What books are similar to The World According to Humphrey?

The 10 closest matches to The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney on ReadingList include Because of Winn-Dixie, The Million Dollar Shot, The Tale of Despereaux, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, and Skeleton Man. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–6), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.

Are books like The World According to Humphrey reading-level appropriate?

Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–6), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.

How does ReadingList choose similar books?

Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Books like The World According to Humphrey

If you liked The World According to Humphrey, read Because of Winn-Dixie, The Million Dollar Shot, or The Tale of Despereaux — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared award lists and reading level.

Closest match: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

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Looking for books like The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney? The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.

These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades 3–6 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.

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Why each is a match

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Because of Winn-Dixie610L: Both on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list (+3 more shared lists), overlapping grades (3–5), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
The Million Dollar Shotgrades 3–6: Both on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
The Tale of Despereaux670L: Both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
Deep and Dark and Dangerousgrades 4–6: Both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
Skeleton Mangrades 3–8: Both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–8), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
Stolen Childrengrades 4–6: Both on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–6), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)740L: Both on the Nebraska Golden Sower Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (4–7), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
The Old Willis Placegrades 3–6: Both on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list (+1 more shared list), overlapping grades (3–6), and the same era (2000s). Amazon → books like this →
Allergicgrades 4–6: Both on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (4–6). Amazon → books like this →
Bunniculagrades 3–6: Both on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (3–6). Amazon → books like this →

Books like The World According to Humphrey for elementary readers (grades 3–5)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 3–5— same scoring, different audience.

Call Me Roberto!: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos by Nathalie Alonso · grades 2–5 — Both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (2–5).
Front Desk by Kelly Yang · 640L — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (3–7).
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell · grades 3–6 — Both on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (3–6).
Invisible Isabel by Sally J. Pla · grades 3–6 — Both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (3–6).
Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas · grades 3–7 — Both on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (3–7).

Books like The World According to Humphrey for middle school (grades 6–8)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 6–8— same scoring, different audience.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares · grades 7–10 — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2000s).
Unwind by Neal Shusterman · grades 8–12 — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2000s).
Front Desk by Kelly Yang · 640L — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list (+2 more shared lists) and overlapping grades (3–7).
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell · grades 3–6 — Both on the Iowa Children's Choice Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (3–6).
Invisible Isabel by Sally J. Pla · grades 3–6 — Both on the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children's Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and overlapping grades (3–6).

Books like The World According to Humphrey for high school & teens (grades 9–12)

Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 9–12— same scoring, different audience.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares · grades 7–10 — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2000s).
Unwind by Neal Shusterman · grades 8–12 — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2000s).
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer · grades 9–12 — Both on the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award list (+1 more shared list) and the same era (2000s).

Common questions

What books are similar to The World According to Humphrey?: The 10 closest matches to The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney on ReadingList include Because of Winn-Dixie, The Million Dollar Shot, The Tale of Despereaux, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, and Skeleton Man. Each is scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades 3–6), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
Are books like The World According to Humphrey reading-level appropriate?: Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades 3–6), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.
How does ReadingList choose similar books?: Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.

Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.

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