Amelia Bedelia's Family Album

Amelia Bedelia #12

by Peggy Parish, Lynn Sweat (Illustrator)

Among relatives' photos, maid Amelia finds a loafer busy making bread, a big game hunter playing room-size checkers, a horse racer who competes against equines, and more such literal-minded job descriptions.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Humor, Family, Classics, Young Readers

48 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 1988

About the author

Peggy Parish was the author of the children's story series Amelia Bedelia. The series was continued, after her sudden death from an aneurysm, by her nephew Herman Parish. Peggy attended the University of South Carolina and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

Herman honored Peggy's life in his book, Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia, by writing in its dedication: "For Peggy Parish, the real Amelia Bedelia."

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau]

We get to see AB's family for the first time - really nice. I came across AB books while waiting at the hospital; was surprised at how the stories centered around being yourself even when other people try to get you to change. Picked up more AB books at a library sale several years back; will eventually finish the series.

[Hoda Marmar]

This was quite fun and more enjoyable than the one where she goes to school by mistake.

[R.A.]

Unfortunately, I have been called "Amelia Bedelia" because my middle name is "Amelia!" I don't really mind though, although she is very scatterbrained! :D I'm not saying I never am though!
Her books are always so funny and I don't think I'll ever get tired of reading them!!!! :)

[J. Boo]

This was the last of Peggy Parish's "Amelia Bedelia" books, and I get the feeling Parish was running out of things about which Amelia Bedelia could be overly literal. So we wind up with basically no plot and a long list of Amelia's relatives' occupations, mostly completely inexplicable ones to readers at the target age level. I enjoyed the humor, but my amusement was tempered by the need to provide constant explanatory sidebars to my audience. With the other books, even if DS#1/DD#1 didn't entirely have the vocabulary and contextual information to know why Amelia Bedelia was doing something wrong, they could tell that she was doing something wrong, and adults making mistakes are very funny to very young children.

[Sinem Gülen]

The book is full of homophones and sweet Amelia Bedelia's strange family.

[Cecelia Costello]

Amelia Bedelia’s Family Album by Peggy Parish illustrated by Lynn Sweet
Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers want to have a party for Amelia Bedelia, so they ask her to invite her family. Amelia brings out her family photo album for Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers to help her look through so they can decide on who to invite. With every person Amelia Bedelia introduces, she tells Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers what they do, except it is not what you would expect. When Amelia talks about her Cousin Edward, she explains that he races horses, so Mr. Rodgers thinks he is a jockey. Instead, Cousin Edward actually races horses himself and has almost won a race one time. Another time Amelia Bedelia explains that her uncle is a garbage collected, and Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers think that he is a garbage man. The reality is that Uncle Alf actually collects garbage in his own yard. When the Rodgers tell Amelia Bedelia to invite them all to the party, she does but tells them to come the next day. Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers are worried they won’t have enough food for everyone. Amelia Bedelia thinks she was supposed to invite everyone, so she runs out into the neighborhood to invite everyone. The next day everyone comes to the party. I really like this book because I think it is clever with wording and imagination. The illustrations throughout the book help the reader to understand what Amelia’s family members actually do. The colors are vibrant and help to emphasis the books creativity. I would use this book with a group of 3rd grades as it is on the longer side, and they might be more willing to get through the book on their own. I think this book could be a great way to talk about literal meanings and even exploring careers. This is a great way for students to learn what certain jobs do, like bookkeeping and being a bank teller.

[Edward Sojuwa]

Now, for the first time, Amelia Bedelia, the feminist answer to Gilligan from the TV island, introduces the Rogers family, and ours, to her family, whom we never knew existed.... until now! Is our ignorant bliss a blessing or a curse? See for yourself: one member of the Bedelia regalia balances checkbooks...juggler style! Another is a bank teller, telling bank CEOs and patrons where to go...oops! (Townspeople have asked for "early withdrawal" of THAT girl!) One runs a fan club, all sorts of fans from ceiling fans to hand fans making her the "coolest" girl on the block. (LoL) And Amelia's sweet nephew Ollie is a catcher, who catches everything from colds and flu to possibly hypochondria! (He's too shy around the ladies to catch the love bug! Awww!) And Amelia B has a photo album of every member of her family, and is inviting them all to her party for a reunion! The Rogers can now wait with apprehension as to what's next!!! Amelia's story continues to gain new dimension and fans of the Peggy Parrish parish will want to receive the blessings! Amelia B is the Parrish Saint of Jocosity we all need in these dark times. And the Dawn is coming..... to take grease out of the way!
Four stars
Amelia's family affair is love and not war!!!

