"Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping!"

Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping
Author: Peggy Parish
Illustrator: Lynn Sweat
Genre: Chapter Book
Subgenre: Humor, Children's Fiction
Theme: Camping, Literal Thinking
Primary/Secondary Characters: Amelia Bedelia, Mr. Rogers
Date of Publication: Year 2003
Publishing Company: Harper Collins Publishers

Summary: Amelia Bedelia, everyone's favorite maid, goes on a camping trip with her employers. Mr. Rogers decides to teach Amelia everything he knows about the great outdoors, but Amelia takes everything with her literal mind. For example, Mr. Rogers tells Amelia to "pitch the tent" and she throws it into the bushes, because that is what she thought he wanted her to do. Mr. Rogers told Amelia they had to "hit the road", so Amelia took a stick and began to hit it on the road, as that is what made sense to her. She eventually gets the hang of the whole camping thing, and learns how to fish, and how to survive in the outdoors. But she is not hesitant to get back to her regular life, and her humor and entertaining acts keep the reader tuned in. This could be used in a classroom for a fun and easy read for students. Students can learn a thing or two about camping, and practice their reading skills as Amelia practices life skills that she is not familiar with. The books are in a series, so students can be hooked on these books and further their reading abilities with Amelia Bedelia.