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Adventurous Paperback

February 11th, 2010

Adventure paperback coverEach 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!

Take the Tour!

February 7th, 2010

Send a Postcard

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.

summer cover

 Holidays According to Humphrey cover (U.K.)

For those of you snowed in or tired of gray days, sunny days are coming this week when Humphrey’s latest adventure, SUMMER ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY, will be released! (That’s HOLIDAYS ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY, for all you U.K. fans. Same book, different title and cover.)

I’ve done something like 600 school presentations over the last 4 years and I’ve been asked over and over, “What does Humphrey do during the summer?” And now (drumroll, please!) readers will find out.

I actually spent the first 20-plus pages of the book trying to build up suspense: what will happen to Humphrey over the summer? But I knew that the cover would give it away. I love both covers and especially Og on the Summer cover.

And I’m starting the revisions on the seventh Humphrey book this week, as well as on the first “younger” Humphrey book. Humphrey won’t be younger but the books will be geared to a slightly younger readership – shorter, with illustrations.

So I’m up to my eyeballs in Humphrey — and I have no complaints whatsoever.

Also, if you were waiting, last year’s book, ADVENTURE ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY is now in paperback in the U.S.

Here’s a link to a lovely U.K. review of the new book and the series, really. No wonder I love the U.K. so much.

 http://thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Holidays_According_to_Humphrey_by_Betty_G_Birney

Happy Summer!

Itty Bitty Blog Post

December 6th, 2009

I’m sticking my toe back in the water – here’s a link to an illustrator’s blog with a very sweet interview with a fan of SURPRISES ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY about what makes a book good.

Now it’s back to working on Humphrey’s seventh book – hope it will be a good one!

We spent a week in Caterham, Surrey with Wendy (sister of my good friend Nicky) and Roger in their guesthouse … and with their daughter Min (our friend for 20 years), who lives next door with her children, Jonny and Suzy and hamster, Smudge.

We had a glorious day in Bath Sunday, a sold out crowd for my event at the Guildhall, large signing of fantastic Humphrey fans, dinner at the famous Hole in the Wall restaurant, where we ate last year. Now it’s back to Surrey for one night and on, regrettably, to Heathrow and NY. The fun’s not over, though, as we’ll be in NY with family and friends (and best of all, our son) for a few days more!

If I don’t get on the internet tonight, farewell to the UK – I really do consider it my second home!

The Wish, where we stayed in Caterham, Surrey

The Wish, where we stayed in Caterham, Surrey

Outside our guest apartment, horses still live next door and graze outside the stable every morning.

Outside our guest apartment, horses still live next door and graze outside the stable every morning.