Come Back, Amelia Bedelia

Amelia Bedelia #4

by Peggy Parish, Wallace Tripp (Illustrator)

Amelia Bedelia is always getting herself into trouble! When Mrs. Rogers asks for cereal with her coffee, Amelia Bedelia does exactly-what she is told; she puts cereal in the coffee. Mrs. Rogers is so angry she fires her! Poor Amelia Bedelia must look for another job. At each place she tries-the beauty shop, the dress shop, and the doctor's office-Amelia Bedelia keeps getting things mixed up. Is there anything Amelia Bedelia can do well? Bright, new illustrations by original artist Wallace Tripp will have beginning readers coming back again and again to this hilarious story about this ever-literal but much loved housekeeper.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Humor, Classics, Kids, Juvenile

64 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1971

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

[Sophia Triad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amelia Bedelia takes what she is told literally. So when Mrs Rogers asked cereals with her coffee, Amelia just mixes coffee with cereals. As a result, she gets fired.

Unfortunately she can get no job anywhere else no matter how much enthusiastic and willing she is.
Thankfully, once again her wonderful baking skills will give her back her work at the Rogers.

Funny and cute. We most probably read the whole series.

[L. McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

SUPER FAST REVIEW:
Amelia Bedelia has actually been fired. She goes to various jobs and for some reason keeps fucking all of them up.
Okay so the art is great as always with this series and it is sometimes pretty funny. It is unfortunately predictable (I mean look at the title... really?) and repetitive up until the ending.
The ending is humorous though completely unrealistic, I mean, she goes back to the house to finish making the food she was making. I mean sure it worked out in the end but would you go back to the assholes that fired you for an honest mistake that same exact morning to finish making a yummy snack for them?
Overall, this addition to the hit picture book series is okay but nothing great.

3/5

[Rajiv Moté · Rating 3 out of 5]

This episode highlights the tragedy of unfulfilled potential that characterizes the Amelia Bedelia stories. Amelia Bedelia, whose life is a daily list of failures in her duties as a maid, is fired and sent away to seek other employment. She wanders through town looking for anyone willing to pay a wage, and flubs each interview, piling rejection upon rejection. Finally, with nowhere else to go, she returns to the Rogers house and does what she always does to placate them: bakes her marvelous desserts. As usual, the Rogers are ruled by their appetites, and they take her back, to repeat the cycle of failure and disparagement. To the readers, it is obvious that Amelia Bedelia would be a wild success as a pastry chef. But Bedelia, mired in her failures and internalizing the Rogers’ perception of her as an incompetent domestic with a single redeeming skill, can never reach fulfillment because she cannot even imagine it. She dooms herself to be nothing more than the Rogers’ exasperating maid. And the reader is left to weep for a life wasted.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mrs. Rogers fires Amelia Bedelia for giving her coffee with her cereal! (She might have phrased it a little differently since she *was* talking to Amelia Bedelia). What is Amelia Bedelia to do? She goes around town applying at various jobs, working her old delightful antics of course!

Reading Level: 1st - 3rd grades

Cleanliness: a girl sticks out her tongue at an adult and someone says "my goodness."

[Danica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm shocked at this point she still doesn't understand why people get frustrated with her. You were almost free Mrs. Rogers 😆

[Stephanie Jobe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll admit I am one of those people that when I’m watching one of those movies with the bumbling character I tend to hide even more than I do in the horror movies. Growing up I think that feeling started with Amelia Bedelia. Yes I sometimes laughed like most kids, but mostly I cringed. I think I’ve spent my life in fear of people like Amelia Bedelia (you know they’re out there). However I know tons of people that grew up tickled to death by her and I find her much easier to read now. As she takes the world by storm in her quite literal way you can’t help but feel a little bad for both her and those in her path. Though in the end she is safely back in a house where at least they know what to expect. (In some ways her very literal thinking makes me think of the character Dr. Temperance Brennan from the TV show Bones and her ignorance of the assumed knowledge of our society.)

[Katie Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A an easy read for children in the second and third grade. Amelia Bedelia is in search of a new job but she has trouble following directions. This book can be used to show children the importance of thinking before you act and in following directions correctly.

[Kerri (Book Hoarder) · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are adorable and a great way to discuss language and meaning with kids. :D They have the benefit of being pretty funny, too! Definitely classics in my opinion, I hope that libraries still carry them.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful children's book about the problems one can encounter with slang and not being perfectly clear in your requests.

[Tdan]

I think Amelia Bedelia has try hard in works. She always want the master satisfied what she was doing.

[Vaishali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rediscovered this. A bowl of laughs when I was a kid :)

[Jennifer (JenIsNotaBookSnob) · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best Amelia Bedelia books. I really enjoyed this one, the mischief Amelia gets into is ridiculous and expensive. It is funny how much Mrs. Rogers has changed over the years. She is an older lady in this book and then much younger in subsequent books.
This book is my favorite style of Amelia Bedelia. Her later hijinks are pretty tame by comparison, all harmless things. This one is hundreds of dollars in damages which makes it all the more humorous.

I have to admit to never really 'getting' Amelia Bedelia. I'm not sure if she's supposed to be just a very literal, sheltered sort or if there's supposed to be something wrong with her. Obviously, it's not funny to laugh at her if there's something developmentally wrong with her, so, I'm assuming she's supposed to be the former? It probably makes more sense to have her be a child like she is in the newest books. But, I haven't read those yet.

[Khari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huh.

So this is the first book that I read that made me doubt my ability to review children's books. Why, you ask?

Because I do not get why this is funny. Do not get it at all. Could not turn my brain off while reading it because clearly, no one would actually hire someone right off the street like that. Also, clearly, they wouldn't just let them go after doing things like destroying paperwork. Would not happen.

