Margaret Cecile "Peggy" Parish (July 14, 1927 – November 19, 1988) was an American writer known best for the children's book series and fictional character Amelia Bedelia. Parish was born in Manning, South Carolina attended the University of South Carolina, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.[1] She worked as a teacher in Oklahoma, Kentucky, and in New York. She taught at the Dalton School in Manhattan for 15 years and published her first children's book while teaching third grade there.[2] She authored over 30 books, which had sold 7 million copies at the time of her death.[2]
Parish's most well-known character, Amelia Bedelia, is extremely literal minded and interprets idioms and other verbal expressions literally, which amusingly causes great havoc in each story. This idea originated in conversations between Parish and Greenwillow Books founder Susan Hirschman about the author's observations of her third grade students.[3] Amelia works as a household cook and occasional servant, jobs that Parish did in her home when she was young. She uses no recipes, but, by intuitively combining a little bit of this and a little bit of that, her cakes and cookies and meals are always delicious. She is such a good cook that her employers cannot fire her, despite the disastrous way she misinterprets their instructions: prune the shrubs, scale and ice the fish, file the letters, run over the tablecloth with an iron, shorten these dresses, serve coffee with porridge, heat a can of soup, and so on. The author's word-play, and Amelia Bedelia's fundamental goodness and childlike simplicity appeal to youngsters who are beginning to see and enjoy more than one meaning in a word or a phrase.[citation needed]
Parish's nephew, Herman, honored Peggy's life in his book, Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia, by writing in its dedication: "For Peggy Parish, the real Amelia." Recalling Parish's method while working on Too Many Rabbits, Herman described how she wrote out her ideas on index cards, "and she’d deal out those cards like she was playing solitaire, and then pick them up, retype them, and rewrite everything many times. That was how she worked, and it gave me a lot of respect for her method."[3]
^ abMcdowell, Edwin (1988-11-22). "Peggy Parish, 61, Author of Books On Inept Maid, Amelia Bedelia". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
peggy, parish, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, april, 2014,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Peggy Parish news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message Margaret Cecile Peggy Parish July 14 1927 November 19 1988 was an American writer known best for the children s book series and fictional character Amelia Bedelia Parish was born in Manning South Carolina attended the University of South Carolina and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English 1 She worked as a teacher in Oklahoma Kentucky and in New York She taught at the Dalton School in Manhattan for 15 years and published her first children s book while teaching third grade there 2 She authored over 30 books which had sold 7 million copies at the time of her death 2 Peggy ParishBornMargaret Cecile Parish 1927 07 14 July 14 1927Manning South Carolina U S DiedNovember 19 1988 1988 11 19 aged 61 Manning South Carolina U S Alma materUniversity of South CarolinaOccupationWriterParish s most well known character Amelia Bedelia is extremely literal minded and interprets idioms and other verbal expressions literally which amusingly causes great havoc in each story This idea originated in conversations between Parish and Greenwillow Books founder Susan Hirschman about the author s observations of her third grade students 3 Amelia works as a household cook and occasional servant jobs that Parish did in her home when she was young She uses no recipes but by intuitively combining a little bit of this and a little bit of that her cakes and cookies and meals are always delicious She is such a good cook that her employers cannot fire her despite the disastrous way she misinterprets their instructions prune the shrubs scale and ice the fish file the letters run over the tablecloth with an iron shorten these dresses serve coffee with porridge heat a can of soup and so on The author s word play and Amelia Bedelia s fundamental goodness and childlike simplicity appeal to youngsters who are beginning to see and enjoy more than one meaning in a word or a phrase citation needed Parish s nephew Herman honored Peggy s life in his book Good Driving Amelia Bedelia by writing in its dedication For Peggy Parish the real Amelia Recalling Parish s method while working on Too Many Rabbits Herman described how she wrote out her ideas on index cards and she d deal out those cards like she was playing solitaire and then pick them up retype them and rewrite everything many times That was how she worked and it gave me a lot of respect for her method 3 Contents 1 Selected works 1 1 Amelia Bedelia 1 2 Liza Bill amp Jed mysteries 2 References 3 External linksSelected works EditLittlest Raccoon 1961 illustrated by Claude Humbert Let s Be Indians 1962 illus Arnold Lobel My Little Golden Book of Manners 1962 illus Richard Scarry Good Hunting Little Indian 1963 illus Leonard Weisgard Re released and revised in 1991 as Good Hunting Blue Sky with illustrations by James Watts Willy Is My Brother 1963 illus Shirley Hughes The Golden Calendar 1966 1966 illus Tibor Gergely Let s Be Early Settlers with Daniel Boone 1967 illus Arnold Lobel Ootah s Lucky Day 1970 illus Mamoru Funai Dinosaur Time 1974 illus Arnold Lobel No More Monsters For Me 1981 illus Marc Simont Scruffy 1988 illus Kelly OechsliAmelia Bedelia Edit Main article Amelia Bedelia Illustrated by Wallace Tripp Fritz Siebel Lynne Avril Barbara Siebel Thomas or Lynn Sweat Amelia Bedelia 1963 Big Bright and Early Board Books Thank You Amelia Bedelia 1964 Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower 1966 Come Back Amelia Bedelia 1971 Play Ball Amelia Bedelia 1972 Good Work Amelia Bedelia 1976 Teach Us Amelia Bedelia 1977 Amelia Bedelia Helps Out 1979 Amelia Bedelia and the Baby 1981 Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping 1985 Merry Christmas Amelia Bedelia 1986 Amelia Bedelia s Family Album 1988 Liza Bill amp Jed mysteries Edit Key to the Treasure 1966 Clues in the Woods 1968 The Haunted House 1971 Pirate Island Adventure 1975 The Mystery of Hermit Dan 1977 The Ghosts of Cougar Island 1986 References Edit Harper Collins About Peggy Parish a b Mcdowell Edwin 1988 11 22 Peggy Parish 61 Author of Books On Inept Maid Amelia Bedelia The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2016 07 25 a b Lodge Sally 2012 11 09 Amelia Bedelia Turns 50 Publishers Weekly Retrieved 2016 07 25 External links EditPeggy Parish at Find a Grave Peggy Parish at Library of Congress with 70 library catalog records Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Peggy Parish amp oldid 1104708438, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
