Thank You, Amelia Bedelia

Hilariously literal housemaid Amelia Bedelia returns in this second early-reader adventure, once again creating chaos as she interprets the instructions she is given in unexpected ways. With a visit from Great Aunt Myra in the offing, the Rogers household is thrown into something of a tizzy, and Mrs. Rogers asks Amelia Bedelia to do such things as strip the sheets, check Mr. Rogers' shirts, and remove the spots from her special pink dress. When the much-looked for guest finally arrives, the Rogers are aghast to realize that once again their maid has misinterpreted their commands. Will Aunt Myra be offended by the mistakes? Or will Amelia Bedelia's delightful apple pie set all to rights...?

First published as a picture-book in 1964, with show more artwork by Fritz Siebel, this second Amelia Bedelia title was rereleased as part of the prestigious I Can Read series in 1992, with revised illustrations done by Siebel's daughter, Barbara Siebel Thomas. I recall reading this, and many of the other Amelia Bedelia books as a young girl - I must have read the original picture-book version of this particular one - and enjoying the hilarious series of mix-ups they contained. Entertaining and educational, these books will have beginning readers giggling, conscious that they are in on the joke, while they also learn some lessons about the importance of idiomatic expression, and the dangers of taking everything literally. Highly recommended to beginning readers with a taste for humorous tales, or to young people with a literalist bent themselves. show less

Amelia Bedelia is a lovable, silly children’s story for beginning readers. I love it because of its humour and amusing story line. The comic relief caused by Amelia Bedlia’s character’s honest mistakes make the story so enjoyable, especially to a younger audience. An example of this is when Amelia is told to separate eggs; instead of cracking the eggs and separating the yolks from the whites, she sits the eggs apart from one another in different locations in the kitchen. Another aspect of this book I liked was the language used. The author uses simple diction and sentence structure which makes this book ideal for emerging readers. For example, the author says “Amelia Bedelia opened the package. She unfolded each shirt.” This show more simple subject + verb sentence structure is continuous through the book as well as simplistic diction. The main message of the story is to not take everything literally, like Amelia Bedelia did. show less

The literal minded Amelia Bedelia is at it again! While getting ready for Great Aunt Myra's visit Amelia must tackle several difficult tasks that she does not understand, but does anyway. All the while she is doing them wrong, but one thing she does right is cooking an amazing pie that Aunt Myra cannot get enough of.

Teaching Ideas: Humor, Sarcasm

Amelia Bedelia is preparing the house for a visit from her boss's Great Aunt Myra. She is given a list of things to do in preparation for the visit but takes everything literally and messes everything up, except one thing--making a hot apple pie. Although clothes and laundry, etc, are messed up, Great Aunt Myra feels completely at home and welcome, enjoying the delicious apple pie.

I give this story five stars because it is witty, funny, and colorful. I also liked this book because it helps kids understand the difference between literal language and figurative language. I think this story also aids in letting kids know that if they mess up, it's okay. Children can also see, by reading this book, that family and warm company are the show more things we sometimes may take for granted, but in the end, they outweigh any material, vain item. show less

Thank You, Amelia Bedelia follows Amelia, a maid in the Rodgers household, as she preps the house for great Aunt Myra's arrival. It is very important to get the house just right for great Aunt Myra because she does not usually stay at other people's houses because she is only comfortable in her own home. As usual, Amelia takes her task list literally and ends up rolling jelly on the kitchen floor instead of making an actual jelly roll dessert. The whole thing almost goes up in flames, but Amelia's delicious pie saves the day. While an a adult would wonder how Amelia still has a job, kids think she is hysterical. Growing up, this was a personal favorite of mine. There really is not an astounding plot, but kids love how silly Amelia is.

I really love all of the Amelia Bedelia books. One of the main reasons I love these books is because they are humorous. For example, Amelia Bedelia will be told to do something like, "strip the sheets off the bed," and then on the next page you see her literally stripping the sheets and ripping them apart. This happens with every command Amelia is given. Another example is when she was told to get the spots out of a pink dress, and she gets a pink dress with spots out of the closet and literally cuts the spots out of the entire dress.

There isn't really a "big message" of this book, per say. However, I do think that there is an idea. No matter how much you mix something up, you can still do something right. For example, throughout the show more entire book, Amelia mixes up all of the instructions that are given to her, but, in the end, she makes a delicious apple pie that her Great-Aunt Myra absolutely loves and praises Amelia Bedelia and says, "That Amelia Bedelia really knows how to make a body feel at home. Thank you Amelia Bedelia." So even through all her mistakes, she is still successful at making Great-Aunt Myra feel at home. show less

The literal-minded Amelia Bedelia has done it again. In preparation for Great-Aunt Myra's visit, Mrs. Rogers has asked Amelia to do several tasks. Of course Amelia took her directions literally and ended up shredding sheets, cutting up Mrs. Rogers dress, and stringing beans on a line. But Mrs. Rogers could hardly be upset, because in the end, Great-Aunt Myra felt right at home.