Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia
Written by Peggy Parish
Illustrated by Wallace Tripp
Reviewed by DEN (age 7)
Have you ever tried to explain something to someone and they did not understand what you meant? This is what happens in Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia. The Grizzlies need someone to fill in for one of their teammates. Amelia Bedelia comes to the rescue. She volunteers to play with them, but she does not know how to play baseball. This is where the adventure starts. The Grizzlies try to teach her the different parts of the game, but she misunderstands what they tell her. For example, the Grizzlies tell Amelia Bedelia to "tag the runner on base." In baseball, this means to touch the runner before he gets on base with the ball. But she puts a white tag on the runner and thinks that she has tagged him.
This story shows that there is not only one way to do things. Everyone looks at things in a different way. But we should not get upset at them because they misunderstood what we were saying. We should be patient with everyone. I admire Amelia Bedelia because she is always willing to try new things. My parents are always telling me to try new things because I will never know if I like it or not. But I am always afraid to try new things. Amelia Bedelia was not afraid. I like Amelia Bedelia because she is funny. I don't think she means to be funny. When I read this book, I always end up laughing because she does some crazy things. My favorite part in the book is when her teammates tell her to "run home!" They want her to run to home base, but Amelia Bedelia thinks that they are telling her to run to her house. She can't understand why they want her to run to her house, but she does.
If you like to laugh, this book is for you. I recommend this book to children who don't know much about baseball because the book talks about how the game is played as Amelia Bedelia learns about the sport. You will not be disappointed with this book.