Amelia Bedelia's Family Album (An I Can Read Book, Level 2) [Paperback]

Peggy Parish (Author), Lynn Sweat (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 2003 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: I Can Read Book 2

All in the Family

Who could be more zany than Amelia Bedelia, everyone's favorite literal-minded housekeeper? Her family, of course! Meet the wacky members of this very original and entertaining family!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 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
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (February 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060511168
• ISBN-13: 978-0060511166
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( P ) > Parish, Peggy

More 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amelia Bedelia's Family Album, April 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Amelia Bedelia's Family Album (Hardcover)

My daughter and I have been enjoying Amelia Bedelia books for a long time. Even before my daughter was able to understand the puns, she knew something silly was going on. We have a whole collection of these books and enjoy reading them over again. If you like silly puns, you will love Amelia Bedelia and the clever writing of Peggy Parish.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amelia Bedelia's Family Album, November 3, 2000

By 

Haisung L Kiefer (Brooklyn Park, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amelia Bedelia's Family Album (Amelia Bedelia (HarperCollins Paperback)) (Paperback)

This is a good resource to use for both content-area teachers and ELL teachers alike when introducing metaphors for the first time in elementary school. For ELL teachers, I think this book would be suitable for 3rd or 4th graders who have solid comprehension skills of basic idioms. It would be too hard for newcomers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amelia Bedelia's Family Album, January 13, 2012

By 

Andrea "Readaholic" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Amelia Bedelia's Family Album (I Can Read Books: Level 2 (Pb)) (Hardcover)

Amelia Bedelia is the housekeeper for Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. (I would say she's probably about 18?) She takes everything literally; doesn't understand figures of speech. Because of this, she gets into some very interesting situations.

In this particular book, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers want to give a party in her honor and invite her family. They want to meet her family, so she pulls out her family album and "introduces" everybody.

How will the party turn out? You have to read the book to find out.

I love Amelia Bedelia books. If you haven't been lucky enough to discover her, I recommend these books.

Amelia Bedelia is one of my favorite characters. Even though these are children's books, I find a bit of coziness in these books. I have loved Amelia Bedelia every since I discovered her (when my kids were little.)