Amelia Bedelia
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Amelia Bedelia is the protagonist and title character of a series of children's books written by Peggy Parish, and initially illustrated by Fritz Siebel. After Parish's death in 1988, her nephew, Herman Parish, revived the series beginning in 1995. The books usually deal with Amelia, who is a maid for a wealthy family, the Rogerses, botching her assignments by taking her instructions literally. For example, she will be told to dust the furniture and will throw talcum powder all over the furniture (the box does say "Dusting Powder"), or dress the turkey by making it an outfit ("I wonder if she wants a boy or a girl?"). Another time while playing baseball with the Grizzlies, (the town's baseball team) she was told to run home and she ran to the Rogerses. No matter how outrageous her mistakes, however, her extraordinary cooking always saves her from real trouble with the Rogerses.
By showing that verbs or phrases can have multiple meanings, one of which may be preferred over others, the books teach children about semantics and polysemy, particularly idioms and metaphors.
The name "Bedelia" is a derivation of the common Irish name Bridget. Irish maids were first popularly portrayed as being comically inept in the vaudeville theaters of New England in the late 19th century. A popular joke of the period has a maid instructed to "Serve the tomatoes undressed" leading her to bring the dish in dressed in her underclothes: "I won't take off another stitch- not if I lose my place, Maam". This might have influenced Amelia Bedelia.
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