45 pages • 1 hour read
Betty G. BirneyThe Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1980A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Betty G. Birney’s Children’s Stories
Betty G. Birney was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1947 and attended school in Affton, a suburb of St. Louis. She wrote her first story when she was seven years old and kept writing throughout her teenage years. Growing up, she desired to be an actor as well as a writer, and this early interest in various forms of narrative and make-believe informs The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs’s exploration of both The Importance of Imagination in Childhood and Fostering Community Through Storytelling.
Birney graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from Webster University in 1969 and worked for several years as an English teacher. She also worked in advertising in Missouri and Illinois before moving to California. There, she joined the Disney advertising department and later worked at the Disney studio in Burbank, writing and producing television commercials and theatrical trailers for Disney films like Cinderella and Fantasia. She became a writer and story editor for the Disney Channel working on Welcome to Pooh Corner. Birney went on to write more than 200 episodes on major animation cartoons and live-action programs, including Where’s Waldo, Zoobilee Zoo, and Dumbo’s Circus. She also wrote the 2002 television film Mary Christmas.
Birney’s work as a storyteller stretches across several mediums, as she has also written more than 35 children’s books, several inspired by Disney themes. Birney is best known for The Humphrey Series, also known as The World According to Humphrey, which includes 12 books published between 2004 and 2016. The series also includes two spinoffs titled Humphrey’s Tiny Tales and Og the Frog. The books focus on the adventures of Humphrey, a hamster who is the class pet at an elementary school. The Humphrey books have won seven state Children’s Choice awards, three Children’s Crown Awards, and a Christopher Award. Birney’s other novels and picture books include The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, The Princess and the Peabodys, Tyrannosaurus Tex, and Pie’s in the Oven.
Cultural Context: The Seven Wonders of the World
The Seven Wonders of the World are artistic and architectural monuments from the ancient world that represented humanity’s greatest achievements, according to observers (mostly Greek) of the day. The list includes the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. Notable lists of the monuments derive from Diodorus Siculus and Antipater of Sidon, though they do not agree completely on which monuments should be included. Philo of Byzantium and the historian Herodotus also referenced seven wonders, but their accounts have survived only in incomplete form or have disappeared entirely. The Pyramids of Giza are the only monument that remains today, while the others have been destroyed throughout history. Some modern scholars also contest the existence of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, suggesting that they were a legend widely believed in antiquity. All of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were in the Mediterranean or Middle East, reflecting a Hellenistic perspective on the “civilized” world.
As cultural symbols, the seven wonders are a testament to human creativity, imagination, and inventiveness, and they continue to be celebrated as notable achievements of early cultures and civilizations. In Birney’s novel, the young protagonist is inspired by the magnitude and perfection of the wonders, which incite his desire to explore the world.
In 2007, The New 7 Wonders Foundation initiated a contest to identify seven wonders of the modern world. Millions of people voted, forming a list that includes the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome, the Taj Mahal in India, Petra in Jordan, Chichen Itza in Mexico, Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil, and Machu Picchu in Peru.
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By Betty G. Birney
