Peggy Parish

Margaret Cecile "Peggy" Parish (July 14, 1927 – November 19, 1988) was an American writer known best for the children's book series and fictional character Amelia Bedelia. The series was continued after her sudden death from an aneurysm by her nephew Herman Parish. Parish was born in Manning, South Carolina, attended the University of South Carolina, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

PersonalHistory
Parish, an avid reader of many books, caused an international sensation with her famous series of young readers' picture-story books about Amelia Bedelia, gaining immediate renown with her premiere work, "Amelia Bedelia." Amelia Bedelia is a "Simple John" character, based on cracker-barrel punning humour and folklore. She works as a household cook and occasional servant. She uses no recipes, but, by intuitively combining a little bit of this and a little bit of that, her cakes and cookies and meals are always delicious. She is such a good cook that her employers cannot fire her, despite the disastrous way she misinterprets her their instructions: prune the shrubs, scale and ice the fish, file the letters, run over the tablecloth with an iron, shorten these dresses, serve coffee with porridge, heat a can of soup, and so on. Amelia Bedelia is extremely literal-minded. The author's word-play, and Amelia Bedelia's fundamental goodness and child-like simplicity appeal to youngsters who are beginning to see and enjoy more than one meaning in a word or a phrase. Parish became a household name by the time her final work, "Amelia Bedelia's Family Album", was published before her death. Herman honored Peggy's life in his book, Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia, by writing in its dedication: "For Peggy Parish, the real Amelia."

ProfessionalHistory

 * Writer

Selected works

 * Littlest Raccoon (1961), illustrated by Claude Humbert
 * Let's Be Indians (1962), illus. Arnold Lobel
 * My Little Golden Book of Manners (1962), illus. Richard Scarry
 * Good Hunting Little Indian (1963), illus. Leonard Weisgard
 * Re-released and revised in 1991 as Good Hunting, Blue Sky with illustrations by James Watts


 * Willy Is My Brother (1963), illus. Shirley Hughes
 * The Golden Calendar: 1966 (1966), illus. Tibor Gergely
 * Let's Be Early Settlers with Daniel Boone (1967), illus. Arnold Lobel
 * Ootah's Lucky Day (1970), illus. Mamoru Funai
 * Dinosaur Time (1974), illus. Arnold Lobel
 * Scruffy, illus. Kelly Oechsli (1988)

Amelia Bedelia
Illustrated by Wallace Tripp, Fritz Siebel, or Lynn Sweat:
 * Amelia Bedelia (1963)
 * Thank You, Amelia Bedelia (1964)
 * Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower (1966)
 * Come Back, Amelia Bedelia (1971)
 * Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia (1972)
 * Good Work, Amelia Bedelia (1976)
 * Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia (1977)
 * Amelia Bedelia Helps Out (1979)
 * Amelia Bedelia and the Baby (1981)
 * Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping (1985)
 * Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia (1986)
 * Amelia Bedelia's Family Album (1988)

Liza, Bill & Jed mysteries

 * Clues in the Woods (1968)
 * The Haunted House
 * Key to the Treasure (1966)
 * The Mystery of Hermit Dan
 * Pirate Island Adventure
 * The Ghosts of Cougar Island

Creator Gallery
Gallery