Imagination According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

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    He was looking at a piece of paper. “I’d like to be here for this,” he said. “I don’t have class then. I’ll ask Mrs. Brisbane if I can come.”
    â€œCome to WHAT ? ” I squeaked, but he didn’t answer.
    I’m happy that Aldo was coming to our class. I wasn’t happy that I didn’t know what the surprise was!
    Once Aldo was gone, I had two things on my mind—getting a good look at all of the books and finding out what that note said.
    I jiggled my lock-that-doesn’t-lock and opened the door. Then I strolled along the table, looking at each book lined up there.
    â€œOh!” I exclaimed when I saw Sophie’s book. The parrots looked colorful, but their sharp beaks looked a little frightening.
    â€œGee!” I said as I looked at Small-Paul’s book. His time travel machine was awe inspiring and the adventure he wrote about was exciting and even a little scary.
    Kelsey’s book was all pink and purple and she did a wonderful job of describing a ballet. And to think that Be-Careful-Kelsey once thought she was clumsy!
    Simon’s book about Italy made me a little bit hungry. Luckily, I had some celery stored in my cheek pouch.
    When I got to Joey’s book, all I could say was, “Wow!” His descriptions of the animals in Africa were fantastic, but his drawings were like something out of a library book. Yet I knew they’d come from his own brain.
    â€œOg, Joey is very talented!” I squeaked.
    â€œBOING!” Og agreed before making a spectacular leap into the water.
    My friends had done something wonderful! They’d become writers.
    It was a lot of work, but their books were beautiful.
    All that reading made me tired and I knew it would be a lot of work to climb up Mrs. Brisbane’s desk.
    I decided not to go. It would be fun to find out about the surprise at the same time as my classmates.
    When I returned to my cage, I took out the little notebook from behind my mirror.
    I knew my story wasn’t as great as the ones my classmates had written. And I knew none of my friends would ever know I wrote a story.
    But when I read about Flying Hamster Airlines, I could picture myself flying all my friends to the places they loved most.
    And I felt a special feeling. I think it’s called “joy.”

    The next day, everyone in Room 26 was jittery and excited, because we knew we were going to have a special surprise.
    I didn’t want the surprise to be the return of Pearl!
    I didn’t want the surprise to be something terrible, such as Mrs. Brisbane leaving!
    I did want the surprise to be something wonderful. And it was.
    After morning recess, strange things started to happen.
    First, Mr. Morales came into Room 26. He doesn’t come here too often, because he has so much to do as principal of the school.
    Next, my dear friend Ms. Mac entered with her entire first-grade class.
    The biggest surprise was that she brought Gigi with her!
    â€œI think it’s time for Humphrey and Og to meet our class guinea pig,” she said as she set Gigi between Og’s tank and my cage.
    Of course, Gigi and I had already met, but Ms. Mac didn’t know that.
    â€œGigi, meet Og,” I said. “Og, meet Gigi.”
    â€œBOING! BOING! BOING!” Og hopped around his tank.
    â€œNice to meet you, too,” Gigi squealed.
    â€œI knew you’d like each other,” I squeaked happily.
    Once the students from Room 12 were seated, Mr. Morales came to the front of the room.
    â€œBoys and girls, I know you’ve been working hard on your writing,” he said. “And you’ve done a very good job. So we have a special guest today.”
    I turned to the back of the room, where a tall woman with red hair stood next to Mrs. Brisbane. And surprise—Aldo was there, too!
    Mr. Morales continued. “I want you to make her feel welcome and to listen and treat her with respect. Here she is, the