Summer According to Humphrey
Written by Betty G. Birney
Reviewed by Maya T. (age 9)
In Summer According to Humphrey, Humphrey is a helpful classroom pet in room 26. The story is about when school ends and Humphrey goes to summer camp. He comes with his froggy friend Og, who is also a classroom pet. He notices that some of his friends from room 26 are at the camp. Humphrey and Og go to different cabins each night and each cabin talks about one thing. . . The Clash of the Cabins. The Clash of the Cabins is a special event at camp where they compete in things like swimming and canoeing. Everybody in the Bobwhites cabin is counting on Sam. The day before The Clash of the Cabins, Sam gets poison ivy. Og also goes missing. Humphrey is panicking and finally finds Og. After they find Og it’s time for the Clash of the Cabins. All of the cabins worked hard, but the cabin that worked the hardest was . . . The Blue Jays! Their reward was that they got to sleep in a haunted house. Humphrey comes too. When they get to the haunted house. . . Well you have to read the book to find out what happens!
I liked the author’s style because the way she wrote the book made it a lot funnier. Humphrey likes to call the kids by what the teacher calls them. For example, he says, “Until I was awakened by a LOUD-LOUD-LOUD voice that could only belong to my classmate Lower-Your-Voice-A.J.” I had a connection in the story because when I first went to camp I was really nervous. When Humphrey went to the camp he was nervous like I was. I like Humphrey because he is a helpful, generous, and thoughtful character. Humphrey always cares about his classmates. For example, Humphrey says, “Note to self: always help a friend in trouble. . . or at least try.”
I recommend this book to boys and girls in third and fourth grade because it is a little hard to read but is really funny. I think that if you like cute hamsters, action, and hilarious books, then this is the book for you. I think kids will like this book because the characters will make you laugh, and because Humphrey helps solve all of his classmates’ big problems and little problems. Kids will also like the characters because Humphrey and Og are good friends in very different ways, like Humphrey can only understand other rodents and Og can only understand reptiles. If you read Summer According to Humphrey, I hope you ENJOY!