Friendship According to Humphrey (15 page)

• Frogs are amphibians and their relatives are toads and salamanders.

• The word
amphibian
means “double-life” because many amphibians spend part of their lives in water and part of their lives on land.

• Amphibians have been around a long time—something like 350 million years! But the first frog appeared about 190 million years ago.

• Frogs are known for leaping. The record for a frog leap is seventeen feet in one jump!

• The famous American writer Mark Twain wrote a funny story called “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”

• Because frogs don’t have a shell, scales or dry skin, most live in damp conditions so they won’t dry out.

• Frogs go through major chances as they grow up. They start out as eggs, which turn into tadpoles, which don’t look much like frogs! They change again into froglets and then become adult frogs. This process is called metamorphosis—a word Humphrey definitely hopes is never on his vocabulary test!

• Put a coin and a magic wand (you can make your own) on a table at your right side.

• Take the coin in your right hand and show it to your audience. Tell the audience that you’re going to make the coin disappear.

• Look down at the wand on the table and act as if you want to pick it up, but you can’t.

• Pretend to move the coin to your left hand, but keep it in your right hand. Keep your eyes on the wand, and the audience will, too. And keep that patter going!

• Pick up the wand with your right hand (which also holds the coin). Turn your attention to your left closed fist.

• Tap your left fist with the wand and say “Hocus Pocus!”

• Open your left hand slowly. Act surprised that the coin is gone. Your audience is sure to be amazed!

• Why does Humphrey feel jealous about Og’s appearance in the classroom?

• Have you ever been jealous of a friend or family member before? What made you feel jealous? Were you able to get over those feelings of jealousy? If so, what helped you?

• Humphrey feels that Og does not want to be friends. Why does he think that? Is it true?

• Have you ever formed an opinion about a classmate and then later found out you were wrong?

• Tabitha is the new kid in Room 26. She has a hard time making friends until Humphrey lends a helping paw. Have you ever changed schools and been “the new kid”? How did you feel on your first day of school? How long did it take for you to make a friend? Did the other students try to make friends with you? What did you do to make friends?

• Think of a time when you met a group of kids you didn’t know (first day of school, sports practice, after-school program). How did you feel? How did other kids or grown-ups make you feel welcome?

• Why did Tabitha hang on to her toy bear, Smiley, even though the other kids felt she was odd? What did Humphrey do to help her reach out and make friends?

• Do you have a favorite stuffed animal?

• Humphrey is surprised that boys and girls can be best friends. How did Seth end up being Tabitha’s first friend? If you’re a boy, have you ever had a close friend who was a girl? If you’re a girl, have you ever had a close friend who was a boy? Do you believe boys and girls can be good friends? If a boy and girl are friends, do their friends sometimes tease them or give them a hard time? Why do you think this is?

• Miranda’s stepsister, Abby, seems extremely mean when Humphrey first meets her. But by the end of his visit, she seems nice. Why was Abby crabby in the beginning ? What changed her?

• Many children live in families with stepsisters, step-brothers, half-sisters and half-brothers. Do you have any step-siblings? If so, how did it feel when you first met them? Did you learn to get along over time? What helped you get to know them better?

• Miranda and Abby try to stay awake all night by telling each other scary stories. Do you have a favorite ghost story?

• Humphrey becomes very upset when best friends Heidi and Gail stop speaking to one another. Have you and your best friend ever had a big argument? How did you feel? Were you able to make up and become friends again? If yes, what steps did you take to make up? If no, what could you or the other person have done? What did you learn from that experience?

• What are some of the qualities you look for in a friend? What are the things you like about your best friend?

• Mrs. Brisbane sang a song to Tabitha that said, “Make new friends but keep the old; One is silver and the other’s gold.” What does that song mean to you?

• Humphrey helps put Mean Martin Bean, the school bully, in his place. Later what adult helps Martin learn to be friendlier to the other students? How does he do that?

• The children who rode the bus with A.J. and Garth were all afraid of Martin Bean, but Humphrey helped them. Name three other things they could have done to deal with Martin’s bad behavior.

• Have you ever had an experience with a bully or seen someone else have one? How did you or the other person handle it?

• Why do you think someone becomes a bully? Name at least three reasons a person might act like a bully.

• Do you ride the bus to school? What kind of problems have you run into on the bus? What would it feel like to be a bus driver? What kind of problems might you have?

• Poetry doesn’t have to rhyme, but Mrs. Brisbane’s assignment to the class was to write a poem six lines long with rhyming words. Many students wrote poems about Og because his name was easy to rhyme. How many words can you think of that rhyme with Og?

• None of the students could think of a word to rhyme with “Humphrey.” But Mandy Payne realized that her name rhymed with “candy cane.” Take your first or last name and see if you can find a word that rhymes with it.

• Do you have a favorite poem? What is it? Read it out loud to a friend or your parents.

• Kirk wrote a poem about a frog in which the first letter of each line spelled the word Frog. This is called an acrostic poem. Pick your favorite animal and write an acrostic poem.

• Og is a common green frog, but there are many types of frogs. Some live only in water, and some live on land near the water. Some, like Og, live on both water and land. Using the Internet, an encyclopedia, or an animal reference book, see how many different kinds of frogs you can find.

• Using the Internet or a reference book, find out what frogs live in the wild in your area of the country. Have you ever found a frog in the wild?

• Frogs and hamsters and dogs and cats are just a few common pets people have. Ask your friends and classmates what kinds of pets they own. Which pet is most popular with your friends?