From Publishers Weekly
"I hear a ringing in my ears." "A ringing? Maybe you should answer the doorbell." The inimitable housekeeper helps out at the doctor's office and stirs up trouble in Calling Doctor Amelia Bedelia by Herman Parish, illus. by Lynn Sweat, the fourth title penned by Peggy Parish's nephew. Ages 5-up.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-2-Parish continues the series in the wacky tradition of his aunt, Peggy Parish. Dropping by her doctor's office on a busy day, Amelia Bedelia is asked by the nurse to help out until the doctor returns from the hospital. The literal-minded maid winds up fielding phone calls from patients, infuriating one and all as she interprets their symptoms incorrectly. Finally, the doctor arrives to find her office full of irate patients. Amelia Bedelia saves the day by treating everyone to ice cream. A realistic situation? Of course not. It's just another romp with the world's most clueless domestic. As always, Sweat's color drawings perfectly capture the wild goings-on. A lively addition to the series.Lisa Smith, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
PreS.-Gr. 2. Carrying on the series tradition of loony literalism, this volume tells of the mishaps that occur when Amelia Bedelia helps out at the doctor's office. As she answers the phone and tends to the children, her mistakes and misunderstandings entertain some patients and infuriate others. She wins everyone over, though, by treating the patients to ice cream. The jokes and puns have the broadness of vaudeville humor but are innocent enough for the stage of an elementary school auditorium. Well-attuned to the text, Sweat's cheerful ink-and-watercolor illustrations heighten the fun. Good fare for young readers old enough to catch the jokes. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
Prescription
Date: A hot day in August.
For: Young readers.
Symptoms: Dr. Horton's office is full of waiting patients. The doctor is delayed. The patients' patience is running out. Nurse Ames needs help!
Treatment: Amelia Bedelia, helper par excellence, who solves all problems, even if she creates new ones along the way!
Recommendation: Open this book, turn the pages, and get ready to laugh at Amelia Bedelia's latest literal misinterpretations, medical style!
About the Author
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."
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