This is the third Humphrey book I've read with Sebastien, but the second in the series. In this book, Humphrey finds himself trying to befriend a frog!
In many ways, this book is great. As the title suggests, friendship is a theme. Through the children in Room 26, from Humphrey's perspective, we see that sometimes, making new friends can be difficult. Sometimes, even the best of friends will argue. And, sometimes, even a bully just wants to have friends, but needs some help. Humphrey himself tries to make a new friend out of the new frog in class, and he learns a bit about himself in the process as he struggles through feelings of jealousy when everyone suddenly showers the new frog with attention.
I actually think my rating may be unfairly skewed. I'm reading this series to Sebastien, who is absolutely LOVING it, but I think this book is supposed to be geared towards older kids. Amazon has it being recommended for ages 8 and up, or grades 3 and up. Indeed, I think there is nothing objectionable about the book for Isabelle, who is just on the lower end of the target audience. But for Sebastien, who is just starting first grade, I fear some of the descriptions of discord between friends - or potential friends - is less a reflection of what he already knows and probably more of an introduction to questionable behavior! Maybe it's fine that Sebastien is being exposed to all kinds of behaviors, especially since in the end, the book very nicely wraps everything up so that everyone gets along and learns some kind of lesson about how friendships work. Still, there were times when I just felt not entirely comfortable, like when Humphrey described Og in negative ways, even disparaging his appearance.
All in all, if you read the book through to the end, meaningful lessons in friendship will be learned. As a read-aloud book, it works great. Even without pictures, Sebastien was always eager to read another chapter, to find out what happens next.
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