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HUMPHREY’S TINY TALES
1 Humphrey’s Really Wheely Racing Day
2 Humphrey’s Playful Puppy Problem
3 Humphrey’s Creepy-Crawly Camping Adventure
4 Humphrey’s School Fair Surprise
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
Text copyright © 2016 by Betty G. Birney.
Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Priscilla Burris.
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
G. P. Putnam’s Sons is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
eBook ISBN 978-0-698-18045-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Birney, Betty G.
Humphrey’s school fair surprise / Betty G. Birney ; illustrated by Priscilla Burris.
pages cm.—(Humphrey’s tiny tales ; 4)
Summary: “The students of Room 26 are so excited for Longfellow School’s big school fair! Pet hamster Humphrey is too—but will he be allowed to march in the parade with his classmates?”—Provided by publisher.
[1. Hamsters—Fiction. 2. Pets—Fiction. 3. Fairs—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction.] I. Burris, Priscilla, illustrator. II. Title.
PZ7.B5229Hv 2016
[Fic]—dc23
2014044988
ISBN 978-0-399-17229-8
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Version_1
To a true friend, Nicky Noxon
—B.B.
To Ellen Sussman, with love and gratitude
—P.B.
Contents
More of Humphrey’s Tiny Tales
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
1: Surprising News
2: BUSY-BUSY-BUSY
3: It’s Not Fair!
4: My Big Surprise
5: I Surprise Myself
Surprising News
I’ve learned a lot about school in the short time I’ve lived in one.
As a classroom hamster, I get to see and hear everything that goes on in Room 26.
One thing I’ve learned is that it’s important to listen to our teacher, Mrs. Brisbane. She is super smart. She’s a good teacher, too.
I’ve also learned that it’s important to listen to Mr. Morales, the principal. Mr. Morales is the Most Important Person at Longfellow School.
One Monday, when he came into our classroom, he said something VERY-VERY-VERY important. It was also quite surprising.
“As you know, class, the Longfellow School Fair is coming up on Saturday,” he said.
My friends got very excited.
“Will there be cotton candy?” Heidi Hopper asked.
She forgot to raise her hand.
I think of her as Raise-Your-Hand-Heidi because Mrs. Brisbane always has to remind her to do it.
Mr. Morales smiled. “I think so,” he said.
A.J. remembered to raise his hand, and Mr. Morales called on him.
“WILL THERE BE CUPCAKES?” A.J. asked.
A.J.’s voice is very loud, so I call him Lower-Your-Voice-A.J.
Mr. Morales said there would be cupcakes. There would also be games and crafts and things that sounded like hamster-iffic fun.
“Yippee!” I shouted.
Of course, all that my friends heard was a very loud “Squeak!”
“This year, we are adding something new,” Mr. Morales told us. “And everyone will be part of it.”
“Are you listening, Og?” I squeaked to my neighbor.
Og is a frog. He lives in a tank right next to my cage on a long table by the window.
Since I can’t see his ears, I’m never sure if he’s listening or not.
“BOING-BOING!” he answered in his funny voice.
I guess he really was listening.
“During the fair, each class will march around the playing field,” Mr. Morales said.
“Oooh,” my classmates said.
“You’ll all make signs that will show what makes Room Twenty-six special,” Mr. Morales explained. “There will be a prize given for the best class spirit.”
“Oooh,” my classmates said again.
“Do you think Room Twenty-six will win the prize?” Mrs. Brisbane asked the class.
Every student shouted “Yes!” including me.
Og splashed around in the water side of his tank.
After Mr. Morales left, I was so happy, I hopped on my wheel for a fast spin.
I should have listened to the teacher, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the school fair.
Og and I were alone during recess. “The fair sounds great, doesn’t it?” I asked.
“BOING-BOING!” Og answered.
“Cupcakes sound yummy. And games are fun!” I squeaked.
“BOING-BOING-BOING!” Og said.
“I just have one question, Og. What is a school fair?” I asked.
Og dived into the water and swam away from my cage. I guess he didn’t know what a school fair was, either.
But I wasn’t worried. I knew I’d find out VERY-VERY-VERY soon.
My friends were all talking when they came back to the classroom.
I heard them say some very odd things.
“Beanbags,” Garth said.
Gail giggled and shouted, “Sponges!”
Gail loves to giggle, but I had never heard her laugh about sponges before.
Sayeh, who hardly ever speaks, smiled and said, “Face painting!”
“Class, we have work to do,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “We need to think about our signs. What do you think makes our class special?”
Lots of hands went up.
