Amelia Bedelia Means Business. by Herman Parish. January 29, 2013. Greenwillow Books. 112 pages. ISBN: 9780062094988Following the example of popular picture book and easy reader character Fancy Nancy, young Amelia Bedelia is now also the star of her own chapter book series. In the first installment of the series,
Amelia Bedelia Means Business, the literal minded little girl finds herself in need of a new bike. Her parents, two very upbeat personalities who apparently don't know their kid very well, decide this will be a fun opportunity for their daughter to learn a little bit of business sense. They inform her that she can have the bike she wants when she earns half the cost. Undaunted, Amelia Bedelia heads out into her neighborhood hoping to find a job. Each time she is hired, though, she quickly loses her job because of her strange interpretations of the instructions she is given.
Up until now, I have generally held the opinion that the newer Amelia Bedelia stories, where she is a mixed-up child instead of a blundering adult, make more sense and are easier for kids to relate to. This chapter book adds a caveat to this statement; the new Amelia Bedelia should stick to the original easy reader format that made her parent series a success. What works so well in a brief story for beginning readers - plays on words and outright silliness - loses its magic in a longer deeper tale. Amelia Bedelia has always been the butt of the joke in her stories, but in a way kids really enjoy. In this book, the reader is asked to take her seriously and to believe that her parents, classmates and neighbors also take her seriously. This is too much to ask of readers who remember the original Amelia Bedelia's “date cake” from
Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia and the way she “called the roll” in
Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia. Even kids who don't know the classic stories will pick up on a sense of flatness in this book. The schtick that defines the essence of Amelia Bedelia only works if we don't try getting inside her head. This earnest treatment of her character ruins the joke and makes the reader feel oddly guilty for laughing at a character who views the world in a different way.
I think the audience most likely to enjoy this book are girls who are new to chapter books who haven’t necessarily developed an attachment to the old school Amelia Bedelia. When girls find
Amelia Bedelia Means Business shelved beside the Nancy Clancy, Rainbow Magic, and Magic Tree House series, they will be drawn to the cartoonish cover as well as the universally understood desire for a brand-new bike. Six and seven year olds who don't mind heavily suspending their disbelief will laugh when Amelia makes cringe-worthy mistake after cringe-worthy mistake. For everyone else, though, it might be a better idea to look back fondly on those early days of reading Amelia Bedelia easy readers and look for some better written and more engaging chapter books. After all, we don't have Frog and Toad or Elephant and Piggie chapter books - and I hope we never do. Some characters just don’t translate well to a longer format, and based on this book, I believe Amelia Bedelia is one of those.
I received a digital ARC of Amelia Bedelia Means Business from HarperCollins via Edelweiss.
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Amelia Bedelia and the Baby. by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Lynn Sweat. 1981. Greenwillow Books. 64 pages. ISBN: 9780688003166Muddled, child-like Amelia Bedelia doesn't know a thing about babies (not even the fact that they're children!), so it's no surprise she doesn't make a very good babysitter. Still, despite her odd ways - allowing the baby to mash her own banana, powdering herself instead of the baby, and feeding the baby solid food before she's ready - she proves to be the exact kind of babysitter parents love to hire.
I was looking for a book to read to a first grade class on Read Across America Day when I came across
Amelia Bedelia and the Baby. I remembered it instantly from my own childhood, when I read and re-read this series many times over. But as I told one of my coworkers when I finished reading this book, Amelia Bedelia's really not as funny as I thought she was as a kid. In fact, reading this book as an adult made me want to throttle Amelia Bedelia, and possibly Mrs. Rogers, too, for acting like her screw-ups are no big deal. I also felt a little bit guilty, as though the story was poking fun at a woman with a clear disability. Certainly, after many experiences with Amelia Bedelia, Mrs. Rogers would be on to the fact that this woman needs explicit instructions that can only be taken literally. But time and again, she fails to realize that Amelia Bedelia is wired differently and leaves her to fend for herself - and in this case, to care for an innocent child. I can usually turn off my adult brain when I read children's books, but this one made it nearly impossible.
