According to Humphrey Books in Order

Betty G. Birney is an American children's author and screenwriter best known for The World According to Humphrey and its sequels. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, she grew up in nearby Affton and studied English at Webster College, now Webster University. Her career has included advertising, television, and books. She has written for animated and live-action programs as well as creating stories for children to read themselves.

She began making books when she was seven.

Birney's professional work first took her into advertising in St. Louis and Chicago. After moving to Southern California, she worked in Disneyland's advertising department and then at the Disney Studio in Burbank. There she wrote and produced promotional material for films. The launch of the Disney Channel brought a different opportunity: she became a writer and story editor for Welcome to Pooh Corner. That work helped lead to a long career writing stories for television.

Her television credits include Madeline, Doug, and Bobby's World, along with after-school specials and the family film Mary Christmas. Her screenwriting has received an Emmy, three Humanitas Prizes, and a Writers Guild of America award. These different formats have required stories of different lengths, but she has described the underlying work of creating characters and plots as much the same. Books remained an early ambition throughout her work in other media.

The World According to Humphrey appeared in 2004. Its narrator is a classroom hamster who observes the children in Room 26 and visits different pupils' homes at weekends. His small size gives him an unusual view of problems that matter greatly to the people around him. He is curious, willing to help, and sometimes able to see a situation differently from the humans involved. The series uses his adventures to explore school, friendship, family life, and the challenges of getting along with others.

Humphrey's world has continued to grow.

The main novels are joined by Humphrey's Tiny Tales for younger readers and books narrated by Og the Frog. Birney's website marked the original novel's twentieth anniversary in 2024, alongside the arrival of Happiness According to Humphrey. The familiar classroom allows new situations and new pupils to enter without removing the central character readers know. This gives the stories a continuing home while keeping space for different experiences and concerns.

In The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, Birney follows Eben McAllister, a boy who longs for adventure outside his quiet community. His father challenges him to find wonders close to home. Birney has connected the book's inspiration to the storytellers in her own family, including relatives who preserved memories of country life. The novel turns attention toward people and places that initially seem ordinary, making discovery a matter of listening as well as traveling.

The Princess and the Peabodys takes a more openly magical approach. A mistaken spell sends a medieval princess into a modern family's home, where Casey Peabody must help her navigate school and unfamiliar customs. The girls' differences create comic difficulties and the possibility of friendship. Birney now lives in New York City after many years in Los Angeles. Her current work and backlist continue to bring together humor, curiosity, and an interest in how people understand one another.