Humphrey’s Playful Puppy Problem
Written by Betty Birney, Illustrated by Priscilla Burris

Publisher’s Summary:
Humphrey, the classroom hamster of Room 26, loves spending weekends with his classmates. This week, he is going home with Richie. Humphrey is going to help him with his science experiment (hamsters LOVE-LOVE-LOVE to be helpful).

But Humphrey finds a surprise at Richie’s house. Poppy the puppy is bouncy and barky and is eager to play–a little too eager, Humphrey thinks. Humphrey needs to get out of his cage to help Richie, but can he do that and stay out of Poppy’s way at the same time?

Primary Source Pairing:
Humphrey the lovable class pet hamster is back with a new adventure. In this book, Humphrey goes home with Richie, a student from his class, over the weekend. Richie is also working on his science project which involves Humphrey and his skills to run FAST-FAST-FAST on his hamster wheel. Invite students to use the photograph of the hamster to identify the adaptations a hamster has that allow it to run fast. What other animal adaptations do we learn about in this story about Humphrey? Can we see those adaptations in this picture of a hamster?

Questions for Discussion:

• What do you notice first?
• Find something small but interesting.
• What do you notice that you didn’t expect?
• What can you learn from examining this image?
• What other animal adaptations do we learn about in this story about Humphrey? Can we see those adaptations in this picture of a hamster?

Credits:
Book Cover and Summary: Follett
Hamster picture: HamsterWiki.com