Arise and Shine

Amelia Bedelia & Friends #3

by Herman Parish, Lynne Avril (Illustrator)

The third book in a new arc in the New York Times–bestselling Amelia Bedelia chapter book series featuring young Amelia Bedelia and her friends! This chapter book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 6 to 8 who are ready to read independently. It’s a fun way to keep your child engaged and as a supplement for activity books for children.




It’s a piece of cake!

Amelia Bedelia + Good Friends = Superfun Stories to Read and Share

Amelia Bedelia and her friends are studying all about the Middle Ages in school. They’re building catapults, creating illuminated manuscripts, and visiting a medieval fair—in costume! Plus, there’s a class-wide competition to see who can be the most chivalrous student. Amelia Bedelia really wants to win! But when she discovers that one of her friends is the kindest and most helpful of them all, can she somehow help her friend win the competition?

A funny chapter book series about friendship, perfect for fans of Ivy + Bean and Clementine. The Amelia Bedelia books have sold more than 35 million copies since we first met the iconic character in 1963! Includes “Two Ways to Say It,” Amelia Bedelia’s guide to the idioms used in the story, and instructions on how to build a catapult. Illustrated in black and white throughout.

Genres: Chapter Books

160 pages, Paperback

Published March 3, 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

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up loving the Amelia Bedelia books, and apparently so did Herman Parish, who is the nephew of the author of the original Amelia Bedelia books, Peggy Parish. He has updated the lovable character (she’s a tween now, not an adult housemaid) but kept the essence of what made her so lovable.

In case you aren’t familiar with Ms. Bedelia, here’s a primer: Ms. Bedelia often got into misadventures and lots of trouble due to the fact that she took everything literally. For example, when asked to “draw the drapes”, she found a sketchpad and literally drew a picture of the drapes. When asked to “toss the salad”, that is precisely what she did—-all over the kitchen.

As a lover of the English language, reading the Amelia Bedelia books was basically a fun lesson in idiomatic speech. It certainly pointed out the, at times, ridiculousness of the English language. Expressions that we take for granted—-“tickled pink”, “cat’s out of the bag”, “kill two birds with one stone”—-absolutely stymied Amelia Bedelia.

The tween-aged Amelia Bedelia has a similar problem. She easily gets hung up on American idioms, cliches, and expressions such as “I’m pulling your leg” or “Search me”. The resultant misunderstandings are uproariously funny, especially for my eight-year-old.

In “Arise and Shine”, Amelia Bedelia’s class is learning about the Middle Ages and the Age of Chivalry. She has to do an assignment about some aspect of the era, but she can’t think of anything, until she and her class are invited to a Renaissance Fair.

These contemporary adaptations of the children’s literature classics are fun. They are also excellent chapter books for the second- and third-grade set, if you’re looking for some good series for your kid to read.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This addition to Amelia Bedelia and Friends series follows Amelia's class as they learn about the Middle Ages. Amelia and her classmates learned many facts about the Middle Ages that they used to create their own illustrated manuscripts or short reports. Amelia was nervous about her manuscript until she attended the Medival Faire and learned more about her friend Angel who really wanted to be a knight. This title is filled with homophones and idioms and is just plain fun. I would highly recommend this series for all juvenile collections that are looking humorous titles that can be shared aloud.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter brought this to me and told me that she thought I would enjoy it; how could I refuse? Such a sweet book with a theme of serving others and being a friend without expecting recognition or rewards.

[Eliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because I learned about what it was like in the Middle Ages. I also liked it because it shows kindness.

[Colin Altevogt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to my son. He likes these a lot, and they’re easy to follow.

[sierra ₊˚ෆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

My cousin got this book out from the library and I decided to read it just because. I thought it was super cute and fun.

[Braydee Raden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good