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Summary
Summary
"Children meet [Amelia's] family, as odd a bunch as one would expect....Real amusement bubbles up to get kids thinking about the meaning and usage of words."--Booklist. Amelia's "humor and appeal are as fresh as ever."--Horn Book.
Author Notes
Peggy Parish was born in Manning, South Carolina on July 14, 1927. She attended the University of South Carolina and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. While visiting her brother in Kentucky, Parish was persuaded to enter the teaching profession. After teaching creative dancing to young children, she moved to Oklahoma and taught third grade in the Panhandle, in addition to teaching dance and producing community shows.
Parish's first book, My Golden Book of Manners, was published in 1961, followed by Let's Be Indians in 1962. A parent of one of the students, who was an editor of adult books, found out she was trying to break into the writing field and introduced her to an editor at Harper who helped improve her skills as a storyteller. This, of course, led to her biggest breakthrough, the creation of Amelia Bedelia in 1963.
Parish eventually wrote 11 more Amelia Bedelia books as well as a number of mystery novels, and arts and crafts books. Among these other titles are Haunted House, Dinosaur Time, The Chimp That Went to School and Let's Celebrate: Holiday Decorations You Can Make. In addition to writing books, Parish did television pieces on preschool education and children's books, wrote book review columns and led a number of in-service training workshops for teachers.
Parish died of an aneurysm on November 19, 1988. Her nephew, Herman Parish, continues to recreate new titles in the Amelia Bedelia series.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3 Mr. and Mrs. Rogers want to have a party for Amelia Bedelia. The three pore through Amelia's family album to select the guests, while Amelia Bedelia tells what each family member does. Each description, of course, is open to gross misinterpretation as Amelia gives each occupation its own special twist. Her cousin, a boxer, packs boxes; Aunt Mary, a bank teller, tells people in the bank where to go; her cousin Chester is a printer who can't use ``proper writing''; and her bookkeeper cousin keeps books instead of returning them. While this is not as clever or funny as some of the other Amelia Bedelia books, and some of the jokes will fall flat, the exploration of the nonsense and absurdity to be found in learning the English language probably will continue its appeal for early readers. Sweat's cheerful cartoon watercolors faithfully interpret Parish's text, and add the necessary information for understanding Amelia's descriptions. Leda Schubert, Vermont Department of Education, Montpelier (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Amelia Bedelia and her misunderstandings have entertained children for years; now readers can meet Amelia's relatives, who are just as wacky as she is. For beginners, Amelia's mother is a loafer (she makes bread), her father is a telephone operator (he repairs phones), her cousin is a boxer (he makes boxes) and her nephew is a catcher (he catches mumps, measles, etc.). Mr. and Mrs. Rogers listen attentively to Amelia Bedelia's family lore, and insist that she invite everybody to the party. With her usual literal-mindedness, Amelia Bedelia misinterprets ``everybody,'' and the party is more inclusive than the Rogerses had intended. Parish and Sweat have produced a radiant look at everyone's favorite maid. But while the illustrations are sprinkled wth humor, the text itself is a bit flat and somewhat repetitive for older readers. Those just beginning to read by themselves will love this; and all readers will be happy to discover that Amelia Bedelia is not one of a kind. Ages 8-up. (September) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
There can probably never be too many books about Amelia Bedelia for her loyal fans. She has been around for 25 years; and although she doesn't look any older, her employers are planning a party to celebrate the fact that she's been with them ""a long time."" Amelia Bedelia, encouraged to invite her family, produces her family album, full of people like Uncle Alf, a garbage collector--whose neighbors have had to move away because of the smell; and poor Cousin Chester, a printer--because ""We could never teach him proper writing."" The puns are not outrageously clever; and after considering 17 of them, all adult might crave a change of pace. Still, there's no denying Amelia Bedelia's perennial popularity or her ability to make beginning readers chuckle and think twice about the meaning of language. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 2-3. Amelia Bedelia, that wacky maid, has been delighting readers for 25 years. Here, children meet her family, as odd a bunch as one would expect. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers decide to throw a party for Amelia so that they can meet her relatives. Told that Amelia's mother is a loafer, Mrs. Rogers infers she does nothing. Not true-- she makes bread. Uncle Ned is a cook, but he's not a chef; he's a doorman whose last name is Cook. These are among the best examples of the humor; others snippets do not work as well. For instance, Amelia's father is a telephone operator, but he doesn't help people with calls; he operates on telephones. Even nonsense should have some sort of internal logic, but this does not. A large assortment of relatives is involved, and enough real amusement bubbles up to get kids thinking about the meaning and usage of words. The book's larger format, more picture book in style than easy- to-read, is accessible, especially since it features full-color artwork by Sweat, who has illustrataed other books in the series. IC.