I also decided not to read the book to first grade, not just because I didn't think it was funny and therefore didn't think I could sell it very well, but because of the somewhat dated language in it. Amelia Bedelia uses the word "plumb" a lot, which I have never actually heard a person use out loud (other than my sister, who as a child, pronounced it as plump, as in "I plump forgot.") I wasn't sure I'd be able to explain what that meant if the kids asked. And this did not figure into my decision, but I have also always wondered about that get-up she always wears. Where and when is she meant to be from?
Amelia Bedelia has had a makeover in recent years. Herman Parish now writes stories of an endearing literal-minded child where the character's behavior is much less disturbing, and even developmentally appropriate. I think these classics will always be popular because they do appeal to that six-year-old sense of humor, but it's tough being the adult who has to take them at least seriously enough to make the story sound exciting to the reader. I actually think the fact that this book no longer appeals to me says a lot for the author's ability to understand a child's mindset, but that doesn't mean I'll be seeking anymore of the original Amelia Bedelia stories any time soon.
I borrowed Amelia Bedelia and the Baby from my local public library.
I remember reading the original Amelia Bedelia series as a kid, and thinking they were pretty great. I loved seeing her misinterpretations of the instructions she received from Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, which led her to do things like throw dust on the furniture and cut up a calendar to make a date cake. But when I look at those books now, they actually make me somewhat uncomfortable. Though I realize that Amelia Bedelia is meant to stand in for a child, and that her actions are meant to be silly, I can't help but want to roll my eyes at how utterly ridiculous her behavior is, and how she can't function properly in any situation.
But now Herman Parish, the nephew of Amelia Bedelia creator Peggy Parish, has brought Amelia into the 21st century with stories from her childhood. Usually, I object to the attempts on the part of authors or publishers to repackage "classic" characters for new generations. But I have to admit, that compared with the original Amelia Bedelia books, the newer series sits a lot better with me, and I think the writing is every bit as good, if not better in the new books.
In
Amelia Bedelia Makes a Friend, Amelia's best friend, Jen, her opposite in every way, moves out of Amelia's neighborhood. When the new neighbors move in, Amelia isn't very interested, but she does listen as her mother lists the items the movers have brought into the house. These include a footstool, which Amelia imagines as a small table held up by three feet with painted toenails, armchairs, which she draws with her crayons as goofy objects with long, bendable arms, and a twin bed, which Amelia assumes is home to a pair of twins.
As it turns out, the new neighbor is a grandmother named Mrs. Adams. Though she and Amelia are quite different, they enjoy one another's company. Soon, Amelia and Mrs. Adams do many of the same things together that Amelia and Jen used to do, and they become best friends too.
I enjoyed this book on a number of levels.
First of all, I really liked the way the text and illustrations work together to incorporate the original Amelia Bedelia concept of literal interpretation into this story. Amelia's interpretation of each piece of furniture her mother names as she watches Mrs. Adams move in isn't explicitly stated in the text, but instead comes to life in Amelia's own imaginings and drawings.Her only actual statement revealing her confusion occurs when she asks Mrs. Adams about the twins who use the bed.
Secondly, I liked the theme of unlikely friendships, and the idea of friendships between kids and their older neighbors. Amelia's relationship with Mrs. Adams paints a very positive picture of older folks and encourages the reader to focus on what we have in common as human beings, rather than differences that might pull us apart.
Finally, I like the way Herman Parish has changed Amelia from a bumbling, incompetent, and borderline obnoxious adult to a sweet, outgoing, and confident little girl whose confusion is a product of being young and uninformed, rather than just a gimmick to create silliness. This younger version of Amelia is really appealing, and I think I'd actually like to read some more books about her.
My only complaint is that the cover is misleading. Yes, a girl Amelia's age does appear in the story, but it's a brief encounter, and she is not the new friend referenced by t
+JMJ+
My favourite Amelia Bedelia book was the one in which she was fired and had to look for jobs all over town. I thought her literal understanding of everyone's instructions was the funniest thing ever!
But now I wonder whether I'd be able to turn off my adult mind, as you say, when revisiting these stories. There have been some children's books (though not old favourites) that I rejected for my younger siblings at once because they seemed so stupid, even as I knew they'd be totally innocuous fun for their young readers.