Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia

Herman Parish was in the fourth grade when his aunt, Peggy Parish, wrote the first book about Amelia Bedelia. The lovable, literal-minded housekeeper has been a member of his family ever since. Peggy Parish died in 1988.She would be proud and delighted to know that with Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia; Bravo, Amelia Bedelia!; Amelia Bedelia 4 Mayor and now Calling Doctor Amelia Bedelia, her nephew is carrying on -- for a new generation of readers -- the tradition she began years ago. In His Own Words...

"In true Amelia Bedelia fashion, I backed into writing these books about the literal-minded housekeeper who children laugh at and love.

"Amelia Bedelia was created by my aunt, Peggy Parish. Although she passed away in 1988, Peggy still received fan mail from children. They wondered when the next Amelia Bedelia book would be out. Then other children's authors wrote and volunteered to continue the series.

"I felt uneasy about Amelia Beclelia leaving our family. As I was in the fourth grade when she first appeared, I had literally grown up with her. So I decided to try to write a new Amelia Bedelia adventure. My two sisters and my family were very supportive and encouraged me.

"I'd had experience in writing advertisements. I reread the Amelia Bedelia stories to figure out what made them funny. I realized that everyday life overflows with idiomatic expressions, literalisms, and homophones. It's amazing more people don't get confused-besides Amelia Bedelia!

"My first book, Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia, took me a year to think about and one night to write. I had been collecting ideas, homonyms, and expressions. Whenever I heard them, I jotted them down: on napkins in restaurants, on my newspaper while riding the bus, and on agenda sheets in business meetings.

"I stockpiled these fragments in a folder until one Sunday night, with my family asleep, I decided that it was now or never. I sat down around ten o'clock and began to write. I was so focused on the story that I finished as the sun came up on Monday morning. Naturally, the story needed revision, but the essence was captured in that all-night writing spree.

"I am fortunate that my editor, Susan Hirschman, and the illustrator, Lynn Sweat, had worked with Peggy on many Amelia Bedelia books. That helped make the transition from Peggy's books to mine as seamless as possible.

"I feel very lucky to be writing Amelia Bedelia books and continuing a family tradition. But the best reward was when a child wrote Peggy Parish a fan letter. It said that Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia is the best book she has written. To me, that's the highest compliment I could hope for."

Gr. 1^-2. The nephew of Peggy Parish, who created Amelia Bedelia, continues the series about the lovable literalist. When Mr. Rogers takes Amelia Bedelia out to practice her driving, he soon finds that his directions lead to confusion: when he warns of "a fork in the road," she starts looking for cutlery rather than a cutoff. All ends well, though, with a birthday party for the daffy domestic. If the dialogue occasionally sounds like an old vaudeville routine, that's not likely to trouble anyone too young to have heard of vaudeville. Sweat, the series' familiar illustrator, once again offers line-and-watercolor wash illustrations that reflect the book's simplicity and good humor. An unexpected pleasure for insatiable fans of the series. Carolyn Phelan