By Peggy Parish Illustrated by Fritz Siebel and Barbara Siebel Thomas Amelia Bedelia By Peggy Parish Illustrated by Fritz Siebel and Barbara Siebel Thomas

About the Book Amelia Bedelia is the new housekeeper for an elderly couple named Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers decide to go out for the day and leave Amelia a list of chores to do. However, Amelia takes the wording of the list too literally and nearly makes a mess of the whole house.

Adapted Changes The overall lesson of the book is to help children realize that sometimes a word can have more than one meaning (whether it be literal or figurative). To help students understand this, there are pictures to indicate what the initial chore was, and what Amelia actually did. One scene was removed (dressing the chicken) because the figurative and literal meanings may be too difficult to fully understand.

Adapted Changes There is also a picture key at the beginning of the story to help the student identify the characters. Whenever she is asked a question about the story, students can simply point to the correct picture. The sentences of the book were also rewritten to a simpler text to help students understand what Amelia was supposed to do, and what she actually did. There are also pictures over the words describing which rooms Amelia went to, and what objects and/or actions were involved in her chores.

Character Picture Key Amelia: Mrs. Rogers: Mr. Rogers:

Amelia Bedelia begins her first day of work. She is a maid for Mr. Rogers and Mrs. Rogers.

Mr. Rogers and Mrs. Rogers decided to go for a drive. Mrs. Rogers left a list of chores for Amelia to do.

Amelia walked into the house and said, “This is a very nice house!” Amelia then said, “I think I will make a pie for Mr. Rogers and Mrs. Rogers.”

Amelia went into the kitchen and mixed the ingredients into a bowl. Then, Amelia put her pie in the oven. “All done!,” she said.

“Now I must look at the list,” Amelia said. She picked up the list and read, “Change the towels in the bathroom.”

Amelia found the bathroom and looked at the towels, saying “These are very nice towels. I wonder why Mrs. Rogers wants to change them?” Amelia took a pair of scissors and cut the towels.

Amelia looked at her list again and read, “Dust the furniture.” “That is funny. At my house, we un-dust the furniture,” she said.

Amelia found a box of dusting power in the bathroom, and she spread the dust all over the furniture.

Amelia looked at her list again and read, “Draw the curtains.” Amelia read the list again and said, “Well I am not very good at drawing, but I can try!”

Amelia sat down and she drew the curtains. She looked at the list again and read, “Put out the lights in the living room.”

Amelia thought about the chore. She turned off the lights. Then she took out each light bulb from the living room. She brought the light bulbs outside and hung them on the clothesline.

Amelia walked back to the kitchen. “My pie!” she cried and took the pie out of the oven. She was very happy the pie did not burn.

Amelia read her list again and it said, “Measure two cups of rice.” She filled two teacups with rice, and measured the teacups with a ruler.

Amelia poured the rice into a box, and she read her list again. The list said, “Please trim the fat of the steak in the icebox.” Amelia took the steak and decorated the steak with ribbons.

Amelia heard the front door open. Mr. Rogers and Mrs. Rogers are here! “Amelia, why are the light bulbs outside?” asked Mr. Rogers.

“The list said to put the lights out,” said Amelia. “Amelia, why didn’t you draw the curtains?”, asked Mrs. Rogers?

“I did! See!” Amelia said and she showed Mrs. Rogers her picture. Mrs. Rogers looked at the furniture. “My furniture!,” Mrs. Rogers cried.

“Did I use enough dusting powder?” Amelia asked. Mr. Rogers went to the bathroom to wash his hands. “The towels are very odd,” he called. Mrs. Rogers went to the bathroom, “My towels!” she cried.

Did I change the towels enough?” asked Amelia. Mrs. Rogers went to the kitchen to cook dinner. “Amelia, where is the rice?” asked Mrs. Rogers.

“The rice is in the box. But I measured it to four inches, “ said Amelia. “Did you trim the steak?” asked Mrs. Rogers. “Yes and it looks very nice,” said Amelia.

Mrs. Rogers looked at the steak. “Ribbons!” she cried. Mrs. Rogers was very angry. She opened her mouth to tell Amelia to leave, but Mr. Rogers put a piece of pie in her mouth.

The pie was so good, Mrs. Rogers was not angry anymore. “This is delicious!” she said. “I made it to surprise you!” said Amelia with a smile.

Mr. Rogers and Mrs. Rogers decided that Amelia must stay. And Amelia did. The End