Amelia Bedelia

Amelia Bedelia is the protagonist and title character of a series of American children's books written by Peggy Parish until her death in 1988, and by her nephew Herman Parish beginning in 1995.Its current illustrator is Lynn Sweat.

Theme

Amelia is a maid for a wealthy American family, husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. She repeatedly botches her assigned tasks by taking her instructions literally, to comic effect. Told to dust the furniture, she throws talcum powder all over it ('"The box "does" say 'Dusting Powder'"). Asked to dress the turkey, she sews it an outfit ("I wonder if she wants a 'he' chicken or a 'she' chicken?"). She makes sponge cake by mixing the cake batter with real sponge. When told to "run home" while playing baseball, she literally runs back to her employer's house. No matter how outrageous her mistakes, however, her fine cooking for her employers assures that all is forgiven. By showing that a given word or phrase can have multiple meanings, the books introduce children to idiom, metaphor, polysemy, and other semantic ambiguity.

List of books

By Peggy Parish:
* "Amelia Bedelia" (1963)
* "Thank You, Amelia Bedelia" (1964)
* "Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower" (1966)
* "Come Back, Amelia Bedelia" (1971)
* "Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia" (1972)
* "Good Work, Amelia Bedelia" (1976)
* "Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia" (1977)
* "Amelia Bedelia Helps Out" (1979)
* "Amelia Bedelia and the Baby" (1981)
* "Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping" (1985)
* "Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia" (1986)
* "Amelia Bedelia's Family Album" (1988)

By Herman Parish:
* "Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia" (1996)
* "Bravo, Amelia Bedelia"! (1997)
* "Amelia Bedelia 4 Mayor" (1999)
* "Calling Doctor Amelia Bedelia" (2002)
* "Amelia Bedelia and the Christmas List" (2003)
* "Amelia Bedelia, Bookworm" (2003)
* "Happy Haunting, Amelia Bedelia" (2004)
* "Amelia Bedelia Goes Back to School" (2004)
* "Be My Valentine, Amelia Bedelia" (2004)
* "Amelia Bedelia, Rocket Scientist"? (2005)
* "Amelia Bedelia's Masterpiece" (2007)
* "Amelia Bedelia Under Construction" (2007)
* "Amelia Bedelia and the Cat" (2008)

Movies

Timeline

1984: First Movie Amelia Bedelia is released in US
1989: First Movie Amelia Bedelia is released in Canada
1994: First Movie Amelia Bedelia is released in Asia (except for Buddhist Contries)
2000: First Movie Amelia Bedelia is released in Japan
2002: First Movie Amelia Bedelia is released in Europe

External links

* [http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/harperchildrens/kids/gamesandcontests/features/amelia/ Amelia Bedelia page at Harper Collins]