The World According to Humphrey is a middle-grade children's book by Betty G. Birney. It stars a golden hamster named Humphrey, the class pet of Room 26, owned by beloved substitute teacher Ms. Mac. However, Humphrey's world turns upside-down when Ms. Mac leaves and the original teacher, the grumpy Mrs. Brisbane, returns from her sabbatical. With a fondness for vocabulary and a fascination with humans, Humphrey decides to earn the class's respect by helping them out with their problems.
The book has several sequels, as well as a spinoff starring Humphrey's friend Og the Frog.
Tropes found in the series include:
- Cool Teacher: Ms. Mac is a perky teacher who buys a hamster for Room 26 to teach them about other species, and according to Humphrey's memory, she has an enthusiastic and active teaching style. Even after leaving, she sends her students letters and photos from her new job in Brazil. However, while Ms. Mac is more fun, Mrs. Brisbane is more effective at getting students to behave.
- Disability as an Excuse for Jerkassery: After being hit by a car and relegated to a wheelchair, Bert Brisbane becomes very grouchy and gives up on living. He snaps at his wife (and Humphrey) when she tries to be nice, prompting her to call him out on giving up on his life and moping around. Luckily, Humphrey finds a way to brighten his spirits, and Bert becomes more active and cheerful.
- Dogs Are Dumb: Humphrey gets Miranda's dog Clem in a trance by spinning around on his hamster wheel. He then remarks, "Let me just say I'm glad that Clem is about two quarts low in the brain department."
- Improvised Weapon: To fend off Miranda's dog Clem, Humphrey hooks a rubber band from Miranda's desk and snaps it onto his nose.
- Interspecies Friendship: While all the kids grow to like Humphrey, he and the nighttime custodian Arlo and Humphrey actually become close friends. Humphrey really likes Arlo and even helps Arlo find a date by showing him a nighttime club from a newspaper ad. Even though Arlo doesn't understand Humphrey, he holds conversations with him and refers to him as a friend, introducing Humphrey to his new girlfriend and jokes that he'll make Humphrey his best man when they get married.
- Nearly Normal Animal: To humans, Humphrey acts and sounds just like a normal hamster. However, he's capable of understanding human speech, even writing in a journal and taking vocabulary tests alongside his fellow students. He also comes up with crafty ways to escape his cage and help his human friends.
- No Indoor Voice: AJ always yells too loudly in class, prompting Humphrey to call him "Lower-Your-Voice-AJ" because of how commonly the teacher tells him that. His whole family yells like this too, because they always have the television on full volume and have to yell over it.
- Shrinking Violet: Sayeh is painfully shy. She almost never speaks up in class, and when she does, it's almost inaudible, prompting her teacher to tell her, "Speak up, Sayeh." Humphrey learns this is because her family doesn't speak much English, and Sayeh is ashamed of her accent. Humphrey encourages Sayeh to speak up more.
- Stern Teacher: Mrs. Brisbane disciplines her students much more sternly than Ms. Mac, not tolerating any troublemaking in her class and lamenting that she has to keep an eye on Humphrey on top of everything. For this, Humphrey hates her and thinks she's too mean. However, he eventually sees that she genuinely cares for the students, and when she keeps them inside for recess, it's because she wants to talk with them and figure out how to solve their behavioral problems. She also softens up on Humphrey over time when she sees the positive impact he has on her class and even her own family.
- Verbal Tic: While it's his internal monologue, Humphrey has a tendency to repeat words three times in a row, such as "Ms. Mac is NICE-NICE-NICE" and "I was feeling SICK-SICK-SICK."