“We learn a lot of important things in Room Twenty-six,” Mandy said.
I agreed with that. I’d even learned to read and write in Room 26, which is unusual for a hamster.
“We’ve got the best teacher,” Richie said.
That made Mrs. Brisbane smile. “But other classes have nice teachers and learn a lot,” she said. “Is there anything that sets this class apart from the others?”
Miranda Golden raised her hand. I think of her as Golden-Miranda because of her golden hair.
“We have the nicest students,” she said with a smile.
She was RIGHT-RIGHT-RIGHT! I was lucky to be in a class with such nice humans.
“Here is a different way to look at it,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “What do we have that no other class has?”
I looked around the room.
There was a colorful bulletin board with pictures of important people on it. I didn’t know who they were, but I was sure they were important.
I looked some more and saw books, pencils, paper and maps.
My friends glanced around the room, too.
Suddenly, Heidi said, “Humphrey!” (She forgot to raise her hand again.)
Then A.J. shouted, “And Og!”
The class was buzzing with excitement.
Mrs. Brisbane clapped her hands to quiet everyone down. “Quiet, please,” she said. “I agree, no other class has a hamster like Humphrey and a frog like Og. Should we use them on our signs?”
I was too surprised to squeak up, but my classmates all cheered.
Even Og said, “BOING!”
“We will start working on them tomorrow,” Mrs. Brisbane said.
BUSY-BUSY-BUSY
The next morning, after math and reading, Mrs. Brisbane gave each student a large piece of cardboard.
“It’s time to make our signs,” she said.
My friends all went to work drawing and writing on those blank pieces of cardboard.
From my cage by the window, it was hard to make out what their signs looked like.
They couldn’t finish them in one day, so the next day, they worked on them again.
By lunchtime, I could finally see what they had done.
Richie’s sign read: Room 26 is hamster-iffic!
Art’s said: Room 26 is frog-tastic!
That means they think that Og and I are terrific and fantastic. That made me feel GOOD-GOOD-GOOD.
There were other great signs, too. Miranda’s read: Humphrey rules!
Sayeh’s sign said: Go, Og! That’s funny, because Og is “go” spelled backward.
Tabitha and Kirk made signs that read Hamster Power and Frogs Rule!
The signs were every color of the rainbow. Some had flowers and glitter. Some had funny pictures of Og and me.
All of them made me proud to be in Room 26!
At the end of the day, after science, my f
YES-YES-YES! They took paper, scissors, crayons and glue and made little hats with hamster ears sticking up.
It was funny to see my human friends wearing hamster ears. (They didn’t make frog ears because, as I said, frogs don’t have ears that you can see.)
“You’ve done a wonderful job,” Mrs. Brisbane told the class. “Tomorrow we’ll practice marching.”
Late that afternoon, Og and I were alone in the classroom. I looked out at all the signs.
“Don’t they look great?” I asked Og. “They must be the best in the school!”
“BOING!” Og said. I knew he agreed with me.
“I wish I had a sign,” I said.
“BOING-BOING!” Og said.
I liked doing everything my friends in Room 26 did. But if I carried a sign, it would have to be a teeny-tiny one.
I started to think of a Plan.
I looked up at the clock. It would be hours before Aldo came in to clean Room 26.
So I took a big chance.
I jiggled the lock-that-doesn’t-lock on my cage.
My friends all think the door is locked. They don’t know that I can open it and get out.
“Don’t worry, Og,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”
Og splashed in his tank as I slid down the leg of the table and scampered across the floor. That was the easy part.
Finding the art supplies to make a sign wouldn’t be so easy.
There’s an open space under each tabletop where my friends keep their supplies. But it’s really hard for a small hamster to reach that space.
Then I noticed that Richie had left his jacket hanging over the back of his chair.
Mrs. Brisbane wouldn’t like that, but I did.
I was able to stand on my tippy toes and reach UP-UP-UP to grab the sleeve with my paws.
I held on tightly and slowly climbed up the sleeve. Then, 1-2-3, I leaped onto the seat of Richie’s chair.
I stood on the edge of the chair and reached UP-UP-UP. I grabbed the collar of the jacket and pulled myself into the open space.
Oh, what treasures I found there.
Crayons, markers, pencils.
A ruler, scissors, glue.
Books and paper.
How I wished I had a desk like that!
“BOING-BOING-BOING,” Og called out as a warning.
I looked over at the window. It was getting dark.
I poked around quickly and found what I was looking for: a teeny-tiny square of brown cardboard.
