The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

You can learn a lot about life by observing another species. That's what Humphrey was told when he was first brought to Room 26. And boy, is it true! In addition to his classroom escapades, each weekend this amazing hamster gets to sleep over with a different student, like Lower-Your-Voice-A.J. and Speak-Up-Sayeh. Soon Humphrey learns to read, write, and even shoot rubber bands (only in self-defense, of course). Humphrey has friends, adventures, and a cage with a lock-thatdoesn't- lock. His life would be perfect, if only the teacher, Mrs. Brisbane, wasn't out to get him!

This was such a great book! Perfect for reading aloud to my six year old (one of our first real chapter book read). Humphrey is a great main character who leads us through classroom and different family situations with humor and a bit of adventure. We are looking forward to reading more Humphrey books!

I was skeptical about this book at first. Normally, I'm not into the personified pet story but I set out to try The World According to Humphrey after discovering it as a recommendation in the new 2020 Sonlight Curriculum Kindergarten core. It was worth the read. I read it alone to preview it, although I think my kindergarten son will enough it. I look forward to revisiting Humphrey and perhaps continuing his adventures. I borrowed this from #libbyapp on my Kindle, and definitely want to own it.

Go figure that I wrote this original review through the Kindle and it published to Amazon but not to Goodreads. I'm highly entertained by all the educational tidbits that are included throughout the book from nocturnal animals to learning all the capitals of the United States, states of matter, subtracting fractions, Mount McKinley (tallest mountain peak in the US!), Brazil on a map, holidays and traditions such as Hanukkah and Halloween, and so much more. Memories of the eagerness to erase a chalkboard and the cool top of a desktop against my cheek, as well as the smell of a freshly sharpened pencil.

My loan has already gone back to #libbyapp but I really enjoyed reading The World According to Humphrey and for that matter, I also enjoyed Lulu and the Dog from the Sea on #kindleunlimited. Both books are on the new read-aloud list for @sonlightcurriculum #sonlightkindergarten 2020.