Amelia Bedelia Helps Out (An Avon Camelot Book) [Paperback]

Peggy Parish (Author), Lynn Sweat (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Series: An Avon Camelot Book

Amelia Bedelia and her little niece Effie Lou have come to help Miss Emma take care of her house and garden.And you can just imagine how messed up things get when Amelie Bedelia starts telling her niece what needs to be done!!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The late Peggy Parish, well known for her stories about Amelia Bedelia, wrote many popular books for children, including Dinosaur Time, illustrated by Arnold Lobel.

"I hate reading but your books are changing my opinion." This letter, from a young Peggy Parish fan, comes as no surprise to the teachers and librarians who have put her books in the hands of children over the years. Ms. Parish wrote nearly three dozen children's books-many of which include her most famous character, the literal-minded maid named Amelia Bedelia.

Peggy Parish knew what children like to read. After graduating from the University of South Carolina with a degree in English, she taught school in Oklahoma, Kentucky, and, for over 15 years, at the well-known, progressive Dalton School in New York City. It was at Dalton that she began to find ways to release her creative ideas and energy, Though she never took a writing course, "writing stories for children came naturally." Her first book, published in 1961, was followed with Let's Be Indians and in 1963 with her unforgettable Amelia Bedelia.

Always involved with education in some way, Peggy Parish did television pieces on preschool education and children's books, wrote children's-book review columns, and led numerous in-service training workshops for teachers. In discussing her ideas about education, she said, "Children's rights are taken away from them when they enter school. What I try to show teachers is that all the skills needed to read can be taught outside of textbooks. Today's children are not going to read what they are not interested in. And if a positive attitude toward reading is not developed during the first three years of school, it is virtually impossible to develop it later."

After living in New York for many years, Peggy Parish returned to her native South Carolina. She died in November, 1988. But Ameila Bedelia did not die. Peggy Parish's nephew, Herman Parish, has written Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia and Bravo, Amelia Bedelia!, published by Greenwillow Books in 1995 and 1997 respectively.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: HarperTrophy (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038072796X
• ISBN-13: 978-0380727964
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,828,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a really good book, June 29, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Amelia Bedelia Helps Out (An Avon Camelot Book) (Paperback)

I think that Amelia Bedelia Helps Out is a good book. Amelia Bedelia is funny. She does everything the wrong way. She feeds the chickens with cloth instead of chicken food. She also makes her Tea cake the wrong way. She didn't pull the right weeds in the garden. I like it because Amelia Bedelia like to help out and I do too.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great entertaining book!, December 5, 2004

By 

c2 (Dublin, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Amelia Bedelia Helps Out (Hardcover)

This is a very funny book and is especially good to be read to toddlers. When Amelia is asked to stake the beans, she ties steak to them. When she's asked to make a tea cake, she makes one with tea in it. It offers a very good example of how what we say makes all the difference in the world, and whether or not what we are saying is what is being understood. When Amelia is asked to weed the garden, she thinks she's supposed to add more weeds, not "unweed it" as she states in the story. It's a little long - about 50 pages in my edition so it's a little much for a youngster to sit through but if they can do it like mine can, it is a great book to teach. I highly recommend this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amelia Bedelia Helps Out, September 9, 2008

By 

Nancy Townsend (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amelia Bedelia Helps Out (I Can Read Book 2) (Paperback)

My 7 yr old daughter loves all of the Amelia Bedelia books, she likes them because they are funny.