[Ariel]

Amelia Bedelia's Family Album" is a super funny book by Peggy Parish. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers throw a big party for Amelia's family, and she shows them her family album. There are so many relatives with crazy stories!

My favorite cousin Ella makes things from clay. Mr. Rogers asks if she's a Potter like in the Harry Potter books, but she's not! Ella and her husband have a bakery where they make yummy treats.

Cousin Susan B is in a fan club, but not the kind with cool air. She's surrounded by fans who love her. Imagine that!

Lulu is really funny. She stuffs olives inside herself. It's like she's a big olive herself!

The best part is when Amelia's nephew Ollie says he's a catcher. But he doesn't catch balls, he catches everything like measles, mumps, and even colds! Silly, right?

This book is full of laughs and surprises, just like the other Amelia Bedelia books. If you like funny stories and crazy relatives, you'll love Amelia Bedelia's Family Album!

This book is amazing, and I can't wait for you to see my full review on my YouTube channel.
https://youtu.be/T3ljex91Eos

[Anna]

I love Amelia Bedelia's books so much. Today i just found out that the illustrations are made up of watercolor and black pen. I had no idea! Usually I'm good at spotting watercolor illustrations, but this was a nice surprise. I always like the illustrations and how literal Amelia Bedelia is. This book is about Amelia Bedelia taking out her photo album and showing her family to Mr. and Mrs. Rogers so she can invite them for a party. She tells them what each family member does or what they are known for, but off course, since she takes things literally, they mean different things to Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. She does explain it to them though and it's quite silly and funny. I love Amelia Bedelia. Her books always make me smile and/or chuckle. In the end there's an illustration of her whole family at the party and it's quite lovely. You can clearly spot out which family member is which.

[Arianna]

Amelia Bedelia this was my favorite series book when I was a child.Every book you read about Amelia Bedelia you would love. She has this unique character that makes everyone laugh even adults. This book is about Mrs.Rogers wanting to do a party for Amelia and asks Amelia to choose his guests. When she gets the family album she starts telling everyones name and what they do. He takes everything so literally. Everyone who reads this book will love them. It will always get a smile from the reader. The major theme you may see in the book is humor. I really enjoyed reading this book because it made me thought the sometimes in life we don't have to take everything so seriously. I really recommend for children's to read this book because is a very enjoyable book.

[Jayla_Reads]

This is certainly a cute and funny read for children. I grew up reading some of the Amelia Bedelia books when in school.

This story is entertaining as far as the quirky miscommunications go, Amelia Bedelia seems to have a state of mind as a child would. Her understanding of certain jobs is an example of how children can hear adults talking without understanding what they are talking about.

This is an easy read for children ages 5 to 8. I feel this would be a fun read for that age group depending on their reading level.

The artwork and illustrations in the book are very easy to understand with the text and go along with how Amelia Bedelia understands certain things. The artwork is very easy to entertain children while reading the short story.

[Rayona Hart-Wilson]

Another book about Amelia Bedelia, but this time she brought her family. The Rodgers family wants to throw Amelia a party, and want to invite her family. She begins to tell them all about her family, tat just so happens to be as quirky as her.

Amelia Bedelia is a fun and quirky character. Her exceptionality is that she does the literal of everything that is said or asked of her. She shows readers that even though you may be different than people, that does not mean you should be treated any different.

[Amy :)]

I'm going through all of my children's books trying to decide what to keep now that they are grown. This is definitely a keeper for if I ever have grandchildren! So cute and funny! I just hope that it translates through time.

[Shawn Deal]

All kids like Amelia Bedelia, her literal interpretation of everything in the world is hilarious. Here she shows us her family album with her relatives who may not be exactly who we think they are.

[Peaceteacher]

All of these books are amazing! I use them to teach 5th grade about figurative language

[Wade]

Enjoyable as always but definitely over my son’s head at times. My favorite was the relative who “takes pictures.”

[Laura]

I love Amelia Bedelia!

[Katja Labonté]

5 stars & 5/10 hearts. What a hilarious play on words! It was epic.

[Runa]

i want to bring this in for my students but the language is so outdated. i'm excited the family continues to put out new books, but I wish/hope they also updated the old classics.

[Lonicocopuffs]

After reading about Amelia's family, I understand. They're all probably on the spectrum.

[Kelly Chester]

Love Amelia Bedelia

[🥬 ab]

Sweet. Catching up on my childhood faves.

[Anne Patkau]

Absolutely hilarious as usual; explained by simple energetic watercolors. Among relatives' photos, maid Amelia finds a loafer busy making bread, a big game hunter playing room-size checkers, a horse racer who competes against equines, and more such literal-minded job descriptions. Anywhere in the series is a tremendous roll-around laugh.

