- Picture Books
- Ages 3–7
- Fables
The Camel Who Had the Hump
Book 8 of 9 in The Animal Who BooksView the full series
Humphrey the camel has a hump, and this morning, he also has the hump. A gentle meditation on grumpy moods, where they come from, and what a little kindness can do about them. (The title's double meaning will delight any British adult in the room.)
- Best for3–7
- FormatPicture
- Length32 pp
- Read aloud~6 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Rhyming
- Lyrical
Tone
- Funny
- Warm
- Heartwarming
- Gentle
- Whimsical
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Humphrey the camel wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and everything, as a result, is wrong. He has 'the hump', the British expression for a bad mood, which allows Rachel Bright a title that works on two levels: the physical hump on Humphrey's back, and the very particular mood he's in. The story follows Humphrey's grump through his day, and the small acts of kindness from other animals that gradually, incrementally, shift things. Bright's text has always been warm and rhythmic but this one has more obvious humour, the double meaning of the title runs as a gentle joke through the book for any parent paying attention. Jim Field's camel is magnificently put-upon. A good one for children who have difficult mornings, or who find it hard to understand why their own mood is affecting others.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 3–7
- Read aloud · 2–7
- Independent · 5–7
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Bedtime
- Reading together
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
5 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly
Sensitive-child
5 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Anger management
- Bad mood
- Gift book
- Read aloud
Avoid if
No common reasons to avoid this one — a rare clean sweep on the sensitivity flags.
Particularly good for children who are…
- Anger management
In the classroom
How it works in school.
Rachel Bright's warm, rhyming animal fables about courage and kindness — superb read-alouds for joining in and talking about feelings.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific kick is the double meaning — Humphrey the camel has a hump, and today he also has the hump, the British grumpy-mood phrase doing the work as a title. The Rachel Bright/Jim Field for a child mid-bad-mood who needs to be shown it without being told.
- Transformation
- Friendship and belonging
Why parents love it
The Bright/Field on grumpy mornings — title pun runs as a gentle joke for any parent paying attention, Field's camel magnificently put-upon. Useful when a child's bad mood is starting to affect everyone else. Companion-piece to Bea's Bad Day in spirit; tighter in form.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Bedtime appropriate
- Conversation starter
In the series
The Animal Who Books.
9 books · open the series →
About the creators
About the creators.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
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