AMELIA BEDELIA WRAPS IT UP

by Herman Parish

Brand New Deliver In 6-18 Working Days

Genres: Christmas

160 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

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

[Cassondra Perea · Rating 4 out of 5]

25 Books of Christmas- Day 16

Book Review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reading Amelia Bedelia as a child is one of my fondest memories. My siblings and I would gather around my mom as she read aloud to us! I recall laughing hysterically whenever Amelia Bedelia took something literal (ie draw the blinds). So, when it came time to pick a book to read with my niece (to help us get in the holiday spirit), Amelia Bedelia Wraps It Up, was a no brainer.

I was surprised to find that unlike the books of my youth, Amelia has been reimagined as a young girl. While her age had drastically changed, readers can still count on her to be both hilarious and endearing as she makes her way through life.

This book did a fantastic job with the following things. First, it not only talked about Amelia’s family traditions, but her friends as well. Second, when Amelia wanted to buy her parents a gift she took on additional chores. She understood the importance of money and working to earn it. Finally, when Amelia learned that there was a greater need in her community, she donated the money she raised and made her parent’s gift at home.

Children are constantly bombarded with the message that Christmas is about gifts. But this book focused on the meaning of why we give gifts and how we can use our special skills to help others.

If you have or know of a child between the ages of 6-10, I highly recommend this book!

[Stasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the new Amelia Bedelia picture books, however, the chapter books seem written in a way that almost dumbs them down for the reader!! I don't think even my nine year old self would have loved this. 😥

[Amy Flanagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book for my Chlo-Chlo. So cute.

[Chelsea Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 7 year old enjoyed it. I found it irritating how they would introduce a figure of speech and the resulting confusion from Amelia, but they wouldn’t explain it.