Secrets According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney Page A

managed to return their books on time.
    Unfortunately, when I reached the next drawer, I fell into a jumble of things: paper clips and staples, a bottle of glue, pushpins—ouch—glad I didn’t step on them! There were big clips and small clips, a box of labels, some batteries and a wrinkled piece of paper that turned out to be fire drill instructions.
    The books in Mr. Fitch’s library are very organized, but I think he needs to organize his drawers a bit!
    I was almost to the top, so I took a deep breath, and grabbed onto the edge of the desk. Then I PULLED-PULLED-PULLED myself up and there I was, sitting on top of the tall desk along with stacks of books, a telephone, a computer and several pencils.
    Right behind me was the fish tank, glowing so brightly the light hurt my eyes.
    I rested for a few seconds, chewing on the bit of celery I had tucked away in my cheek pouch.
    When I felt stronger, I scurried closer to the fish tank and looked up.
    My, the fish were very beautiful. They were blue, pink, orange and yellow. There were striped fish and fish with polka dots.
    I stared and stared as they circled around the tank, opening and closing their mouths.
    I remembered my Plan and so I began to shout. “Fish friends, I am a classroom hamster. One of my classmates, Joey, doesn’t think he likes books. I think he would love an animal story from the fiction section. You live in the library. Do you have any ideas ? ”
    They kept on circling and opening and closing their mouths.
    One of them, with a bright blue body and white stripes, caught my eye.
    â€œDid you hear me ? ” I shouted.
    If I kept it up, I’d probably lose my voice.
    Still looking at me, he opened and closed his mouth.
    It looked as if he were talking but I couldn’t hear anything but the BUBBLE-BUBBLE-BUBBLE sound the tank made.
    I sighed. I was disappointed to learn that the fish weren’t going to be helpful at all.
    I’d worked very hard to get up to the top of the desk and my Plan failed.
    So I sat for a while, trying to figure out what to do next.
    I didn’t want to see the fish opening and closing their mouths but saying nothing, so I turned away.
    That’s when I started to notice the books that were stacked on the checkout desk.
    Some of them had wonderful titles, such as
If You Lived on the Moon
, and
The Mysterious Magic Wand.
I’m not sure if I’d like to live on the moon, but I’d like to read about it. And if I had a magic wand, helping my friends would be a lot easier!
    I walked around to see the other books on the desk.
    A book about a girl with funny red braids that stuck straight out from her head.
    A book about rocks.
    But the next book I saw got my attention.
    There was a little boy on the dark red cover. He had big eyes, just like Joey’s.
    And he was surrounded by animals: a bear, a snake, a panther and a tiger!
    The Jungle Book
was the title and it was written by someone with a very strange name (at least to me). It was Rudyard Kipling.
    A boy who lives in the jungle and is friends with the animals ? All kinds of animals ?
    That sounded like a book Joey would like.
    But how could a small hamster like me get a great big book to Room 26 ?
    I sighed. My Plan had a giant glitch, because I’m so tiny. Joey might never get this book that was perfect for him!
    Then, I remembered my trip up the drawers.
    I’d seen rubber stamps and paper clips and sharp pushpins.
    And I’d also seen those notes that said “Hold For.”
    It wasn’t easy, but I managed to hop my way back down one drawer.
    There they were! “Hold For” notes.
    I carefully pulled one off the top, held it in my teeth, and pulled myself up to the next drawer and back to the desktop.
    I set the “Hold For” note on the desk and I grabbed a pencil.
    I’m used to writing with the tiny pencil that goes with my notebook. This was a BIG-BIG-BIG pencil, but I could lift it with two