SuitabookSummer according to Humphrey
Betty G. Birney
- Reading
- If camp, suspense or haunted-house imagery may be unsettling, read together and pause before those sections. Invite the child to predict how Humphrey might manage worry, then discuss the ending after reading.
- Themes
- Friendship and helping: Humphrey cares about his classmates, tries to help friends and searches for Og when Og is missing. The book presents this favourably.
- Coping with unfamiliar experiences: Humphrey is nervous about going to camp, which includes new activities and frightening sounds, smells and situations. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Competition and teamwork: The cabins compete in swimming and canoeing during the Clash of the Cabins, and the winning cabin receives a haunted-house overnight experience. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Worth knowing
- Camp includes frightening elements: wild sounds and smells, something called the Howler, a haunted house, a missing Og and Sam’s poison ivy. The intensity and resolution of these moments are not fully clear.