And yet, I know that I LOVED these books as a child. I mean LOVED them. Read them over and over and over and over and over again. So clearly, they struck a chord with child me even if adult me looks at them askance.

So, I guess the lesson here is, take my reviews with a large grain of salt, because clearly I am not in touch with my inner child as much as I thought I was.

Story: Ridiculous
Art: Iconic
Price: $4.99

[Matin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Come Back, Amelia Bedelia is about Amelia getting fired from her job by taking what her boss says way too literally. Amelia isn't the best at listening to directions but she goes around town to find a new job. She applies to a whole bunch of different jobs but has a hard time with every new job she gets. At the end of the book, she ends up getting hired back at her old job of being a housekeeper I love Amelia Bedelia books and think they are super funny. I think that this book would be a good way to talk to students about the importance of thinking before they act. This book really highlights the importance of why it's important to listen closely and follow directions correctly. I would definitely have this book available for my class, I would also use it as a read aloud book.

[Shannon P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore Amelia Bedelia and her very literal ways! Growing up with her and trying to brainstorm what she could think things meant versus what the real meaning of things were prepared me for my own life. I have a child who has autism and an intellectual disability. He struggles with figurative speech and I feel as if I am better at catching myself when I use speech that isn't literal enough because of all the time I spent with Amelia Bedelia and my imagination.

I have always wished that life wasn't so difficult for her, but I can see how her fictional life can be a great teaching tool for so many to learn about kindness, compassion, figurative vs literal speech, helping others, and so many other wonderful lessons. ❤

[Kelsey Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a girl named Amelia Bedelia. She takes everything literally and gets in trouble for it. She looks for new jobs but does exactly what everyone tells her to. In the end, she goes back to her first job where she is a house keeper. I liked this book! I thought it was funny how Amelia Bedelia does exactly what everyone asks her to but never understands why people get so mad. I think this would be a fun book for kids to read. I think the illustrations were good but they were not my favorite. This book could be used as a lesson of figuring out when others are being literal with their words and when they are not. Also might talk about getting a job or jobs.

[Ashley Hubbard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amelia Bedelia is failing at every job she is asked to do. She goes to the doctor's office, hair salon, etc, and messes up at every single job and they tell her to go away! She finally went home and decided to cook something and then said she would be leaving, but then the lady said no, please do not go away!

This book gets four stars because it is such a cute book for kids who are learning to read, but also could be slightly difficult. It is also a book for kids to read when they are learning to never give up!

[Melissa West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amelia Bedelia is quite a funny character. She takes everything told to her very literally. Her literal interpretation of her demands create some funny scenes. In this Amelia Bedelia, Amelia is working in a home and is asked to leave because the master has had enough. So she goes looking for a job. She tries her hands at many things and finds that she isn't welcomed to stay in any of the jobs she tries. After a few of these attempts, she remembers that her rolls are in the oven and she goes on back home. (I'll leave the rest for one to read on their own.) This book is a comedy book and is meant for primary grade levels. I would use this as a read aloud story in my classroom.

[Taryn Singer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to love these books so much when I was younger. I was not a huge fan of this particular one, but it was still as funny as I remember. Amelia works at multiple jobs and, of course, takes them all too literally and ends up getting fired. It's a level 2 book, so it could definitely be used for read-alouds for younger grades or independent reading for more advanced readers.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was better than most of the ones from this series. I guess I haven't gotten the appeal of this take everything literally housekeeper yet. I loved the illustrations that Amelia Bedelia runs into some interesting situations when her employer fires her and she must look for employment elsewhere. My rating - 3/5

[Yaaresse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating childhood reads strictly by my memory of how much I enjoyed them at first read. Obviously that could be drastically different if I read them today. (Then again, some of them might just hold up pretty well.)

[Keri Rohr · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Amelia Bedelia books are great contemporary realistic fiction books for grades K-2. Come Back, Amelia Bedelia is hilarious and very enjoyable to read. Even though it is a lower level book, I think children of all ages would love to hear the funny story.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly Amelia Bedelia doesn't understand figurative language, and so she does everything literally. In this one, it costs her a number of jobs throughout the day.

Quite a trip down memory lane. I thought these were so hilarious when I was a kid.

[Saravanadharsan Premkumar]

Amelia Bedelia gets in trouble by doing exactly what she is told. When Mrs. Rogers asks for cereal with her coffee, Amelia puts cereal in the coffee and gets fired. Wherever Amelia tries - beauty shop, dress shop, doctor's office

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite easy reader series growing up. In first grade, this was literally how I learned to read, especially sight words. I loved Amelia Bedelia and cannot stop laughing at her antics, and as a kid, she made me feel like the smartest kids in the world!

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children's Illustrated Chapter Books
(Easy reader)

Amelia Bedelia makes more silly mistakes!


Read with my daughter after rereading Amelia Bedelia for the '1001 Children's Books to Read Before You Grow Up' list.

[Judy Tarver · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think children will enjoy this series about a wacky character that can somehow always make a mess of things but in a fun and lovable manner. She is certainly a memorable character to read about as are her many adventures in this book series.

[Child960801 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mrs. Rogers finally gets fed up with Amelia Bedelia and fires her (which only makes sense,) so Amelia Bedelia goes out looking for a new job. She tries several, all with predictable results. Honestly, these people need better hiring practices. In the end, Mrs. Rogers apologizes and hires her back.

[Emily Shipley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m desperately reaching for the simple stories of my childhood that taught me about metaphorical speech with humor. I think it all began with Amelia Bedelia.

[Lizzy Seitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread via audiobook and god do I love these books!