Ameria Bedelia's Family Album

“We want to have a party for you. We want to meet your family. ”
“Now that is nice,” said Amelia Bedelia. “Who would you like to invite?” asked Mrs. Rogers. (p. 5).

Mr and Mrs. Rogers want to have a party for their houseworker, Amelia Bedelia. Amelia is glad to hear that and then she shows her family album to choose guests. Amelia introduces her family looking the pictures. Mr and Mrs. Rogers seem to understand Amelia’s introduction, but actually, they misunderstand until Amelia gives more information to them.
I like Amelia’s introduction because in the sentence, there are many funny expression. Amelia’s introduction makes a play on words. For example…

“This is my daddy” said Amelia Bedelia. “He is a telephone operator.”
“Then he helps people make calls,” said Mr. Rogers. (p. 7).

And then…

He does not!” said Amelia Bedelia. “He operates on telephones.”
“I see,” said Mr Rogers. (p. 8).

This is the first play on words. After reading this one, I laughed and thought it is like Japanese  pun.  Family member is 17, so I read 17 plays on words. I really enjoyed all of them and would like to tell one of the funniest plays on words.

“This is Cousin Calvin,” said Amelia Bedelia. “He is a boxer.”
“Does he win any matches?” asked Mrs. Rogers. (p. 15).

Can you imagine after this scene? Is he a boxer? The answer is…

“Why would he win matches? A boxer packs boxes. He gets paid money.” (p. 16).

He is a real boxer!! but he isn’t an athlete.  I didn’t expect this answer, I really laughed this scene. All of plays on words are interesting, so I think all readers can find their favorite plays on words. Readers can laugh Amelia’s introduction and learn about pun. Pun is one of the good way to learn language, I think. This book is funny and good text for language learners.
Parish, P. (1988). Amelia Bedelia’s Family Album. New York, USA: I can