Amelia Bedelia Talks Turkey

Amelia Bedelia Talks Turkey is a 2008 storybook in the Adult Amelia Bedelia series. This book features illustrations by Lynn Sweat.

Synopsis
One morning in November, Amelia Bedelia and Cousin Alcolu bring a pumpkin to school for the Thanksgiving pageant. They meet up with Mrs. Carson, who is the acting principal while the princpal, Mrs. Bloom, has the flu, and every third grade teacher is out sick. Mrs. Carson decides to cancel the pageant, unless Amelia accepts to help.

They all go to the auditorium, where they see the third graders dressed in costumes, as they are doing a dress rehearsal today. Mrs. Carson introduces the third graders to Amelia Bedelia, and informs them to do what she says. A boy, who is playing as Myles Standish, points out that Amelia looks much like a Pilgrim, except that her shoes don't have any buckles, so a girl puts buckles on her shoes.

The children have to practice their lines, so Amelia Bedelia lines them all up; there is a line of boy Pilgrims, a line of girl Pilgrims, a line of boy Indians, and a line of girl Indians. Then a boy Pilgrim asks if he can have a different part, so Amelia parts his hair down the middle. Then a girl says her mom asked her to play a big role, so Amelia assures that the girl will play a big roll. And when a boy then states that his dad says he is a big ham, Amelia Bedelia denies it at first, thinking that he could star in an Easter pageant, but then decides to add ham to the Thanksgiving menu.

Amelia Bedelia then asks who's going to be the turkey. A girl explains that Tom was going to be the turkey, but he is home sick. Amelia then picks the girl, Diana, to be the turkey, and while she makes her a costume, she wonders what the difference is between stuffing and dressing. Then she asks Cousin Alcolu to build an "oven" to cook the turkey, but a boy explains that there were no ovens back then and the turkey was cooked on a spit (not saliva), which is a long, thin metal rod pushed through meat in order to hold and turn it while it is roasted over an open fire.

Then another boy pushes a cart filled with the pumpkin and a bunch of other crops, and a girl says they need to make sweet potatoes, which leads to Amelia to bake french fries coated with sugar. For the next few days, Amelia solved problems while Alcolu built props just the way she told him to do.

When the day of the pageant comes, the auditorium is full of families, friends, teachers, and other students. Principal Bloom and the third grade teachers feel well enough to come, and Mr. and Mrs. Rogers even come to see if Amelia needs any help. Amelia and Alcolu are sent to work as stagehands, while the Rogers wish them good luck and "break a leg!" Amelia thinks they mean they want her to break her legs, but Mr. Rogers explains that "break a leg" is actually a good-luck message for thespians. Backstage, the third graders are nervous. Amelia Bedelia tells them to relax and have fun, but a girl says they'll have fun afterward, and their parents are having a cast party.

As the show begins, the narrator narrates about the Pilgrims sailing from England to the New World in America, landing at Plymouth Rock. Myles Standish then jumps on the rock, flattening it in the process. When the narrator narrated about the cold weather, Cousin Alcolu, who is standing on the ladder, is dangling a large snowflake, when suddenly he loses his grip and the snowflake falls on the stage ground. Then comes the part where it becomes spring, so the cast "plants" corn with fish sticks. A boy explains that real fish would be too smelly.

When the part where it's fall comes, Amelia Bedelia stands on a ladder tossing leaves, but she loses her balance and falls onto the crops in the cart. A boy wheels the cart on stage, not noticing Amelia. Mr. Rogers then hopes Amelia didn't literally break her leg. Then comes the part where it was the First Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims and Indians have a feast and play games, and even the two kids - a roll and a ham - go on stage. Diana, the turkey, goes on stage also, but she becomes nervous. Amelia tells her that she's supposed to say "gobble gobble", but instead it makes the all third graders say "gobble gobble", while the whole audience joins in, sounding like a flock a turkeys have been let loose in the school.

Then two kids carry out a giant wishbone and as they snap it, the entire cast says "We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!", and then Diana falls off the stage. Mrs. Carson catches her, and the audience applauds.

Then the cast party begins. While everyone is having Amelia's sweet potatoes, the boy Pilgrim decides to nickname Diana "Wings". Diana agrees and says "Gobble gobble!" The Rogers congratulate Amelia Bedelia for helping out at the play, along with Cousin Alcolu. As they head home, Mr. Rogers says he looks forward to carving the turkey. Amelia Bedelia says she has no idea he was a sculptor.