Peggy Parish drew upon her experiences as a third grade teacher when she was inspired to write her first book about lovable misadventures of a housekeeper who would go on to become a classic children's literary character. Her students often hilarious mix-ups with vocabulary set the course for Amelia Bedelia's charming and endearing misinterpretations of familiar sayings as well of words that sound alike.
Parish wrote the first Amelia Bedelia book in 1963, and it was originally published as a picture book. Twelve Amelia Bedelia books were published by Parish before her death at the age of 61 in November of 1988. Her nephew, Herman Parrish, has continued to honor his aunt's legacy, by continuing the series, starting with his 1995 release, Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia.
In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Amelia Bedelia, Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers will reissue the classic in a special anniversary book edition that recreates the original jacket art and two-color interior artwork of the original. Additionally, for the first time in the series history, two chapter books, Amelia Bedelia Means Business and Amelia Bedelia Unleashed, will be released. Modest Momma will take a look into these new releases soon so stay tuned!
The teacher in Peggy Parrish never truly left the classroom, despite her great literary successes. Parrish wrote numerous television stories on pre-school education and led numerous in-service training workshops for teachers. Parrish's ideals on children's education were based on a simple philosophy, one that I personally believe in and strive to achieve with my own students in my classroom. "Today's children are not going to read what they are not interested in. And if a positive attitude toward reading is not developed during the first three years of school, it is virtually impossible to develop it later." Truly words for every educator to live by.
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