I have a really hard time accepting the new incarnation of Amelia Bedelia as a child. I've always felt that a large part of the humor of her literalism disappears when she's a child, since kids make mistakes about words quite often normally. If I was going to like one, however, it would probably be this one.

On a glum winter day, Amelia's mother says, sadly, that she is feeling blue. Amelia is confused, but suggests her mother has a playdate to cheer herself up. Her mom agrees and their neighbor comes over to watch Amelia and her friend Rose while Amelia's mother goes out. As she leaves, she says "chalk up another gray day" which gives Amelia an idea. With the help of her friend Rose and a growing crowd of passers-by, they create a beautiful explosion of colors with all her mother's favorite things.

There wasn't as much of the mistaken words theme in this one, which is part of the reason I liked it. I Can Read's level ones have quite a significant amount of text, compared to other publishers, and this flows smoothly and would be quite good for the average first grade reader. What really sells this for me is the lovely illustrations. They fit nicely in amongst the text, without distracting from the words, and are full of friendly color and light, starting with the dull gray winter day and then blooming into an explosion of color.

Verdict: This is similar enough to the Fancy Nancy easy readers that you can just go with those, if your budget is limited, but if you have the money this would make a nice additional purchase. Especially if you live somewhere with lots of gray winter days!

ISBN: 9780062334220; Published 2014 by Greenwillow/HarperCollins; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Added to the easy reader backlist

Read for Bookstore/Library Exploration Assignment