Amelia Bedelia Shapes Up

Amelia Bedelia Chapter Books #5

by Herman Parish, Lynne Avril (Illustrations)

In the fifth book in the New York Times ?best-selling chapter book series about the childhood of America's favorite housekeeper, Amelia Bedelia takes to the field, the yoga mat, and the track, with hilarious results. Includes a guide to the idioms used in the book and features black-and-white art throughout. The Amelia Bedelia books have sold more than 35 million copies.Amelia Bedelia's friends and classmates all have a particular sport that they love and are good at. Amelia Bedelia loves sports and games of all kinds, for different reasons. She has fun (and she loves to dribble and dunk and run home), but she is not the fastest or strongest or quickest at anything. Amelia Bedelia would love to have a sport to call her own—and so when her class at school studies the sports of ancient Greece, she goes on a mission to find one! With Amelia Bedelia, anything can happen—and it usually does. Short, fast-paced chapters, tons of friends and funny situations, and black-and-white illustrations by Lynne Avril on every page make the Amelia Bedelia chapter books an ideal choice for readers of the Ivy + Bean, Magic Tree House, and Judy Moody books.

Genres: Childrens, Chapter Books, Fiction, School, Humor, 2nd Grade, Realistic Fiction

160 pages, Unknown Binding

First published August 26, 2014

About the author

Herman Parish (born 1953) is the author of Amelia Bedelia children's book series, nephew of original author, Peggy Parish. Having grown up with his aunt’s tales of Amelia’s humorous misadventures, Herman decided to carry on the legacy after his aunt’s death in 1988. He did not wish to entrust the future of the series into the hands of a children’s author outside of the family. Since Peggy had the summers off from teaching, she was able to stay with the Parish family for extended periods of time, allowing Herman and Peggy to develop a close relationship. More importantly, this gave Herman a chance to keenly observe Peggy during her writing processes, gaining great insight to the road ahead of him. To carry on the essence of the series, Herman thoroughly examined his aunt’s work and did his best to capture what exactly made the character of Amelia Bedelia such a hit. Having editor Susan Hirschman and illustrator Lynn Sweat in common with his aunt helped to make the transition. He has added thirteen more books to the series. Herman is a resident of Princeton, New Jersey, and travels to libraries and schools across the United States, speaking and inspiring young children. The importance of revising and editing is often stressed during these dynamic lectures. He has presented to students in more than 22 states.

-Wikipedia

***The photo at left is of Herman with his aunt, Peggy Parish, in 1985.

Reviews

[Kelly Chester]

Love Amelia Bedelia

[Lorelei Kelly]

“There’s a couple reasons [I didn’t want to finish] because her ears got stuck in the railing and her friends were not being nice to her. She was driving this little golf cart and she picked up a flag from a hole. If I kept reading, I think it would seriously have been zero stars”

[T'Shura Sinclair]

A very funny book.

[Lisa]

EM loves this series.

[Amanda M. Lyons]

Not bad for a first chapter book reading with my hyper 6 year old.

[Smiley]

Thank you to the author for creating a main character who doesn't come first or get everything instinctively in the first attempt. It takes a skilled author to write a character like that without making it boring for the reader.

This is the first book in ages that I have read from cover to cover without skipping to the end in between or getting bored. (I am an adult and have read many books).

This book is absolutely safe for children, yet the messages here are more relevant for adults : that goals take time and hard work to achieve, that there is no need to compare with others or be jealous, that it's okay to take time to learn, that there is no need to come first - it is enough if you finish the work, that it is okay to be slow. The author does all this in short words and simple language.

Amelia Bedelia is a girl who (realistically) has trouble understanding phrases unless they are explained properly to her. Her parents support her and her teachers also explain to her without shouting at her for not keeping up for her classmates.

She finds she has trouble in sports, so she practises hard for a class athletic competition and humbly asks for tips from her (child and adult and animal) friends. The athletic match has 5 competitions and in none of them does she come first (if she came first, it would have spoilt the ending).

Each time she doesn't win, she doesn't feel jealous or feel small or compare with her classmates, but she just picks herself up and tries again.

