Amelia Bedelia

Amelia Bedelia
By Peggy Parish, illustrated by Fritz Siebel
Newfield Publications, Inc., 1963
Pages: 64
Reading Level: 4-8
Genre: Picture Book

Amelia Bedelia is hired to work in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Rogers. Mrs. Rogers leaves a list of things for Amelia to do while they are gone. After Amelia Bedelia makes a lemon-meringue pie, she starts on the house. She follows the direction impecably, definitly to a fault. When told to "change the towels," she gets out her scissors and literally changes them. She takes all her chores literally like that. At one point, she even dresses the chicken up like a boy! When Mrs. Rogers sees what Amelia has done to her home, she is furious. She opens her mouth to fire her, when Mr. Rogers puts in some Lemon-meringue. It is so delicious, that Amelias job is safe, and Mrs. Rogers learns to rephrase her list.

I would recommend this book to young children who still take things literally. It can help them to understand that there is more than one meaning to a lot of words.

This book could cause children to think that it is alright to go around cutting up towels and putting dusting powder on the furniture. It enables the thought that they won't get in trouble for things like that.

I really enjoyed this book. It has been a favorite since my childhood.

My rating: ****