Betty G. Birney (born April 26, 1947) is an American author, screenwriter, and teacher. She is best known for the ''Humphrey'' children's book series.

Personal life

Betty G. Birney was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up and went to school in

Affton Affton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in south St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, near St. Louis. The population was 20,417 at the 2020 United States census. Geography According to the United States ...

, a suburb of St. Louis, and went to college at Webster College, now

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri, United States. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The university has an alumni net ...

in Webster Groves. She spent much of her life as an English teacher. Today Birney lives in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

Career

Birney wrote her first book, "Teddy Bear in the Woods" when she was only seven years old. As a professional writer she has written several books for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

and has also worked at

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

. She has also written for video games, television, and movies, including the 2002 made-for-TV film '' Mary Christmas''.

Bibliography

''Humphrey'' series

The Humphrey series, also known as ''According to Humphrey'', follows the daily adventures of Humphrey, a

hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera. They have become established as popular small pets. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian ...

who is the class pet at an elementary school. Every week the teacher, Mrs. Brisbane, lets someone take Humphrey home. Humphrey, who was introduced to the class by a substitute teacher, Ms. McNamara (known as "Ms. Mac" to the students), is smarter than he looks and often helps the children with their problems, though no one expects anything from him because he's a hamster. He can leave his cage whenever he wants because the lock doesn't lock, and nobody knows about this except for him. Every kid in Humphrey's class has a different nickname, such as Lower-Your-Voice A.J. or Speak-Up Sayeh. Humphrey also bonds with Aldo, a

janitor A cleaner, cleanser or cleaning operative is a type of Industry (economics), industrial or domestic worker who is tasked with cleaning a space. A janitor (Scotland, United States and Canada), also known as a custodian, Facility Operator, porter ...

who comes in to clean the room after school, and even helps Aldo to get a girlfriend. Humphrey and Mrs. Brisbane feel negatively about each other at first, but warm up to each other later. Humphrey is later reluctantly brought home by Mrs Brisbane for Thanksgiving (due to none of the class being able to take him home), where he meets her husband. In book 2 another class pet, a frog named Og, is introduced. In ''Summer According to Humphrey'', Humphrey is brought to summer school. Starting in ''School Days According to Humphrey'', a new school year begins, and with it there is a new group of kids. The first title in the series, ''The World According to Humphrey'', was published on February 2, 2004. PW praised The World According to Humphrey, calling it a "breezy, well-crafted first novel, narrated by a hamster." The series has two spinoffs: ''Humphrey's Tiny Tales'' and ''Og the Frog''. Birney announced on her website that a new Humphrey book will be released in 2024. * The World According to Humphrey (2004) * Friendship According to Humphrey (2005) * Trouble According to Humphrey (2007) * Surprises According to Humphrey (2008) * Adventure According to Humphrey (2008) * Summer According to Humphrey (2009) * School Days According to Humphrey (2011) * Mysteries According to Humphrey (2012) * Winter According to Humphrey (2012) * Secrets According to Humphrey (2014) * Imagination According to Humphrey (2015) * Spring According to Humphrey (2016) * Happiness According to Humphrey (2024)

Other Humphrey Books

Humphrey's Tiny Tales

* My Pet Show Panic! (aka ''Humphrey's Pet Show Panic'') (2011) * My Summer Fair Surprise! (2011) * My Creepy-Crawly Camping Adventure (2011) * My Great Big Birthday Bash! (2012) * My Treasure Hunt Trouble! (2012) * My Playful Puppy Problem! (2013) * Really Wheely Racing Day (2013) * My Mixed Up Magic Trick! (2016) * Bumper Book of Humphrey's Tiny Tales (2014) * Bumper Book of Humphrey's Tiny Tales 2 (2014)

Og the Frog

* Life According to Og the Frog (2018) * Exploring According to Og the Frog (2019) * Wildlife According to Og the Frog (2020)

Picture books

* What's My Job (1992) * Disney's the Little Mermaid (1992) * Bambi's Snowy Day (1992) * Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1993) * Walt Disney's Winnie the Pooh and the Little Lost Bird (1993) * Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1993) * Black Beauty (1994) * Tyrannosaurus Tex (1994) * Disney's Toy Story (1995) * Pie's in the Oven (1996)

Other books

* The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs (2005) * The Princess and the Peabodys (2007) * Tales from Winnie-the-Pooh / My Treasure Hunt Trouble (with A.A. Milne) (2011) (omnibus)

Awards

Birney has won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, three

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an American award for film and television writing, presented to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful manner. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of ...

s, and a

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birney, Betty G. 1947 births Living people American children's writers Writers from Missouri Writers from Los Angeles American women screenwriters American women children's writers