Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia

I enjoyed this book for several reasons. The language was clear and sounded appealing to the ear. The majority of the story is written through dialogue. I enjoy when books contain dialogue because it is easy to comprehend, creates for an interesting story, and the spacing of dialogue does not strain your eyes. I felt the writing flowed and was paced well. The book is printed in large font, which is helpful for young children learning how to read and understand text. This book is a quick read due to the large print and limited amount of words on each page. I love the character of Amelia Bedelia. She is a friendly girl who wants to help her friends win the baseball game, yet she takes every direction too literally. It is humorous to read show more about the things she does when given instructions, because she translates these instructions into literal terms. For example, when a baseball player went to steal second base, “Amelia Bedelia ran and picked up second base. It’s all right now, fellows, she called. Second base is safe.” The illustrations are wonderful and enhance the story. The style fits the written text and is appropriate for the mood of the story because it includes animated drawings of the children playing baseball. This is simply a fun story that children would enjoy reading for their amusement. There is no particular big idea or message, except maybe to help friends when they need it. show less

This story was about a boy’s baseball team who needed an extra player to play a game against a rival team, and Amelia Bedelia came to the rescue as their substitute player. They tried to explain how the game of baseball worked but she just did not quite understand it. The big idea of this story is acceptance. The boys on the team accepted Amelia Bedelia as their teammate, despite how she did not know how to play baseball. They were still nice to her and did not get upset of angry when she did something wrong, they just continued trying to help. I liked this book for two reasons. The first reason I liked this book was because of Amelia Bedelia’s character. She was a funny girl. She was a very literal person and thought of things in a show more non-figurative sense. For example, one of the teammates told her during the game to “Tag Jack before he gets to second base.” Amelia Bedelia literally put a tag on Jack saying “I must have a tag in here [her purse] somewhere”, then she put the tag on him. The second reason I liked this book was because of the illustrations. The illustrator did a good job showing the character’s emotions on their faces. For example, when Amelia Bedelia showed up to play, all the boys looked happy she was there. Then on one page, where they were trying to show her how to bat, it showed more of confused faces, because she was not very good. show less

I have loved the Amelia Bedelia books since I was a kid. I liked these books for many reason but mainly for the adversity Amelia goes through and defeats. In this book the author does a great job with the language of each character. The Grizzlies aren’t doing well and Amelia just wants to help and they notice that. The boy’s continue to help her out and its easy to see. The writing is repetive as they tell Amelia to either, throw a kid out, our steal second. She takes everything literally and that’s the comical part of the writing. Its funny if you know what the teammates mean by saying “pop fly” and Amelia replying “I didn’t hear any pop”. The illustrations fit right with this book. Amelia would go actually “steal” show more a base when all she was supposed to do was run to. So the illustrator would have her running to second and picking up the bad. Amelia even though not doing well is positive throughout. The only character development the author worries about is Amelia. Amelia was able to help the Grizzlies win even after not doing well in the beginning. The plot is developed beautifully and I loved the way the author used a reoccurring problem and allowed Amelia to learn from it. The big idea was for children to see to never give up, no matter what. show less

"Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia" by Peggy Parish is about a woman named Amelia Bedelia who joins the Grizzlies on the baseball field after one of their players is out sick. The only problem is that she does not know how to play! Whenever the boys tell her that Dick is trying to steal second base, she rushes to pick up the base and stop him from running off with it. The team then explains that it is alright to steal bases in baseball, and Amelia Bedelia becomes confused. Nevertheless, she plays ball the best that she can, and the Grizzlies win the game.

Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia and the entire Amelia Bedelia series is great for teaching the difference between literal and figurative language, especially to English Language Learners who struggle show more to understand the meaning behind many common English sayings or phrases. show less

Another book that Amelia Bedelia steals our hearts with pure love and great humor that children can understand. My favorite part about this book is that it will never fade kids are still playing baseball and these words are still being used as terms in those sports so its just as funny as it was in 2000. I would have to say that these books have more words than a lot of level two reading books but I believe because they are easier words that's the reason they are level 2 instead of 3.

SUMMARY: Amelia Bedelia, a lovable woman who easily misunderstands simple requests, fills in for a sick player on the neighborhood baseball team. However, she quickly inspires more concern than confidence in the young players; despite this, she aims to be the best player she can be.

REVIEW: While this book is an entertaining read, I do not think it has a very important message/context. The literal thinking that Amelia Bedelia uses when interacting with the children and trying to understand their baseball game leads to some entertaining word play; an example of this is when Amelia is asked to "Put Dick out" by throwing the ball to first base. However, she misinterprets this request, literally picking Dick up and asking "How far out do you show more want him?" This type of interaction between Amelia and the boys is common, but it does not serve as much of a plot-line. For children reading the book, these misunderstandings may be hard to understand, and Amelia makes an unintentional joke about something on nearly every page, which unfortunately does not allow the book much room for plot development. In short, I believe that this book will entertain children the first time they read it, but it does not have much educational value and can be hard for younger children to understand. show less

Amelia Bedelia is back, and this time shes playing one of my favorite sports: Baseball! nothing like a good ole ball game and the silly antics of Amelia Bedelia. ^_^