THE ORDER OF THINGS
A very nice Humphrey fan named Robert emailed me that he was a little confused, because he read THE WORLD ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY and then read TROUBLE ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY. He was asking what order the Humphrey books are in. A good question … and I understand his problem.
Writing a sequel can be complicated. I want readers to be able to read the books out of order, so I try to put a little of the “backstory” in each book. I mention that Humphrey’s the classroom pet in Room 26, how Ms. Mac brought him there, his original problem with Mrs. Brisbane, etc. I don’t want to spend too much time on that information, however, because it would be boring for people who had read the previous books. I know many people who read FRIENDSHIP first and didn’t feel they missed anything. However, I expect what confused Robert was the fact that in TROUBLE there were students in the classroom who weren’t in the first book. They were added in FRIENDSHIP, because I felt I needed to expand the classroom a little So Kirk, Mandy, Seth and Tabitha were added in the second book. And Og, of course - can’t forget him. BOING!
I’ve run into this situation before. A tip for figuring out which book came first in a series: right up front there’s always a page of printing that nobody reads. It gives information about the publisher. However, if you look down the page, you’ll find the complete history of the book. Even if it’s the paperback (which is published after the hardcover), it will always show the original date of publication. So, WORLD came out in 2004, FRIENDSHIP in 2005 and TROUBLE in 2007 - there was a large gap between the second and third book. All books contain this information. Even if you order books online, say on Amazon.com, that original publication date is given. Always look for the earliest date - that’s the original date.
When I wrote WORLD ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY, I wasn’t planning to write a sequel. The publisher asked for a second book before WORLD was published, so I wrote FRIENDSHIP, not expecting there to be a third book. After that long gap, the publisher asked for at least three more books. So there will be another book in 2009 and I’m pretty sure more after that. I just feel terrible that the book confused you. I hope you give Humphrey another chance!
BEST-BEST-BEST Wishes,
Betty G. Birney
The next book, SURPRISES ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY, will be published in spring, 2008.By the way, in the United Kingdom, the books come out a year behind the U.S. publication. So, TROUBLE comes out next May and SURPRISES in 2009. But U.K. fans will get an extra Humphrey bonus on World Book Day which is March 1, 2008.
HUMPHREY’S HANDLERS …. someone emailed a Humphrey’s Handler form but it wasn’t filled out. If you sign up for Humphrey’s Handlers and don’t get an email back from me, it means I didn’t get the information. Please try again!