Each book follows a simple formula: Amelia Bedelia, a housemaid replete with apron and frilled cap, encounters various domestic imperatives: clean the house, host a party, babysit, substitute-teach. The books, with illustrations by Fritz Siebel, depict a young woman who sows domestic chaos in and around the home of her wealthy employers, a snooty older couple who have outsourced the labor of keeping their household, family, and community relations running smoothly. Yet the more I read Amelia Bedelia the more unsettled I felt I began to suspect that I wasn’t hearing all the notes. Had you asked me a couple of years ago, I would not have classified Peggy Parish’s Amelia Bedelia series with this loftier group-my children delighted in the wordplay, but I found the books a bit one-note. Many classic children’s books beg for philosophical readings: the likes of “ Charlotte’s Web” or “ Are You My Mother?” are well known as complex and subterranean ruminations on death and identity and community. Illustration Courtesy the Estate of Fritz Siebel
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