[Lara's]

Synopsis : If you think Amelia Bedelia is a funny bird, wait until you meet her family.
Review : As a young reader I vividly remember reading "Good Work, Amelia Bedelia". I recall laughing at the misinterpretation of "Draw the drapes". And was fascinated and a little intimidated that this new English language I'd been learning for 6 or so years was able to morph into alternative meanings. Amelia Bedelia introduced me to puns and clever turns of phrase of which my sense of humor hasn't rightly recovered since. In this book we are introduced to Amelia Bedelia's sweet family. A real treat to see her father the telephone operator (who operates on telephones), her mother is a loafer (she makes dough into loaves of bread). Can you hear the snare drum in the background of these funny, silly plays on words (bada, bump, tssss)? It's the same humor Jim Henson used with the Muppets, that Mel Brooks uses with Young Frankenstein--silly, goofy, loveable stuff that dorks like me -even now- will eat up with a gleeful spoon. The humorous text is rewarding for young readers just starting out. It makes reading and the accomplishment of the act, very encouraging and rewarding which is what it's all about.
Critical Reviews :Publishers Weekly felt that, "while the illustrations are sprinkled with humor, the text itself is a bit flat and somewhat repetitive for older readers". And School Library Journal somewhat supported this review by saying, "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".

[Lt Thompson]

What a funny, comical and tricky book! The front cover leads you into what to expect to the story, chaos. Amelia Bedelia is sitting on the floor making a scrapbook of some kind with glue and pictures everywhere. The illustrations look like they are done with a colored pencil and are simple and colorful. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, Amelia's employers, decide it is time to meet Amelia's family and wants to throw a party for them. So Amelia pulls out her family album and goes through each family member and what they do. However the descriptions she gives are not the obvious answers, she always has a different answer for their actual job that what it is. For instance, she tells us that her Uncle Dan takes pictures. Your first thought is that he is a photographer, but he actually literally takes pictures, like steals paintings! This would be good for you to go through with students and figure out what each family member actually is. Ask the students to go beyond what they believe a job means, and think out of the box to other things it could be! The printing of the words is big and easy to read, and the illustrations describe well what the book is saying! This is a funny and clever children's book!

[Emily Egbers]

In this book of the Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parish, readers are introduced to Amelia's family. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers wanted to throw Amelia Bedelia a party and meet her family. She pulled out her family album and proceeded to tell the Rogers about each of her family members. She described what each of her family members did for a living in a humorous way. The jobs seem quite normal, but our interpretations of the jobs seem quite different from Amelia Bedelia's! Her father is a telephone operator, which Amelia described as him operating on telephones. Her mother is a loafer, she makes dough into loaves of bread. Another example was, her cousin Calvin is a boxer and Amelia Bedelia describes him packing boxes. The witty wordplay continued on for each family member. The Rogers continued to listen patiently to Amelia describing her family members and then proceeded to tell her to invite everyone to the party. She mistakenly misinterpreted the word "everybody" and literally invited everyone. The illustrations throughout the book are humorous and fit well with the humous text. This book is rated at a 2.5 reading level. I would use this book to help students who are beginning to read.

[Malcolm]

i liked the story becase it was funny and she gone crazy and her family gone crazy.

[Lindsay Wallace]

Peggy Parish's Amelia Bedelia books are comical and creative. Students will get a kick out of Amelia's unusual way of looking at things. In this particular story, Amelia introduces her family to Mr. and Mrs. Rogers through her family album. They soon learn that this is an interesting family indeed with lots of quirks and unexpected qualities.
The illustrations are classic and simple and really fit the tone of the stories. This is a wonderful easy-to-read book because it is simple enough for beginning or struggling readers to comprehend, but not too long or difficult so that they lose interest quickly.
This would be an excellent book to use with a beginning reader literature circle, or for a lesson on literal and different word meanings. I would recommend this story to beginning readers, or to teachers of lower to upper primary grades.

[Rosa Cline]

Once you've read Amelia Bedelia you will giggle and laugh with your child through all her stories! I read them as a child and now am re-enjoying them with my granddaughter!

In this story the Rogers family that Amelia Bedelia works for wants to give her a party since she's been so good and loyal to them. So AB gets her family album out and discusses her family with the Rogers and like Amelia Bedelia they are all "a little different' than typical.

Gotta love Amelia Bedelia!

[Dolly]

This is a funny book about Amelia Bedelia's family. We haven't read any other stories about her, but the book is all about puns and double meaning of words. I understood the humor, but I think it went over our girls' heads. Perhaps this is more for older children...