In my own class, I often felt left behind by the brilliance of my classmates, so it was comforting to read this book and realise that it is okay to be slow. And I often misunderstand things like Amelia.

I don't know if this book won any award, but even if it didn't win anything I would still want to own it.

[Ariel]

"Amelia Bedelia Shapes Up" is a super funny book about my friend Amelia Bedelia. She's really silly and sometimes gets things mixed up, but that's what makes her so much fun!

In this book, Amelia Bedelia wants to find a sport to play. All her friends have their own sports they're good at, like basketball or soccer. But Amelia Bedelia doesn't know which sport she's best at. So, when her class learns about ancient Greek sports, she thinks maybe she'll find one she loves.

Amelia Bedelia tries lots of different sports, like running and yoga. But she's not the fastest or the strongest. She even tries some funny things like balancing on a ball! Every time she tries something new, something funny happens. But that's just how Amelia Bedelia is!

I really liked how silly Amelia Bedelia is in this book. She always tries her best, even if she messes up sometimes. The book has lots of funny pictures that show what's happening, which makes it even more fun to read.

If you like books with lots of laughs and silly characters, you'll love "Amelia Bedelia Shapes Up." It's perfect for kids who like funny stories and adventures!

[Emily Newman]

I enjoyed this children's novel! It is a pretty easy read, and I think most elementary schoolers at this reading level would also like the book. I think this book can also teach a good lesson to kids because it gives examples of how challenging themselves, making mistakes, and being unique to themselves and their interests can actually benefit them in the end. I would recommend, especially to kids that enjoy sports or enjoy comical books! Amelia has a sense of humor that any kid her age would enjoy!

[Lisa Davidson]

What is Amelia Bedelia up to this time? She somehow makes everything more fun while showing a different way of looking at things. In this story, we find out that Amelia Bedelia doesn't usually come in first when it comes to sports but she always has fun. And she does surprisingly well in class activities when they study ancient Greece. The narrator for these is so cute, and really shows the innocence fun of Amelia Bedelia.

[Lorraine]

Amelia Bedelia's eventual success at the mock-Olympic Games is a bit implausible, but I can suspend my disbelief for the sake of a cute story. LOL

There is one point in this book where Amelia Bedelia is contemplating the runners painted around the rim of an ancient plate that is truly poetic and quite beautifully written. Makes me wonder if this author ever writes grown up books. :)

[Lara Serrao]

She has to do some golf because her father plays golf. After that she has to do all greek sports for the pentathlon and her coach Coach Thompson and her teacher Mr. Tobin help her and her friends. In the end, Amelia gets a medal for coming second.

[Chloe (Always Booked)]

This book was another cute one in the Amelia Bedelia series. Her class studies Ancient Greece and does a pentathlon with a bunch of different track events. Amelia feels discouraged about her athletic ability but she ends up working really hard to do well.

[Natelle]

After being reluctantly chosen last in gym class, Amelia Bedelia questions her sports ability. Then her history teacher surprises the class with their own Greek games. Will she shape up in time? Will we giggle merrily at her antics as she tries to do so?

[Danielle Mccoy]

I received a copy of this audiobook for a honest review from netGalley.

I adore the way Amelia Bedelia thinks and how the adults in her life have to deal with this literal thinking is always amusing and educating for me. This one was especially funny and had me laughing our loud multiple times.

[The Book Box]

Mom read this aloud to me for several nights.

[Nicole]

This one was the best yet! Very funny!

[Emily]

I read this for my daughters book club. A very cute story. My daughter could relate very easily to Amelia.

[Fenco Chen]

Lexile®: 680L

[Ellora]

It was a lot about sports, not very exciting.
Ellora, age 9

[Jena Hess]

Read with my daughter ❤️

[Princess Cami]

I learned that you have to stay in shape to play sports.

[Molly]

This one was a little harder to get into

[Hollie Cormier]

My daughter and I loved this book and it is one of her favorite series. Very funny. Ready to continue to the series! Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced audio copy.

[Kylie]

Fiona says, "It's very good and kind of funny."

