Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School [Hardcover]

Herman Parish (Author), Lynne Avril (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Amelia Bedelia

Amelia Bedelia is sure she will love everything about the first day of school.

• New friends
• A new teacher
• Her own desk
• Music, books, gym, art
• Recess and lunch

Amelia Bedelia can't wait.

What could be better?

School! School!

Hooray for school!

Amelia Bedelia has been making readers laugh since 1963, when the first Amelia Bedelia book was published. Now, for the first time, you can meet the young Amelia Bedelia. Come join the fun!

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Readers will giggle over Amelia’s mishaps, and her genuine joie de vivre may assuage first-day fears.” (Publishers Weekly )

“Amelia wears her new picture-book format well…[it] works beautifully as a new way to encounter the gaffe-prone gal.” (Booklist )

About the Author

Herman Parish was in the fourth grade when his aunt, Peggy Parish, wrote the first book about Amelia Bedelia. Since then, the lovable housekeeper has become a favorite household character for readers young and old. After Peggy Parish died in 1988, her nephew continued Amelia Bedelia's exploits in sixteen books, including Amelia Bedelia, Bookworm; Amelia Bedelia and the Cat; Amelia Bedelia Talks Turkey; and Amelia Bedelia Bakes Off. He has also written three picture books starring Amelia Bedelia—Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School, Amelia Bedelia's First Valentine, and Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (June 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061544558
• ISBN-13: 978-0061544552
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Herman Parish was in the fourth grade when his aunt, Peggy Parish, wrote the first book about Amelia Bedelia. The lovable, literal-minded housekeeper has been a member of his family ever since. Peggy Parish died in 1988. She would be proud and delighted to know that with Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia; Bravo, Amelia Bedelia!; Amelia Bedelia 4 Mayor and now Calling Doctor Amelia Bedelia, her nephew is carrying on -- for a new generation of readers -- the tradition she began years ago.

In His Own Words... "In true Amelia Bedelia fashion, I backed into writing these books about the literal-minded housekeeper who children laugh at and love. Amelia Bedelia was created by my aunt, Peggy Parish. Although she passed away in 1988, Peggy still received fan mail from children. They wondered when the next Amelia Bedelia book would be out. Then other children's authors wrote and volunteered to continue the series. I felt uneasy about Amelia Bedelia leaving our family. As I was in the fourth grade when she first appeared, I had literally grown up with her. So I decided to try to write a new Amelia Bedelia adventure. My two sisters and my family were very supportive and encouraged me. I'd had experience in writing advertisements. I reread the Amelia Bedelia stories to figure out what made them funny. I realized that everyday life overflows with idiomatic expressions, literalisms, and homophones. It's amazing more people don't get confused-besides Amelia Bedelia! My first book, Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia, took me a year to think about and one night to write. I had been collecting ideas, homonyms, and expressions. Whenever I heard them, I jotted them down: on napkins in restaurants, on my newspaper while riding the bus, and on agenda sheets in business meetings.

I stockpiled these fragments in a folder until one Sunday night, with my family asleep, I decided that it was now or never. I sat down around ten o'clock and began to write. I was so focused on the story that I finished as the sun came up on Monday morning. Naturally, the story needed revision, but the essence was captured in that all-night writing spree.

I am fortunate that my editor, Susan Hirschman, and the illustrator, Lynn Sweat, had worked with Peggy on many Amelia Bedelia books. That helped make the transition from Peggy's books to mine as seamless as possible.

I feel very lucky to be writing Amelia Bedelia books and continuing a family tradition. But the best reward was when a child wrote Peggy Parish a fan letter. It said that Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia is the best book she has written. To me, that's the highest compliment I could hope for."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Day of School Amelia Bedelia Style!!!, July 24, 2009

By 

Colleen D. Gallagher "teachingheart net" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School (Hardcover)

I love Amelia Bedelia books and read all of them as a child and as a teacher, I was sure to share them with my students. This book is super special because haven't all Amelia Badelia fans wondered what Amelia Bedelia was like as a child? I know I have and this book shows Amelia as a first grader. This is the first time Amelia Bedelia has been shown as a child. With this great story we now know that Amelia started out silly and that is just the way she will always be. Ordinary first grade happenings become extraordinary with Amelia Bedelia's literal take on all things first grade. Teachers can see themselves in Miss Edwards. She is patient but knows when enough is enough and tells Amelia, after she has gotten out of her seat many times to, "Please glue yourself to your seat." If you know Amelia Bedelia, you can guess what she does when Miss Edwards just wants her to stay in her seat. Students get a look at a fun filled day and will laugh out loud when Amelia Bedelia does what she is told. The pictures by Lynne Avril really compliment the text and make the story even more exciting. My son loved seeing Amelia Bedelia try to put her nose in a book because he hears me tell him to do that often. This would be a great first week of school read or a special book to share with your child the night before they start school. This would also be a fantastic gift for a new teacher. I love Amelia Bedelia and enjoyed seeing her as a child in this terrific picture book!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amelia Bedelia as a little girl, July 25, 2009

By 

KSL "emma-and-me" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School (Hardcover)

This summer I introduced to our daughter to Amelia Bedelia and my daughter requested to read everything and anything about Amelia. Here we finally get to see Amelia as a child on her 1st day of school. And at the same time find out that as a child she took people at their word... exactly, just as she does as an adult! It's a very cute book and the illustrations are done by Lynne Avril and she did a great job!

At first our daughter didn't understand why Amelia would take instruction so literally, then would laugh and shake her head at Amelia's latest antics. Now, my daughter when she hears something that would confuse Amelia in her every life, she makes the connection to Amelia and laughs, shakes her head and then tells us how it would confuse Amelia into do this chore.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy spinoff from the original series, September 25, 2009

By 

Jeddy 3 - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School (Hardcover)

My almost-4-year-old son has been addicted to the Amelia Bedelia books for about a year. He actually taught himself to read by memorizing some of his favorites and then "reading" along with them. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, Cousin Alcolu and all the other incidental characters are like friends to him. So I approached this new turn in the series with some concern, expecting to be disappointed. I mean, honestly, the whole joy of the Amelia character is that she *looks* like an adult but *acts* like a child, with Mr. and Mrs. Rogers as loving but exasperated parent figures. How could the series work with Amelia as a child?

The answer is: It works pretty well. I do miss the Mr. and Mrs. Rogers characters. I also feel that without the blustery, irascible Mr. Rogers, the series loses a source of tension and interest -- especially for children, who are often intimidated by disapproving adults and find it reassuring that Mr. Rogers always comes round to accepting Amelia in the end.

Nevertheless, the Amelia character is pretty intact -- she still interprets all instructions literally, with ridiculous results. For example, when the teacher asks her to glue herself to her chair, she does exactly that. Plot-wise, this book is basically a redux of Amelia Bedelia Goes Back to School. The illustrations are quite different from the Lynn Sweat illustrations from the later books in the adult Amelia series, but they're colorful and charming in their own right. And in this book, we learn the apparent origin of Amelia's signature daisy headband.

Personally, I think Amelia was more unique and interesting as a childlike adult. However, my son, the near-obsessive Amelia B. fan, really enjoyed this book and has asked for many rereadings. (He did ask why Amelia was little; I told him this was before she grew up, and he seemed satisfied.) I'll defer to my boy's judgement and say that Amelia fans -- especially young ones -- will really appreciate this book. And for those children who've never met Amelia, this could be an easy "in" to the series and its silly wordplay.