Amelia Bedelia’s First Valentine by Herman Parish - OPTIONAL

Parish, Herman. Amelia Bedelia’s First Valentine, PICTURE BOOK. Greenwillow Books, 2009. $6.99. Content: G. 

Amelia Bedelia is very excited about Valentine’s Day. She has prepared her Valentine cards and is ready for her school party. Right as she is about to pass out her Valentines, she realizes that she has left them on the bus. Amelia comes up with a creative way to solve her problem so that she can still enjoy the party and goes home to have a Valentine’s Day cuddle with her family. 

This book does a very good job of capturing the excitement children have for Valentine’s Day and how much they look forward to having a party and passing out cards at school with their friends. Like all Amelia Bedelia books, she runs into confusion when it comes to a play on words and takes things too literally. I find that concept of the books to be more entertaining when Amelia is presented in her original adult version, as it is more unexpected for her to be so befuddled about the world. This book was still cute though and I’m sure that there will be students out there who are interested in Valentine-themed books, who will be happy to pick it up. 

EL (K-3), EL – OPTIONAL. Reviewed by: Shay, School Librarian