[Brittany Doerneman]

Summary: This is the first Amelia Bedelia book that I read in this series but I loved it. Amelia Bedelia is funny and says the silliest things. This book is about how all her friends and classmates like or are good at a sport and Amelia Bedelia, well, she doesn't really like them for the same reasons. Amelia Bedelia is so funny because she gets confused on words that sound alike but have a different meaning. Amelia Bedelia isn't the fastest or strongest girl for sure but she sure does try her best. She went golfing with her dad, did yoga with her mom, watched football on TV, did some running, jumping, throwing, and catching and competed in school. Her class was studying the Greece and was doing Greek games at school. She competed in all the Greek games like wrestling, racing, long jump, and throwing a sick and got 2nd place for all of them. She got a wreath (like a medal) for getting 2nd place on all of them because that adds up to being the best all around athlete in her class. She did so good and worked hard. This is a short fast paced chapter book with a lot of funny illustrations.



Five higher level thinking questions:
-We can make a timeline of the book on which sport she practiced first throughout the book for example golfing with her dad and then end with the Greek games and put them in order also.
-We can do an activity on words that Amelia Bedelia got confused on like words or sayings that sound the same but don't mean the same. For example in math they use pie but Amelia thought pie you eat.
-We can have them make their on games and what game would they have in their Olympics or games.
-We can compare how Amelia Bedelia's relationship with her parents are.
- I can have them think what they are good at and what they need help on and see what they can do to improve the one they need help on.
-I can have them change the viewpoint and write the story in someone else's perspective.




Cite:
Parish, H., & Avril, L. (2014). Amelia Bedelia shapes up. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.

[Haelyn]

I thought Amelia Bedelia Shapes Up was amazing! The main character in the series is a girl named Amelia Bedelia, who gets confused because of words that sound the same but have a different meanings. In this book she was trying to get first place in all of the Greek games, like racing, wrestling, long jump, and throwing a stick the farthest.
It was funny when Amelia Bedelia’s father said to “bring home the bacon,” because Amelia Bedelia thought he meant to actually bring home bacon for dinner, but he actually meant for her to win the games.

My favorite part of this book was when Amelia Bedelia got to play golf with her dad, because she got to drive the cart eight times at the golf course. I wish my dad and I could play golf so I could drive the cart too!

I did not like when Amelia Bedelia fell in the sand pit, because it would hurt when she landed on her head. Ouch!

If I were Herman Parish I would change Amelia Bedelia to not get confused with words that sound the same.

I will tell my friends to read this book, especially if they want to read a book about funny things that happen to a girl that is the same age as us.

[Jenny]

In training for the school's Greek Games, Amelia Bedelia trains in the most hilarious of ways. Being a bit accident prone means Amelia is often picked on. When the Greek Games at school roll around, she goes out and asks the people she cares about to help her learn how to run, jump, wrestle and more. I loved the part where one of her best guy friends tells her she throws like a girl (to make fun of her) and Amelia stands up for herself. They both make up and her friend shows her how to throw properly.

There are a lot of idioms in this book, but there is a handy guide in the back for kids. This book would be wonderful for any child that enjoys humorous books or who likes to see someone who does not always fit in be successful in her own way.

[Amelia]

it was a little funny but there was some cool parts that was sooo cool it blew my mind some parts aa not that cool and boring and i want it to stop but i had to read it cause it had my name on it amelia but i don't have bedelia in my name i want to read numer 1 not numer 5 but i am on numer
4 i don't have numer1 and 2 and3 i am going to see if have it in my library fish creak

[Jane]

Another darling Amelia Bedelia story!

These are some of our favorites to read aloud. The story is just right for kids new to chapter books. And we enjoy all the pictures and fun characters for lots of voices.

Loved how Amelia Bedelia grows in this one. She starts as not a gifted athlete. But she practices a lot (in her own special Amelia Bedelia way) and she finds success.

We really enjoyed this one!

[Shazzer]

I am really loving these Amelia Bedelia chapter books. They are keeping the spirit of Amelia Bedelia alive, and spreading that spirit to a new generation of readers, of differing reading skill.