Lower-Your-Voice-A.J. Thomas, who can rattle the walls with his loud voice, is quieter on Monday mornings. It’s weird.
Mrs. Brisbane, however, is always up to speed, and she likes to get Monday mornings rolling with something interesting.
“Class, in case you hadn’t noticed, spring has sprung!” Mrs. Brisbane announced one Monday.
I don’t know about the other students, but I’d certainly noticed that the March rains had stopped and everything had changed. The world, which had been drippy and dreary, was now bright green. The trees, the grass—just about everything outside—matched the color of my goofy green neighbor, Og the Frog, who lives in a tank next to my cage.
For some reason, all that green made me feel like springing up onto my bridge ladder, which goes across my big cage.
Mrs. Brisbane kept talking. “Today, I have a special spring surprise for you!”
Surprise? Surprises are fun, like birthday presents. But surprises can be not so fun, like unexpected storms with LOUD-LOUD-LOUD thunder that can hurt the ears of small, sensitive creatures like me. Just thinking about thunder made me bobble, then wobble. I tried to catch my balance but tumbled off my ladder with a loud
thump!
Luckily, I landed in a pile of soft bedding (and not in my poo corner), but still, I was very surprised and quite startled.