Peggy Parish
Personal Information
Description
Peggy Parish was born in Manning, South Carolina. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of South Carolina. After graduation, she visited her brother in Kentucky, and was persuaded to try teaching. She began by teaching creative dancing to young children. Later she moved to Oklahoma where she taught both third grade and dance, and she produced community shows. She then moved to New York and got a job teaching dance to third-graders in a progressive experimental school called the Dalton School in Manhattan. At this time she also began writing. Her first published book, My Golden Book of Manners, was published in 1961, followed by Let's Be Indians (1962). She created her most famous character with the publication of Amelia Bedelia in 1963. She went on to write 11 more Amelia Bedelia books, as well as other children's books, mystery novels, and arts and crafts books. She also produced television pieces on preschool education and children's books, wrote book review columns and led a number of training workshops for teachers. She died suddenly in 1988 of a brain aneurysm. Her series Amelia Bedelia was continued by her nephew Herman Parish.
Books
A heaping helping of Amelia Bedelia
Four previously published stories featuring the extremely literal-minded Amelia Bedelia, as well as related activities and recipes.
Amelia Bedelia and the Baby
Amelia Bedelia follows to the letter the list of instructions for looking after the Lanes' baby.
Amelia Bedelia
A literal-minded housekeeper causes chaos in the Rogers household when she attempts to make sense of some instructions.
Amelia Bedelia goes camping
As always, Amelia Bedelia follows exactly the instructions given to her on a camping trip, including pitching a tent and rowing boats.
Amelia Bedelia Helps Out
Amelia Bedelia shows her niece Effie Lou how to follow instructions to the letter as they dust the potato bugs and sew seeds.
No More Monsters for Me!
Minneapolis Simpkin is not allowed to have a pet, so she finds the most unusual replacement.
Amelia Bedelia's Family Album
Amelia Bedelia entertains Mr. and Mrs. Rogers by showing them her family album and describing what her relatives do.
Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia
As Amelia Bedelia helps Mrs. Rogers prepare for Christmas, she bakes a date cake with a calendar in it and stuffs the children's stockings with turkey stuffing.
Thank You, Amelia Bedelia
Preparing for the arrival of an important visitor, a wacky housekeeper follows her employer's instructions with humorous results.
Good Hunting, Blue Sky
Blue Sky goes out to hunt for meat for his family and comes home with something quite unexpected.
Mystery of Hermit Dan
Intrigued by stories of local pirates and buried treasure, three children decide to find out the truth about Hermit Dan and his ancestors.
Dinosaur Time
An easy-to-read introduction to eleven different dinosaurs--their size, their diet, the pronunciation of their names, and their distinctive characteristics.
Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia
Amelia Bedelia helps out by teaching a class but she takes the list of activities very literally. Planting bulbs becomes planting light bulbs. Practising a play becomes practising playing. Using apples to solve maths problems becomes finding apples and getting the children to try to take them away from each other. It's a story full of humour and mayhem and kids will enjoy laughing over Amelia Bedelia's mistakes.
The ghosts of Cougar Island
Spending the summer with their grandparents, Liza, Jed, and Bill explore an island believed to be haunted by ghosts.