Betty Birney’s Blog

I just want to say a special Valentine’s Day thank you to Humphrey’s devoted fans … and to those who write to say they love Sassafras Springs and Princess Egg.

Those of you who take the time to email or write are very generous and I appreciate it.

Thanks from the  bottom of my heart!

If you want to read about Humphrey’s Valentine’s Day, read FRIENDSHIP ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY.

Friendship According to Humphrey in Dutch -smile!

Each year, a new Humphrey book comes out in hardcover in the U.S. A year later, that book comes out in paperback, which means it’s a lot more affordable.

So while I was excited about SUMMER ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY being published last week, I’m equally happy to announce that last year’s book, ADVENTURE ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY, was released in paperback.  If you haven’t read it yet, Humphrey has an unsqueakably exciting adventure, starts sneaking into the library at night and there’s a lot of talk about pirates in it.

In case you haven’t noticed, now all the books have the banner at the top with a photo of Humphrey and the words “Everyone’s favorite classroom pet.” And they’re being numbered as well, as there is an order to them. You don’t have to read them in order but they do follow the school year.

And now, back to revising book 7 of the series which will be out in hardcover next year, around the time that SUMMER comes out in paperback.

If you live in the U.K., ignore everything I just wrote because the books are only in softcover there, they have different covers and SUMMER ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY is HOLIDAYS ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY, while ADVENTURE ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY is MORE ADVENTURES ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY.

Confused? Okay, I’ll start over ….

HA-HA-HA!

SUMMER ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY, aka HOLIDAYS ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY in the UK is off to a sunny start!

From the emails, letters and personal questions I get from Humphrey’s fans (and those of Sassafras Springs as well), a lot of readers don’t get around to digging a little deeper on the website so here are some features and links you might have missed – check them out!

Home Page - If you haven’t rolled your cursor over the icons at the top, you’re missing something!

THE HUMPHREYVILLE PAGE - this can be accessed directly from the home page and is packed with fun info

-Humphrey’s notebook – Humphrey has his own notebook on this page and the messages change every few weeks.

-Links to the pages for the individual books

-Brit-icisms - a fun list of words that are changed between the U.S. and U.K. versions – a great way for kids to learn more about our language

-Humphrey’s Handlers - you can sign up to be a Humphrey’s Handlers. No, I will not mail a live hamster to your classroom. What you do is fill out a form and then I put your class and your name up on the list of Humphrey’s Handlers, which is also on this page. Even if you don’t sign up, it’s fun to see the List of Humphrey’s Handlers literally from around the world. I don’t print children’s last names for privacy reasons. I will email you a certificate that you can print out.

-Frequently Squeaked Questions - click here to read the answers to questions most often asked about the Humphrey books

-Activities – there are loads of crosswords, mazes, jokes, crafts and other oddball activities for each book.

-Teacher’s Guides – there are Teachers Guides for every book – PDFs you can print out

-Ecards - Click on the Humphrey with the letter and view the FUN-FUN-FUN ecards you can send your friends. These are completely private – no record is kept of email addresses – I promise you that! There’s a really fun one for the new book SUMMER ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY.

INDIVIDUAL HUMPHREY BOOK PAGES

Check these out to get a feeling for what each book is like and see some covers from foreign countries.

THE SEVEN WONDERS OF SASSAFRAS SPRINGS

You can access this page by clicking on the book on the Home Page or from the drop-down list under My Books at the top. There are wonderful, ardent Sassafras fans who long to know more about this special place and they haven’t ever seen the links on the left hand side of the page, which tells you more about the inspiration for the book and the “real” Sassafras Springs.

THE PRINCESS AND THE PEABODYS

The book is a little hard to find in stores right now, but you should still check out this page. The icons at the top have changed (you must see Desi in a tiara) and there’s a really cool quiz to find out if you’re a princess or a Peabody!

OTHER PAGES-

Start at the home page. To learn about me and my life, click on ABOUT ME

To read a list of all my television credits, with links to some sample scripts, as well a view a comprehensive list of awards, click on TV WRITING

You can find out about SCHOOL VISITS on that link – a short description of what I do and where I’ve been. Right now, I’m not booking for this year so I can catch up with my writing. But if you’re in the greater Los Angeles/Orange County area or anywhere on the west coast, email me. I’m still doing those. And if you have something really special in mind, please go ahead and email me.

EMAIL ME – Just click on Contact at the bottom of the page. Please, don’t use the blog comments for questions about the books but PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE feel free to comment on the posts.

I’ll probably be making some changes again in the near future but I’ll be sure to let you know.

My thanks, as always, to stepdaughter Anna Birney Ross for her witty designs – she handles the webpage for me and designs those wonderful animations. Also to stepdaughter Rebecca Birney Frank, also a designer – who helped imagine what this website would be.