Humphrey's Really Wheely Racing Day

Humphrey's Tiny Tales #1

by Betty G. Birney, Priscilla Burris (Illustrator)

Everyone’s favorite classroom pet is now starring in chapter books!
 
Humphrey is one happy hamster. He lives in Room 26 at Longfellow School. He has a big comfy cage with a wheel perfect for spinning and a room full of friends. But when Humphrey goes to Mandy’s house one weekend, he learns that her hamster has something Humphrey has never seen before—a hamster car!
 
Humphrey wants one, too, but school is not usually the place for toys. Then his teacher talks about bringing in something special for a project. Is Humphrey getting a really wheely surprise?
 
With adorable illustrations and an easy reading level, Humphrey’s Tiny Tales are just right for emergent readers.

Genres: Childrens, Chapter Books, Animals, Fiction, Humor, Picture Books, Teachers

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2013

About the author

From kindergarten through graduation, I attended school in Affton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Then I graduated from Webster College (now Webster University) in Webster Groves, Missouri. Of course, I majored in English and kept on writing.

After working in advertising in St. Louis, Missouri and in Chicago, Illinois, I eventually moved to Southern California. First, I worked for Disneyland (fun job!) in the advertising department. The monorail whizzed past my window all day long. Then I worked at the Disney Studio in Burbank, where I had another fun job, writing and producing television and radio commercials and theatrical trailers (previews of coming attractions) for everything from re-releases of "Cinderella" and "Fantasia" to "Tex."

When the Disney Channel was started, I became a writer and story editor for WELCOME TO POOH CORNER. Since then, I've written more than 200 episodes of animated and live-action television programs including MADELINE, DOUG, BOBBY'S WORLD, DUMBO'S CIRCUS, THE PUZZLE PLACE, CAMP CANDY, LITTLE MOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, WHERE'S WALDO, FRAGGLE ROCK and ZOOBILEE ZOO. That's right, I write cartoons! I also wrote a number of award-winning afterschool specials and many interactive CD-ROM programs, including the award-winning "Berenstain Bears on their Own," "Richard Scarry's Busiest Neighborhood Ever," and "The Crayon Factory."

A made-for-television family movie I wrote, MARY CHRISTMAS, starring John Schneider, Cynthia Gibb and Tom Bosley, aired on the PAX network in 2002. It was the highest rated movie in PAX history and has aired each Christmas season since then.

I have been fortunate enough to win a Writer's Guild of America Award and three Humanitas Prizes (as well as two other nominations). In 2002, I won a Daytime Emmy Award for MADELINE, after two previous Emmy nominations. More recently, I received the Christopher Award for FRIENDSHIP ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY, many children's choice awards for THE WORLD ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY and was inducted into the Affton (MO) School District Hall of Fame.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars from my kids (4 and 7) who really enjoyed this. Personally, it's more of a three star for me. It's cute enough. If you have kids getting into early chapter books who enjoy animals and cars, I think this would be a winner. (Note: I was not thrilled with Humphrey calling one of the little brothers "Bwian" (instead of "Brian") because that's how little boy mispronounces his name. I'm sure it's supposed to be cute, but many children struggle with speech disorders so I felt it was a little insensitive.)

[Goshen PL Childrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a huge success with my 2nd grade book club. It isn't a beginning reader (it has chapters, folks this is very important to the kiddos) but it isn't as difficult a read as the regular chapter books. The font was just right, so in other words we had hit the Goldilocks level of reading.

Humphrey is all set to spend the weekend with another student from his classroom. Once he arrives he gets to drive around in the exercise wheel that's attached to a toy car. Humphrey loves it and in the end will race another pet named Winky. Super cute.

Great for 2nd graders and animal lovers alike.

[Elaine Bearden · Rating 4 out of 5]

gr 1-3
Very fun story of a hamster - Humphrey nonetheless - who is introduced to a hamster-wheel-racecar at a classmate's house. Large type, illustrations, ample white space and short sentences make this a great first first chapter book. Based on the older chapter book series by Birney. Not a on of rising action, but very kid-appealing.

[Charlotte Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot to write the review sooner. I read this to Ben right before we left. A short but cute Humphrey book. Ben loved the pictures of the book and thought it was very cute and funny. He said he would like his own car to drive in just like Humphrey and Winky.

[Karen F · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't particularly love this book, but my 4yo did, so I guess that's what counts!

[Rick Silva · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is aimed at readers just starting chapter books. The Kiddo brought it home from the school library, and while it's below his reading level, he's a big fan of anything involving cute animals. He's also had a turn bringing a class-pet hamster home for the weekend, so it felt familiar to him. We read it together in two sessions, and he enjoyed it.

