Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower

By Peggy Parish 

Pictures by Fritz Siebel

Copyright 1966

Amelia Bedelia takes every word literally.  She doesn’t understand how to “read between the lines”.  I’ve always loved the funny predicaments she ends up in due to this trait.  In this volume, Amelia has been asked to help out at a wedding shower for Miss Alma.  You can just imagine what she does when she’s asked to “run over the tablecloth with an iron”.  She probably should have taken her shoes off first. 

Pruning the hedges also takes on a whole new meaning.

The best part, though, is when Miss Alma finally shows up for her surprise shower and really is surprised when Amelia Bedelia turns on the garden hose.  Amelia really hadn’t understood why Miss Alma couldn’t take a shower on her own!

This book reminds of a time when my daughter was about two years old.  I was having a phone conversation and she was trying to get my attention.  Impatiently, I told her, “Laura, hold your horses!” It took me a moment to understand why she then came running up to me with two little toy horses in her hands.  I don’t think she understood why I laughed so hard.

Amelia Bedelia reminds me to not take myself too seriously.  She teaches me to laugh at my silly mistakes and to let other people laugh at my mistakes too.  Like the time a couple of years ago when I was talking to my daughter on my cell phone, while telling her frantically that I couldn’t find my cell phone because it wasn’t in my purse.  We’re still laughing at that one!  Surely I’m not the only one who does things like that?

Of Making One’s Self Beautiful

By William C. Gannett 

Copyright 1899

According to an inscription inside the front cover, this book was a Christmas gift from Mrs. Powell to Dorothy B. Hymen in 1909.  In 2012, it became a Christmas gift from my Mother to me!  I wonder if Dorothy gained any wisdom or encouragement from this little treasure.  One hundred and three years later, it still offers relevant words of wisdom.

In one section of the book, the author motivates the man or woman who is unable to attend college by providing guidance on how to learn independently.  In this chapter, Culture Without College, three main “teachers” are listed.  They are one’s work, society, and books. 

 “And now a word about the third teacher who waits to teach us boys and girls and men and women who cannot go to college.  His name is Books.  He is the same great teacher that they have in colleges;  but in this day, he goes about the country, teaching everybody.”

What an opportunity for us! I can’t agree more about this third “teacher”.  This is one reason why I value my work in a Public Library so highly.  The wisdom found in books there is available to all who can read, regardless of financial or social standing.  In today’s libraries, books are not even the only source of knowledge, since most libraries offer free use of the internet and computers. 

The author admits that the quality of knowledge found in books varies greatly, and it is up to the individual to spend their time wisely by choosing books that will benefit the individual.  And please, don’t just read the books, but ponder their meaning, mining them for treasure.  

“Of absorbing them, I say;  for ‘I will read best books in the best way.’  This, our last rule, can be put in one word - read and ruminate!   Read and ruminate!  A book that gives no cud to chew is scarcely worth reading once;  a book worth reading, of which one does not chew the cud, has scarcely been read.”

I’m not sure how I feel about the imagery the author uses here, but I sure agree with his sentiment! Life long learning is available to all of us in the form of books.  This is as true today as it was in 1899.

Books - There's no such thing as too many?

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

by Joan Aiken
copyright 1962

It was summertime. As usual, the big box fan was blowing into the living room. I sat in a very tight space between a big, soft armchair and a hutch. I was very small, and could always squeeze into cozy hiding spaces. There may have been a lot of activity around me. The console television was probably on, playing The Brady Bunch or Gilligan’s Island (and not the reruns).  Various conversations may have been taking place among my many family members. But I was in my own little world; close to the action but not actually taking part. Instead, I was wandering around the world of the latest book I picked up. There is a good chance it was this book since it was one of my very favorites – and it still is!

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase has a bit of everything for the child’s imagination.  You’ll find an incredibly wealthy family, a kind but very poor old aunt, a beautiful estate, a cruel governess, a secret passage, a horrible orphanage, an exciting escape, and most importantly - a perfectly happy ending.  

Reading this book, hiding in my safe little corner of the house, I could experience the thrill of Sylvia’s and Bonnie’s adventures, the misery of their suffering, and the strength of their companionship, all without any true danger.  

Books were often an escape from the real world, but that’s not all.  By escaping into an imaginary world, I could gain wisdom and strength from vicariously experiencing a fictional character’s trials and triumphs.  I did not run away from the horrid adults in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase or experience a grueling two-month journey to find help, but I was able to learn that while many people are kind and trustworthy, all are not.  I did not have my opulent wardrobe and dazzling toy room ripped away from me, but I learned that wealth is nowhere near as important as friendly companionship and kindness.

Yes, stories can be an escape from reality, but they can also teach us lessons that we can take back with us into the real world.

Where the Wild Things Are

By Maurice Sendak

Copyright 1963 

Winner of 1964 Caldecott Medal

My childhood copy of Where the Wild Things Are

Max is a little boy with boundless energy.  One afternoon, Max’s mother gets a little fed up with his rambunctious behavior and calls him “Wild Thing”.  His temper gets the best of him, and after talking back to his mother, he is sent to bed without his supper.  

Besides his boundless energy, he also possesses a very active imagination.  Max imagines adventures on an island far away where he becomes King of all the Wild Things.  After a “wild rumpus” in the forest Max becomes sleepy and loneliness sets in.  

“The wild things roared their terrible roars 

and gnashed their terrible teeth and

 rolled their terrible eyes 

and showed their terrible claws but

 Max stepped into his private boat 

and waved good-bye.”

Happily, when he sails back home from his adventure, he is welcomed by his familiar, comfortable bedroom and his still warm supper.

Like Max, it’s easy to let an angry attitude get the best of us.  Take a lesson from Max, and next time that happens, go off by yourself for a little while and let your imagination take you somewhere fanciful.  Maybe someplace where you have more control over your life.  Or maybe just a place where you can hear the lapping waves.  Then, step back in your boat and head home.  The cause of your anger will still be there, but you should have a little more patience to deal with it.