"When Mandy, one of the students from classroom 26, brings a special hamster-sized racecar to class, it means just one thing: Humphrey is going to be in a hamster race"--

Dear friends, I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE sharing my adventures as a classroom hamster with all my friends. But sometimes my paw gets tired from so much writing! To give it a rest, I've written some shorter tales that are every bit as funny and exciting as my According to Humphrey books. They're called Humphrey's Tiny Tales and they've even got illustrations! (I'm quite pleased at how cute I look in the pictures.) I'm unsqueakably excited to share my new stories with you and I think Humphrey fans and new younger readers will be excited, too! Your furry friend, Humphrey My Pet Show Panic! My friends in Room 26 hoped I'd win a prize at the Pet Show. I hoped so, too, but with dogs and cats, a parrot and a mysterious creature called Nick the Stick, I had a lot of competition. When Miranda's scary dog, Clem, showed up, I was WORRIED-WORRIED-WORRIED. And with good reason, because once we got together, the panic at the Pet Show began!

Everyone’s favorite classroom pet is now starring in chapter books! Longfellow School is having a school fair! They will have bouncy castles, bean bag games, painted faces, and delicious treats. And there's also a contest for best class spirit. Of course Mrs. Brisbane's class decides Humphrey and Og are the biggest reasons their class is so special and they make costumes and signs to show everyone why. At first it seems as though Humphrey and Og won't get to go to the fair, but luckily Aldo figures out a way to get them there safely. The fair is as wonderful as Humphrey imagined and he even ends up being the surprise star of the day. Just-right for readers transitioning from easy-to-reads to chapter books, Humphrey's Tiny Tales simply make kids HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY.

Everyone's favorite classroom pet is now starring in chapter books! Humphrey has had lots of adventures as the classroom pet of Room 26, but never one like this. He is going on a campout in the backyard with Heidi and her friends! There’s stargazing, roasting marshmallows, searching for creepy-crawlies—and then there are the prank-loving boys next door, who want to prove that the girls are scaredy-cats. Humphrey doesn’t think girls are scaredy-cats. He doesn’t think girls are like cats at all. Can this VERY-VERY-VERY small hamster show them with a hairy-scary trick of his own? With sweet illustrations and an easy reading level, Humphrey’s Tiny Tales are hamster-iffic for emerging readers.

Humphrey might be the first classroom hamster ever to be part of a magic act in this fifth book in the popular chapter book series! The kids in Room 26 are talking about jobs they want to have when they grow up. Golden-Miranda wants to be a magician and, even more exciting, she wants Humphrey to be her assistant when she shows the class some tricks. But when one of her tricks is in trouble, can Humphrey’s quick thinking (and scampering) fix it in time? With sweet illustrations and an easy reading level, Humphrey’s Tiny Tales are hamster-iffic for emerging readers.

Dirt and Disease is a social, cultural, and medical history of the polio epidemic in the United States. Naomi Rogers focuses on the early years from 1900 to 1920, and continues the story to the present. She explores how scientists, physicians, patients, and their families explained the appearance and spread of polio and how they tried to cope with it. Rogers frames this study of polio within a set of larger questions about health and disease in twentieth-century American culture.

“What would it take to create a world in which fantasy is not confused for fact and public policy is based on objective reality?" asks Neil deGrasse Tyson, science popularizer and author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. "I don't know for sure. But a good place to start would be for everyone on earth to read this book." Maybe you know someone who swears by the reliability of psychics or who is in regular contact with angels. Or perhaps you're trying to find a nice way of dissuading someone from wasting money on a homeopathy cure. Or you met someone at a party who insisted the Holocaust never happened or that no one ever walked on the moon. How do you find a gently persuasive way of steering people away from unfounded beliefs, bogus cures, conspiracy theories, and the like? This down-to-earth, entertaining exploration of commonly held extraordinary claims will help you set the record straight. The author, a veteran journalist, has not only surveyed a vast body of literature, but has also interviewed leading scientists, explored "the most haunted house in America," frolicked in the inviting waters of the Bermuda Triangle, and even talked to a "contrite Roswell alien." He is not out simply to debunk unfounded beliefs. Wherever possible, he presents alternative scientific explanations, which in most cases are even more fascinating than the wildest speculation. For example, stories about UFOs and alien abductions lack good evidence, but science gives us plenty of reasons to keep exploring outer space for evidence that life exists elsewhere in the vast universe. The proof for Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster may be nonexistent, but scientists are regularly discovering new species, some of which are truly stranger than fiction. Stressing the excitement of scientific discovery and the legitimate mysteries and wonder inherent in reality, this book invites readers to share the joys of rational thinking and the skeptical approach to evaluating our extraordinary world.

Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 Youth and Media -- 2 Then and Now -- 3 Themes and Theoretical Perspectives -- 4 Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers -- 5 Children -- 6 Adolescents -- 7 Media and Violence -- 8 Media and Emotions -- 9 Advertising and Commercialism -- 10 Media and Sex -- 11 Media and Education -- 12 Digital Games -- 13 Social Media -- 14 Media and Parenting -- 15 The End -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z

The first book in the series about everyone's favorite classroom pet! You can learn a lot about life by observing another species. That’s what Humphrey was told when he was first brought to Room 26. And boy, is it true! In addition to having FUN-FUN-FUN in class, each weekend this amazing hamster gets to sleep over with a different student, like Lower-Your-Voice-A.J. and Speak-Up-Sayeh. Soon Humphrey learns to read, write, and even shoot rubber bands (only in self-defense, of course). With lots of friends to help, adventures to enjoy, and a cage with a lock-that-doesn’t- lock, Humphrey's life is almost perfect. If only the teacher, Mrs. Brisbane, wasn’t out to get him! Boys and girls can't help falling in love with Humphrey! Kids will be eager to get their paws on all 12 books in the series! Be sure to look for Humphrey's Tiny Tales for younger readers.