The title character is the class pet at an elementary school. He goes home with a rotating cast of students for weekends. When Mandy takes him home, he gets to spend time with Winky, another hamster, and Winky has a hamster-wheel race car.

Humphrey dreams of having his own car, and eventually, he gets the chance to compete in a school hamster race.

This book tries very hard to be harmless fun and succeeds to the point of having almost no conflict or plot at all. It was cute, especially the nicknames that Humphrey gives the students based on what they're constantly being called by the teacher ("Raise-Your-Hand-heidi" and so on).

But there just wasn't enough going on to make this interesting. If your kid (like mine) loves the idea of a hamster driving around in a hamster-wheel car, they will probably like this, but it's not all that much of a story.

[ella ☆ any pronouns · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new approach on the popular According to Humphrey series geared more towards younger children, who still like and read books with illustrations in them, yet are old enough to read books with chapters. I would say a good age range for this book would be second to third. Maybe fourth.

This book is just a super quick, cute, and fun story about Humphrey, a classroom pet in room 26 at Longfellow School. This book is very enjoyable for young students. This book could suit as a nice goodnight read aloud for adults to read to their children.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was quick, cute, fun, and very enjoyable for young children. I love all of the Humphrey books, this one included.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children's first chapter book. This is the first book in a series spun off from the According to Humphrey chapter books by the same author. It can be read without reading the original series. Humphrey the hamster is the narrator. When he gets to visit Mandy's house, he is excited to see his friend Winky. Mandy's pet hamster has a cool new toy, a car powered by the hamster ball. Humphrey loves to zoom around Mandy's house, but he really wants a car of his own. Mandy reports this back to Ms. Brisbane on Monday, and she finds a way to get Humphrey a car and to stage a hamster race!

This is a cute story, only four chapters and with sporadic black and white illustrations. I look forward to reading more of the Tiny Tales with my son.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humphrey the hamster stars in this chapter book series for younger readers. In this first book, Humphrey is excited by a hamster car he plays with at a friend's house and is desperate to get his own car. He plots with his neighbor, Og the frog, and later competes in a great hamster race.

Cute series for animal lovers.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming story of a classroom hamster who wants to race. The illustrations were very attractive. The text had lots of white space to make the words easy to read. I would guess this written at a 3rd grade reading level. I look forward to book talking this with my elementary classes in the library.

[Tabitha Mase · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is a great first-chapter book learning experience for children. My kindergartener can read many of the words, and I can help him sound out most of the others. It’s also wonderful for word recognition/memorization.

[Emily Carlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a short and sweet early chapter book aimed at 2nd-3rd grade readers. Humphrey is a loveable little classroom hamster that tells the story. He stays with a different student each weekend. When he goes home with Don't-Complain-Mandy-Payne, he meets her hamster Winky, and the hamster car!

[Cassidy Cornblatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 4yo son enjoyed and was amused by the story. However, it was a bit difficult to read the hyphenated descriptive kids’ names aloud, which made the reading experience a little frustrating in the beginning.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humphrey’s Really Wheely Racing Day was very exciting. And he won by playing it cool .

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did this in a small group setting with some students. They absolutely loved this story. It was a quick read and they were sad when the book ended.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, short book. This is probably a step below the Junie B. books in age level. I read the whole book in one sitting to my 6 and 4 year old.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first grader read this to me and he loved it.

[Luci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the Humphrey series so far. Was disappointed that the “big race” ended in a tie—I thought that was a little silly.

[Meghan Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute story and a great beginner chapter book.

[Chloe Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the part where Humphrey gets his own car.

[Jules Loz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book about Humphrey the hamster and Og the frog. We enjoy this series.

[MaKenna Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this with my 2nd grade class. Super cute book and an easy read for all!

[dd Padilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was cool and I like how he got a car 🚗

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute for beginning readers!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

First in the Humphrey's tiny tales series, this is an easier-to-read version of the popular classroom hamster series. This would be fine for a kid who isn't familiar with the more advanced series.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun adventure! Humphrey is determined to win the wheely race. We enjoyed reading this book!

[Emma Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classroom read aloud series!!

[Shari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jackson read on his own and gave it 4 stars 6/2/20

[Julie H · Rating 5 out of 5]

These tiny tales are great! It takes us just a few days to read them. The original Humphrey books are so long, these are perfect for this stage in life.

[Hayley Fremont · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 2nd grade son read this to me and we loved the ending. It was a fun read.