Read Online Spring According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney - Free Book Online

Mrs Brisbane asked.
    ‘Yes,’ Cassie said. ‘But sometimes I forget.’
    Mrs Brisbane nodded. ‘There are some other things you can try,’ she said. ‘For instance, getting plenty of exercise can help, like walking or running.’
    A GREAT-GREAT-GREAT idea! I always exercise when I’m feeling out of control.
    To encourage Cassie, I decided to see how hard I could get my hamster ball spinning. Instead of just running forward, which makes the ball roll, I began to spin in a circle.
    ‘Look!’ Cassie said as she pointed at me.
    The ball was spinning round and round in a circle.
    In fact, the world around me was spinning so fast, I was a little bit dizzy!
    ‘BOING-BOING!’ Og sounded worried.
    My tummy felt funny, so I stopped my spinning.
    When the ball was at a standstill, I looked up and saw Cassie spinning round and round in a circle, too.
    ‘Be careful, Cassie,’ her mum said.
    ‘It’s fun!’ Cassie said.
    She spun a little while longer and finally stopped.
    ‘How do you feel?’ Mrs Brisbane asked.
    Cassie caught her breath. ‘I feel good. More relaxed.’
    ‘That’s good,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘But maybe walking is a little better than spinning.’
    My head was still spinning, so I squeaked, ‘I think so!’
    Thank goodness Cassie put me back in my cage.
    Mr Brisbane retuned to the living room with a plate of oatmeal cookies.
    Cookies always make humans feel better.
    While everyone munched away, I hopped on my wheel for a good, fast spin.
    ‘Look!’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘I think Humphrey exercises to relax.’
    Cassie giggled. ‘But he doesn’t take tests.’
    ‘If you only knew!’ I squeaked.
    Mr Brisbane passed the cookies around again. ‘When I was in school, I always thought I had to get every single answer right. If I missed just one question, I thought I’d failed.’ He chuckled. ‘But now I know that you don’t have to be perfect all the time.’
    ‘I worry about missing an answer, too,’ Cassie said.
    Mr Brisbane nodded. ‘But would the world come to an end if you got an answer wrong now and then?’
    Cassie hesitated, then shook her head. ‘I guess not.’
    ‘Of course not, Cassie,’ her mum said. ‘You could never disappoint us. We know you try hard and we’re proud of what a good person you are.’
    They hugged, which is something nice that humans do. But PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE don’t hug your hamsters. We could get hurt!
    ‘You don’t have to be perfect, Cassie. Relax,’ her mum said.
    ‘I know.’ Cassie sighed.
    ‘There’s something you can do about that,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘Whenever you have a negative thought – such as thinking you’re going to fail – replace it with a positive thought.’
    Cassie looked confused.
    ‘When you hear that voice in your head saying that you’re going to fail, just say to yourself, “I know I’ll do well in the test”,’ Mrs Brisbane said. ‘Because you know you are prepared.’
    ‘That’s a good idea, isn’t it, Og?’ I squeaked to my neighbour.
    ‘BOING-BOING,’ he replied.
    Suddenly, Cassie smiled. ‘I guess I could do that. Because I always study a lot.’
    Her mum smiled, too. ‘Try following Mrs Brisbane’s suggestions. Maybe your stomach won’t hurt so much.’
    ‘I’m going to try those things, too!’ I squeaked. ‘I’m going to breathe deeply, get plenty of exercise and replace my negative thoughts with positive ones!’
    I suddenly felt lighter than air. I scrambled up the tree branch, grabbed the top rungs of my cage and started swinging my way from one corner to the next.
    ‘Look at Humphrey!’ Cassie laughed.
    ‘He’s quite a show-off,’ Mrs Brisbane said.
    A show-off? Not me! I was just following Mrs Brisbane’s suggestions.
    Cassie came over to my cage to watch. ‘I love you, Humphrey,’ she said. ‘You’re so funny!’
    ‘Thanks!’ I squeaked as I dropped down to the bottom of my cage and did a triple somersault.
    Cassie laughed out loud. ‘I hope you can come home with me