The World According to Humphrey

A.J. takes Humphrey home on the bus. Humphrey is a curiosity to the other students on the bus. When they get to A.J.’s house, Humphrey realizes that the reason Mrs. Brisbane constantly tells him to lower his voice is because A.J.’s whole family is loud. The television is constantly on and blaringly loud, as is the radio. They have to shout over the noise to be heard.

The Thomas family’s life revolves around watching television. They watch it at dinner. Mr. Thomas falls asleep watching it. Mrs. Thomas watches it late at night, giving their baby a bottle. They start watching it first thing in the morning. The noise is too much for Humphrey: He cannot sleep in the day. He comes up with a plan.

Humphrey slips out of his cage and, with great effort, unplugs the television. Everyone is confused; they think it is broken. Using their confusion as cover, Humphrey slips back into his cage. Mr. Thomas tells his complaining children how he and his brother used to entertain themselves as kids without television. Soon the whole family is engrossed in conversation. They stay up past bedtime playing card games.