Richie was a very nice boy. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t mind if I took it.
Then I remembered that Og might like a sign, too.
So I poked around some more until I found another teeny-tiny square of cardboard.
“BOING!” Og called out again. “BOING-BOING-BOING!”
He was right. There was no time to waste.
I put the cardboard squares in my mouth. Then I jumped down to the chair, grabbed onto the sleeve of Richie’s coat and slid to the ground.
Oops! I landed on the floor with a big THUMP.
I raced toward the table.
I can’t slide up the table leg, so I grabbed the cord hanging down from the blinds. I swung on it and swung some more until I was level with the tabletop. Then I let go.
I zoomed across the table, right up to Og’s tank.
“I’ll make a great sign for you,” I promised him.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming down the hall toward Room 26.
“BOING!” Og said.
I hurried to my cage and pulled the door behind me. The lock-that-doesn’t-lock clicked into place just in time. No one would know I had ever gotten out of my cage.
I tucked the cardboard under some of my bedding.
The door to Room 26 opened and the lights went on.
“Aldo’s here to bring you cheer!” a friendly voice said. Aldo wheeled his cleaning cart into the room.
“How are my favorite class-room pets?” he asked.
“Great!” I said.
“BOING!” Og answered.
Aldo glanced around the room. “Uh-oh. Richie forgot his jacket,” he said. “I’ll have to talk to him about that.”
Aldo is Richie’s uncle.
As he swept and dusted, he talked to us. “Guess what, fellows?” Aldo asked.
“What?” I squeaked back.
“I signed up to be in the wet sponge booth for the school fair,” he said.
I was squeakless. What on earth was a wet sponge booth?
“Yep. People pay money to throw wet sponges at some of the folks who work at the school,” he said. “I think even Mr. Morales signed up.”
I couldn’t imagine anyone throwing a sponge at the principal or the custodian.
“Anything to help make money for Longfellow School,” he said.
I could see his point, but I hoped no one would throw a wet sponge at me. After all, hamsters should NEVER-NEVER-NEVER get wet!
Og probably wouldn’t mind, since he spends half his time in the water side of his tank.
When Aldo finished cleaning, he left the blinds open so the light from the streetlamp came in the room.
It was time for me to get to work.
I pulled the cardboard squares out from under the bedding. I reached behind the little mirror in my cage, where I hide my small notebook and pencil.
This time, all I needed was the pencil.
And something to write.
It’s Not Fair!
It took me almost all night to think of what to write on the signs. Luckily, hamsters like me are wide-awake at night.
At first I tried to come up with something clever, like hamster-iffic or frog-tastic. But I couldn’t.
I thought of writing Room 26 is the BEST-BEST-BEST class in the whole school and the whole world! But it wouldn’t fit on the tiny piece of cardboard.
As it started to get light outside, I decided to keep it simple.
I wrote, I Room 26!
And on Og’s sign, I wrote, I Room 26, too!
I thought they were perfect.
On Thursday afternoon, Mrs. Brisbane said it was time to finish the signs for the parade. She had brought long sticks so the students could hold up their signs.
Oops! I didn’t have any sticks for our signs.
“Sorry, Og!” I told my neighbor. “I’ll get some tonight.”
Once the sticks were attached to the signs, my friends marched around the classroom, carrying them.
“They look wonderful,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “Hold them high.”
“Shouldn’t we say something when we are marching in the parade?” Raise-Your-Hand-Heidi said.
“Like what?” Mrs. Brisbane asked.
Heidi wasn’t sure, but Speak-Up-Sayeh had an idea.
Sayeh doesn’t like to talk, and when she does, she speaks in a soft voice. And everyone—including me—thinks she is NICE-NICE-NICE.
“We could say something about Room Twenty-six,” she said.
Garth said, “Yeah. Something about Humphrey and Og.”
That idea got my whiskers wiggling!
Soon, all my friends were making up sayings about Room 26.
“Humphrey-Humphrey,
Og-Og!
We’ve got a hamster
and a frog!”
And:
“BOING-BOING,
SQUEAK-SQUEAK,
Og and Humphrey—
hear them speak!”
But they finally decided on:
“Humphrey and Og
are so much fun,
they make our class
number one!”
They marched around the classroom again. I was so excited, I squeaked along with them.
“Humphrey and Og
are so much fun,
they make our class
number one!”
It was thrilling!
Mrs. Brisbane finally had my friends sit back down. “Thank you for such good work,” she said. “On Saturday, we’ll all meet by the bouncy castle at two o'clock and line up for the parade.”
