Amelia Bedelia Friends #1: Amelia Bedelia Friends Beat the Clock by Herman Parish, Lynne Avril Published by Greenwillow Books on September 3, 2019
ISBN: 0062935178
Pages: 160
Genres: Adventure
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
This cute chapter book was written by the nephew of Peggy Parish, who wrote the first books about Amelia Bedelia. Amelia is still the same funny little girl she has always been portrayed, misinterpreting comments literally. There is a cute 2 page spread in the back of the book titled “Two Ways to Say It” by Amelia Bedelia, which illustrates some of the expressions she misinterprets. For instance, “they blew up the photo” means they enlarged the photo, not literally “blew it up”.
This beginning chapter book is perfect for new readers. This story highlights the 100th birthday celebration of her school. One of her friends loves history, and they use their student lounge table, actually a large stump in the playground, as a timeline back to the 1700’s. They also learn about roman numerals in their history quest. I love how they interject lots of history and math into the story.
I really enjoyed this book. True to the original character of Amelia Bedelia, this first chapter book has simple illustrations on almost every page, and short chapters with large print words to make reading more enticing to beginners.
Reviewed By Irene Hall, Witherle Memorial Public Library, Castine